Minister of Small Business Development Lindiwe Zulu has called for national dialogue involving spaza shop and small business owners at provincial and municipality levels, in light of the ongoing xenophobic attacks and tension in Durban and Johannesburg.

In an interview before the Khula Business Tour launch in Durban on Tuesday, Zulu said the first thing to be done was to involve law enforcement, "so that those who are looting can be discouraged".

Khula Business Tour was set up by various entrepreneurs in KwaZulu-Natal, with the focus on creating business information hubs for potential entrepreneurs and young people in 11 districts in the province.

"It does not make sense to keep on thinking that you can blame one person for the xenophobic attacks. I am of a view that a serious dialogue needs to happen at local level between our people and foreign nationals who are running businesses within our communities."

Zulu said when the attacks first erupted in Soweto in January, her department took charge of the situation through a dialogue between the organised foreign national communities and owners of spaza shops and other businesses in the townships.

Zulu also blamed the saturation of spaza shops and other businesses on the lack of enforcement of bylaws at municipal level.

A national task team involving the small business development department, the department of home affairs, department of trade and industry and the police ministry was set up in the wake of xenophobic attacks in January.

The task team has met a couple of times since the first attacks.