Cape Town - Xenophobic violence in Gauteng has claimed the lives of at least 23 people and displaced thousands more.

Officials are struggling to understand what has prompted the violence, with Gauteng Safety and Security MEC Firoz Cachalia saying the attacks were not just "spontaneous acts of xenophobic hatred".

"We must call a spade a spade... these are criminal acts," Cachalia said.

Opposition parties have called on President Thabo Mbeki to deploy the army and set up refugee camps to help curb the violence.

To shed more light on what's behind the xenophobic violence in Gauteng, News24 chatted to Professor Hussein Solomon, Director of the Centre for International Political Studies and serves as a member of the International Steering Committee of the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research as well as the Executive Committee of Global Action to Prevent War.

News24: What's behind the xenophobic violence we are seeing?

Hussein Solomon: Frankly frustration. Economic woes are increasing with increase fuel and food prices, high unemployment levels and poor service delivery as well as high crime rates. In this situation where some foreigners are involved in crime, all become useful scapegoats.

News24: It seems like it's sprung up suddenly, but how prevalent has xenophobia been in South Africa in recent months?

Hussein Solomon: Xenophobia has not just suddenly sprung up - various studies by Idasa, Human Sciences Research Council, University of the Western Cape and Institute for Security Studies has been warning of the rising tide of xenophobia since the early 1990s at least.

Government however has not responded to this. Moreover, there have been incidents reported in the local press for years on xenophobic attacks from Khayalitsha in the Western Cape to Durban in KwaZulu Natal and to Gauteng.

News24: So foreigners are being used as scapegoats for the worsening economic conditions we're experiencing currently?

Hussein Solomon: Yes, some foreigners are involved in crime but not the majority - all however have become scapegoats. But I think it is also important to acknowledge that it is now spreading not just to foreigners but to other South African ethnic groups like Shangaans being targeted by Zulus etc.

News24: Is there a third force at work?

Hussein Solomon: When government messes up it is much easier to say something called a third force. No, I do not believe that there is some malicious outside entity deviously ratcheting up feelings of hatred in cities and towns across the country.

News24: How could government have prevented the problem from getting to this level?

Hussein Solomon: First it is not just government. The media has a role to play in moving away from negative stereotyping of immigrants. Religious leaders can play a role in reconciliation.

But government has a role to play in not just educating citizens of the various international legal obligations they have but enacting domestic legislation strengthening the legal system in terms of hate crimes against foreigners, to come up with a more coherent migration policy, to work more closely with structures like the United Nations High Commission on Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration and stopping the corruption inside the Department of Home Affairs.

News24: And how can government effectively address it now and prevent further escalation?

Hussein Solomon: Right now the issue of curfews in certain areas need to be implemented as a matter of urgency to prevent further escalation.

Apart from law enforcement, what other short-term measure should be implemented to prevent escalation of the violence?

Community forums need to be established which include local government officials, the police and members of civil society as a matter of urgency to tackle this matter and these need to function even after violence subsides.

News24: Should the army be brought in to curb the violence? Is their symbolism to bringing in the army the government would rather avoid?

Hussein Solomon: Personally I believe that the army should be brought in, violence is spreading at an alarming rate. The military can be used to place a cordon around an area whilst the police actually go into the area doing house to house searches for weapons and the like.

News24: How much of an impact has Jacob Zuma's anti-immigrant sentiments had in stirring up xenophobia?

Hussein Solomon: I think it is important not to personalise this but I do believe that if senior politicians give the wrong signals, then xenophobic violence will simply intensify.

News24: Gauteng safety and security MEC Firoz Cachalia has said they could not have predicted this violence. Is this to be believed?

Hussein Solomon: No - as I mentioned above - government just was not listening - same with the Eskom debacle.

News24: Do other African countries also experience this?

Hussein Solomon: Yes, in the Ivory Coast for instance there was a large number of foreigners and it was not a problem for decades until a major economic downturn, then they were attacked and the like.

News24: Is this likely to spread across South Africa?

Hussein Solomon: This is already occurring - it is spreading.

News24: Will this violence negatively affect South Africa and its image abroad?

Hussein Solomon: Absolutely - not just image but also South Africa as a safe destination for investment.

News24: How bad is South Africa's illegal immigrant problem? We keep hearing differing figures, but how bad is it really?

Because you are talking about something illegal, you are talking about something undocumented and therefore difficult to quantify. The best figures I have heard put the figure at between 2.5 million and 4.1 million illegal immigrants in South Africa.

Professor Solomon, thank you for talking to News24.

- News24