At least five people, four of them foreigners, were wounded in overnight clashes in Kya Sands, in northern Johannesburg.

Four of the wounded are from Zimbabwe and Mozambique while the fifth is a South African who said his attackers refused to believe he was a local.

Running battles began after 10pm on Monday and saw police working to quell the unrest five hours later.

At first it seemed it would be a peaceful night with up to seven police vans parked in trouble spots, public order officers doing patrols and a police helicopter circling overhead. But a robbery deep inside the township appeared to have sparked off anger between locals and foreigners, leading to violent clashes.

Two men were escorted from the depth of the informal settlement with deep cuts to their heads. One claimed he was attacked with an axe.

A woman was carried out on her husband’s back after failing to outrun a mob and allegedly being kicked in the chest.

A man in the area lost a lot of blood from a head wound.

”I was just sitting at my home and a group of people just came and they asked me where I come from and before I could answer they started hitting me,” he said.

All but one of the victims were taken to hospital.

Alex Eliseev

By Special correspondent