South Africa will deploy more police this week to deter possible violence before a June 30 deadline set by xenophobic protest groups for foreigners to leave the country.

“There has been mobilisation around this issue over a period of time and we expect it to continue after June 30, so we have plans in place,” Firoz Cachalia, the acting police minister, said in an interview with State-owned broadcaster SAfm on Monday.

Vigilantes have in recent weeks carried out attacks on foreign nationals in several parts of the country, prompting Malawi, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zimbabwe to help more than 3 000 of their citizens to return home.

More protests by anti-immigrants groups are planned in South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province on Monday.

The demonstrations have stoked fears of a recurrence of violence in KwaZulu-Natal and the commercial hub of Gauteng in July 2021 that followed the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma. The week of deadly riots marked the worst civil unrest in South Africa since the end of White-minority rule in 1994, leaving more than 300 people dead and thousands of businesses looted or burned down.

“We don’t want a repeat of that, so we’re not going to take any chances,” Cachalia said. “We have good information about the levels of mobilisation and the places of mobilisation around this issue.”

Xenophobic attacks are a regular occurrence in South Africa, with foreigners being blamed for unemployment, crime and pressure on public services. Gross domestic product in the continent’s largest economy expanded by an average of less than 1% annually over the past decade, and the country’s jobless rate is among the highest in the world.

In addition to deploying officers to potential hotspots, police ministry officials will meet with provincial and city leaders, private security companies and community policing forums to ensure that “the political leadership and the leadership in civil society is prepared for any eventuality,” Cachalia said.