XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS: South Africa Deploys Army To Curb Anti-Immigrant Violence After SA King Zwelithini Condemned Violence‚ Called For Calm

President Zuma (L) in traditional Zulu attire with his monarch Kwazulu-Natal King Goodwill Zwelithini whose comments are now being investigated as hate speech. Zuma may have mishandled the crisis because of his monarch's involvement. 

South Africa deployed the army on Tuesday in "volatile areas" to curb a wave of anti-immigrant violence that has killed at least seven people this month, the defence minister said.

The latest wave of anti-immigrant attacks began almost three weeks ago in parts of the coastal city of Durban in Kwa-Zulu Natal and quickly spread to Johannesburg, South Africa's commercial capital.

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said soldiers were being sent to "volatile areas", which included the rundown Johannesburg district of Alexandra and parts of Kwa-Zulu Natal.

"There will be those who will be critical of this decision but the vulnerable will appreciate it," Mapisa-Nqakula told reporters in Alexandra.

The army will help restore calm, the government says

South Africa has been criticized by foreign governments, including China, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, for failing to protect foreigners as TV stations broadcast images around the world of armed mobs looting immigrant-owned shops.

President Jacob Zuma's government was put under further pressure when disturbing images appeared in local media on Sunday of men beating and stabbing Mozambican man Emmanuel Sithole to death in broad daylight.

Mapisa-Nqakula said a Zimbabwean couple was also shot at in the Alexandra on Monday night but they survived.

Meanwhile under-fire Zulu King Goodwill on Monday publicly addressed his controversial comments - that foreigners must leave the country - at a royal imbizo in Durban.

Thousands attended the event‚ said KwaZulu-Natal co-operative governance department.

Speaking at a moral regeneration event in Pongola about a month ago‚ Zwelithini said that foreigners should pack their bags and leave.

The comments are being probed by the SA Human Rights Commission‚ which is investigating whether or not they constitute hate speech.