Xenophobia-related violence broke out in a Johannesburg neighborhood after a Somali shopkeeper killed two Zimbabweans overnight, authorities said on Monday.

The Somali shopkeeper killed the two men after an argument outside his shop in Diepsloot, an area rife with Xenophobia. The Somali has been arrested, police said.

The shooting angered residents who turned their attention towards foreign shop owners in the area and threatened to burn down their shops.

At least 19 businesses were looted, according to Eyewitness News. "There were many people surrounding his shop. Others were screaming and shouting that they would burn the shop," a witness told the news outlet.

There's a heavy police presence in the area, but this hasn't stopped the crowd from pelting rocks at cars.

Diepsloot ward councillor Abraham Mabuke said he was shocked by the killings by another foreign national and pleaded with the community to remain calm.

The incident occurred days after Johannesburg marked the 5th anniversary of the 2008 xenophobic attacks in which about 62 people were killed and thousands more displaced after xenophobic violence erupted in major townships across the country.

Although no large-scale xenophobia attacks have been reported since 2008 thanks to various initiatives designed to detect early warning signs of future xenophobic attacks and to improve responses, sporadic violence are not uncommon. On average, one person was killed in xenophobia violence every week in 2011, according to the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa. Endi

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