The residents have accused the foreigners of being responsible for the spate of burglaries.

Several houses have been broken into and goods stolen. Some of the houses were broken into while the owners were asleep.

Matters came to a head after many of the houses were broken into on Tuesday night.

Residents gathered to discuss the problem and it was decided that Zimbabweans must be kicked out of the area and only be allowed inside the premises during the day when they are expected for work.

A Sowetan team visited the area and found windows at several houses broken. Some had the putty scraped off and the panes removed to gain easy entry.

Residents said they informed the police each time a house was broken into but nothing was done.

Maite Matima, a resident whose house was burgled on Monday night, said she was woken up by the noise of a window pane breaking. When she went to investigate she found three men who were known to be Zimbabweans trying to steal her hi-fi system.

“The men fled as soon as they realised we saw them,” Matima said.

She said upon further investigation they discovered that the men had loaded groceries from her refrigerator into a cooler box.

“These people are destroying our properties and we cannot continue living with them. They must just go and leave us in peace,” she said.

The residents accused the police of not doing anything to assist them.

“And we do not want to do anything to harm them as that would simply be viewed as xenophobic attacks,” the residents said.

Superintendent Mohale Ramatseba said yesterday they were on top of the situation and were dealing with the issue.