The arrival of foreign nationals in communities should be known and strictly controlled by traditional leaders as one of the ways of preventing xenophobic attacks.

This was one of the suggestions made by traditional leaders in a meeting with Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan in Pretoria yesterday.

Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza, chairman of the KwaZulu-Natal House of Traditional Leaders, told Sowetan they should be given powers to have a say in the integration of foreign nationals into their communities.

"We need to know who they are and teach them the ways of life in the areas so that integration is controlled and they don't just arrive to do as they please," he said.

"What we are saying is, to stop these things, let's have proper regulations and follow them."

Chiliza also called on the government to monitor firms when hiring scab labour. "There can't be firms that willy-nilly replace striking workers [with foreign nationals]. Government must also look into the hiring of scab labour," he said.

His comments came after Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini and President Jacob Zuma condemned the xenophobic attacks. KZN and Gauteng were adversely affected, and saw seven people violently killed while hundreds were displaced.

At the same meeting of stakeholders, Gordhan called on business to help government deal with the symptoms that led to xenophobic attacks. He highlighted some of the complaints by locals that foreigners were taking their jobs, charging that the business sector needed to give people the opportunity to work or must help create small business.

"Many symptoms give rise to what we have seen. People say they want jobs and training and foreigners are believed to be taking jobs.

"That is why the business sector must also come to the party to create opportunities and assist in the creation of small business," he said.