Threats of an outbreak of xenophobic violence in South Africa were still rumours, President Jacob Zuma said on Monday. Threats of an outbreak of xenophobic violence in South Africa were still rumours, President Jacob Zuma said on Monday.

"I'm not certain whether there have been threats of xenophobia. I know that there have been rumours that have been reported," he told journalists in Sandton.

"There have been reports, which we don't know the source of yet, that in fact there will be xenophobia attacks after 2010.

We are not necessarily failing to do our duty to ensure that it does not happen, but let us just make a distinction between a rumour and a real concrete report with a clear source of information."

He said that the government had established a ministerial commission to deal with the situation and was "working on this issue" in the normal course of its duties.

"Government is on top of that situation and I'm sure that people should not have fears because we are there as government to look at the security of people and, indeed, we are ready to deal with the situation of that nature."

He said that there was not yet "concrete evidence" of xenophobic attacks.

"I don't think people should really take it as a reality when people just say 'we suspect after this there could be xenophobia', because there is no concrete evidence that South Africans have said so."

Zuma said it was unlikely that South Africans would welcome World Cup visitors on the one hand and threaten foreigners on the other.

It was reported on Monday that there had been attacks on foreigners and foreign-owned businesses in the Western Cape.

In May, Gauteng-based academics said that foreigners feared a resurgence of xenophobic violence against them after the 2010 World Cup.

In 2008, 62 people died and 15 000 were displaced in a wave of xenophobic attacks that started in Gauteng.