Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane has said that South Africans should blame the government for lack of jobs, and not other Africans living in the country.

"As a South African, a proud African, I want to condemn any acts of violence undertaken against nationals from our continent who are not South Africans," Maimane said in Cape Town.

"Our history is bought with violence and we can't simply sit back and allow violence to continue in our country."

He said people should rather direct their anger at the government whose economic policies were failing.

"You can't simply say that the blame must be on foreign nationals when people are without work."

He called on the police to ensure that communities were kept safe, and on the Department of Home Affairs to be more effective in ensuring that South Africans and Africans are registered properly.

He sidestepped a question on whether permission should have been granted by the DA-led Tshwane metro for a march against foreign nationals on Friday.

Police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse some protesters gathered in Marabastad near the Pretoria CBD and earlier shops in Atteridgeville were targeted by protesters.

The violence appears to be linked to communities rounding on brothels and drug house last week, which they claimed were run by foreign nationals.