Guess it wasn't the white guys this time

According to AFP, there's a little problem in South Africa these days, and it isn't related to apartheid: "The flare-up in the Johannesburg region, now believed to have claimed the lives of 23 people and displaced thousands, has badly stretched police resources in one of the world's most crime-ridden cities... Many South Africans have blamed immigrants for high levels of crime and unemployment. An estimated three million Zimbabweans are believed to have crossed into South Africa to escape the economic meltdown in their homeland."
According to The Economist: "Many of the displaced have been in South Africa for years, but angry residents—themselves suffering pervasive unemployment, poverty and now rocketing food and fuel prices—accuse them of stealing jobs and houses, and of being criminals. This round of horrific anti-foreigner violence started in Alexandra on May 11th. It has now spread to other townships around Johannesburg and into the city itself. Some 20,000 people have been displaced. In the worst incidents, east of the city, some victims were burnt alive, as locals watched and laughed. At least 22 people have been killed, and scores wounded or raped. Foreign-owned shacks and shops have been looted. Now violence is spreading as South Africans from smaller ethnic groups, such as Vendas and Shangaans, are attacked. Terrified victims are turning police stations into refugee camps. In an effort to contain the violence the police have fired rubber bullets at mobs waving machetes, guns and iron bars. Dozens have been arrested... Broader questions need asking about South Africa's handling of immigration. The country’s mines and farms have long employed workers from Lesotho, Malawi and Zimbabwe; wars in the region long sent refugees across the border. But the end of apartheid saw a rapid increase in flows from poorer neighbours. The collapse of Zimbabwe has forced many, perhaps 2m or more, to flee south. As most migrants are illegal, numbers are hard to come by. But the South African Institute of Race Relations reckons that there could be as many as 5m foreigners in the country illegally. Many work on the fringes of the economy; some do commit crimes. South Africa benefits too, as many who are skilled and educated flock in. Many foreign teachers and doctors take lower-skilled jobs as gardeners or waiters. Others have started informal businesses. Their relative success has fuelled their neighbours’ ire. The government’s approach was long to turn a blind eye to mass illegal migration, while a tiny minority of migrants are deported by police. At times the police are heavy-handed or corrupt. Reports of harassment and bribe-taking are common. None of this is eased by the fact that applying for legal migration is almost impossible. Despite a chronic shortage of local skilled workers, and thus a desperate need for foreign professionals, it is extremely hard for outsiders to find legal employment. The ministry of education decided last year to hire foreign teachers to plug in shortages of qualified teachers crippling public schools; but those already in the country struggle to navigate the red tape. South Africa can no longer afford to ignore the fact that, as in many other countries, foreigners will keep on coming.

Rico says "turn a blind eye to mass illegal migration"? Sounds familiar...