ABOUT 30,000 people yesterday marched through South Africa’s main city, Johannesburg, to demand an end to a recent wave of xenophobic attacks.

Both locals and immigrants are taking part, with placards saying “Africa Unite” and “Welcome foreigners”.

An anti-xenophobic protest is also taking place in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.

South Africa’s army was deployed to flashpoints on Monday to prevent further violence.

At least seven people have been killed, 5,000 left homeless and many foreign-owned shops looted since the attacks started about three weeks ago.

“We will defeat xenophobia like we defeated apartheid,” the premier of South Africa’s Gauteng province, David Makhura, told the crowd in Johannesburg.

Gauteng is the economic heartland of South Africa and includes Johannesburg.

Many unemployed South Africans accuse foreigners of taking their jobs.

South Africa has an official unemployment rate of around 25%.

The BBC’s Pumza Fihlani reports from the scene that the crowd marched through Johannesburg’s Hillbrow suburb, which some describe as Lagos because of its huge Nigerian population.

Protesters sang a sorrowful song, Senzenina, or “What have we done?” It was popular at funerals of anti-apartheid activists during white-minority rule.

“Mandela must be turning in his grave. This is not the South Africa he fought for,” Johannesburg resident Vusi Hlongwane told the BBC.

South Africa’s freedom was won through such solidarity. “Africa for all” was the message shared by the tens of thousands who marched through the streets of Johannesburg.

A sea of people from different parts of the continent carried banners in support of the day’s event. They are hoping the same spirit that led this country to freedom will help bring unity here.

The events of the past few weeks have brought shame to many South Africans and the country.

But many speakers sought to remind South Africans that in the days of apartheid it was the rest of Africa that became a home for this country’s leaders, remind them that its liberation was won with the support of the entire continent.