Police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons on Friday as the latest wave of anti-immigrant protests broke out in South Africa's capital, while President Jacob Zuma condemned anti-foreigner violence and appealed for calm.

Police tried to keep protesters apart from foreigners who gathered to express alarm about recent attacks.

'We don't have hate! We don't have hate!' one foreign man shouted in video posted by local broadcaster eNCA.

Police Commissioner Khomotso Phalane said 136 people had been arrested in the past 24 hours.

South African riot policemen fire rubber bullets to disperse Somali and foreign nationals clashing with South African nationals during a protest march against illegal immigrants

South African police detain dozens of men after violence broke out during the protest on Friday

South Africans wave anti-immigration placards during a protest in Pretoria on Friday

A South African resident is arrested by police after allegedly looting and clashing with foreign residents during a xenophobic march by the Mamelodi Concerned Residents through the streets of Pretoria

South African police dispersed a xenophobic protest that led to violent attacks against immigrants in Pretoria (pictured above). This new wave of violence came days after Johannesburg and Pretoria citizens set businesses belonging to Nigerian immigrants on fire

South African policemen arrest residents who are allegedly involved in looting and clashes with foreign residents

Attacks against foreigners in the country have erupted regularly in recent years, fueled by high unemployment and dire poverty. Pictured above, police try to control a group of South African nationals who had just been arrested during a protest against immigrants

Shops and homes owned by migrants have been looted and torched over the last two weeks, with some South Africans alleging that the properties were brothels and drug dens.

Attacks against foreigners in the country have erupted regularly in recent years, fueled by high unemployment and dire poverty.

Riot police in Pretoria formed lines to keep apart about 1,000 protesters as tensions rise over migrants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere.

Resentment against foreigners has sometimes turned deadly in South Africa amid accusations that they take jobs from locals in a country where unemployment is above 25 per cent.

Riot police in Pretoria formed lines to keep apart about 1,000 protesters as tensions rise over migrants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan and elsewhere. Pictured above, police arrest a South African resident

Somali nationals argue with police during clashes in Pretoria, South Africa, on Friday. Police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse rival marches by hundreds of protesters

Resentment against foreigners has sometimes turned deadly in South Africa. Pictured above, police usher detainees into a riot van after arresting them

Rioters (one pictured above being arrested) took the the Pretoira's streets as foreigners and anti-immigrant South African nationals clashed in the city on Friday

Protesters ran through the streets on Friday during violent clashes between South African nationals and foreigners

Others are blamed for drug-dealing and other crimes. In 2015, anti-immigrant riots in and around the city of Durban killed at least six people. In 2008, similar violence killed about 60 people.

Protesters marched toward the foreign ministry, some carrying sticks or pipes.

A petition they handed to the ministry, seen by The Associated Press, suggested that the government teach foreigners to speak properly.

'They are arrogant and they don't know how to talk to people especially Nigerians,' the petition said.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation in a statement criticized authorities for 'giving permission for a march of hatred.'

Somali migrants armed with rocks and sticks march in the Marabastad neighbourhood in Pretoria on Friday

omali migrants armed with a machete and rocks dmonstrate in the Marabastad neighbourhood days after a series of attacks against migrants in the country

Somali immigrants jump over a man who fell on the ground while fleeing from South African police forces during a stand off between members of the Somali community and anti immigrant demonstrators

A man holding his South African identification card is surrounded by a group of rioters in Pretoria

South Africans should not blame all crime on non-South Africans, the statement from Zuma's office said. It cited recent reports of violence in Pretoria and hate speech on social media.

'Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively,' Zuma said. 'It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers.'

The periodic backlash against foreigners has hurt the tolerant image South Africa has tried to present to the world after the long struggle to stop the harsh discrimination of white minority rule, which ended in 1994.

An Amnesty International statement blamed authorities' 'failure to address toxic populist rhetoric that blames and scapegoats refugees and migrants'.

The president said South Africans are not xenophobic, and he called on everyone, citizens and non-citizens, to work together to combat the country's high crime rate.

A man holds his South African identity document after being attacked by a mob of people in Pretoria

A South African riot policeman fires rubber bullets to disperse South African nationals during a protest march against illegal immigrants

A man reacts to tear gas fired by police fire to disperse rival marches by hundreds of protesters

Somali immigrants hold rocks and bricks during clashes with South African nationals in Pretoria on Frida

Despite South Africa's high unemployment, the country is one of Africa's largest economies and remains a draw for people from far more impoverished nations across the continent.

Businesses run by Somalis, Ethiopians and others are often targeted in anti-foreigner protests.

Amid the anti-immigrant sentiment, government data show the number of foreign-born people in South Africa has declined.

A report last year said the 1.6million foreign born people was down from 2.2million in 2011 - in a country of more than 55million people.

Zuma's statement acknowledged complaints about companies that hire illegal immigrants and said the foreign affairs office 'will be cracking down on all employers who continue with this practice, which is dangerous as it pits locals against non-nationals'.

omali migrants armed with rocks and sticks watch from the back of a pick up truck as a police helicopter hover over the anti-immigration march

South African police push away members from the Somalian community as the anti-immigrant march turns violent

South African riot policemen detain and arrest South African nationals during the protest march