FIGHTING ERUPTS IN SOUTH AFRICAN TOWNSHIP.

Two dead in SA township clashes.

Two people have died in clashes between foreigners and local people in a township south ofSouth Africa's capital, Pretoria. "Two died during this morning's area violence," police spokeswoman Inspector Katlego Mogale told the BBC. According to public radio SABC, Zimbabweans and Mozambicans were the foreigners involved in the fighting.

Some in South Africa are resentful of African migrants - accusing them of taking scarce jobs.This influx since the end of apartheid has led to a rise in xenophobia. "There are also unconfirmed reports that more than 10 people were injured in the altercation," Ms Mogale told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. She said there has been ongoing tension between South Africans and foreign residents in the settlement of Olievenhoutbosch for some time. "The locals were accusing the foreign nationals of getting houses from the council which were meant for them," she said.

The fighting erupted in the early hours of Wednesday morning after the foreign residents returned home after the festive season, she said. "When the foreigners returned, the South Africans had mobilised and the groups chased each other around the area, fighting," South Africa's Independent Online quotes Ms Mogale as saying. Calm had been restored to the area and police patrols increased, she said. More than a million Mozambicans and Zimbabweans have left their countries in search of better prospects in South Africa.

Reuters reports.