( CNN ) As thousands of South Africans took to the streets of the city of Durban to rally against violence and xenophobia , an online community has joined the protests . The marches follow recent violent attacks on foreigners in the country that have claimed five lives . During the protest march Thursday , Twitter followers voiced their support through hashtag campaigns . # PeaceMarch and # SayNoToXenophobia were some of the most popular . South African Police Services said more than 10,000 people attended the march , including civil rights groups and nongovernmental organizations . Hashtags are now pouring out of South Africa . But many are asking , some via Twitter , is it enough to fight # xenophobia ? Attacks this week in Durban alone have killed two immigrants and three South Africans , including a 14-year-old boy , authorities said . For South African Tim Flack , tweeting was n't going to make a bit of difference . Flack , who lives in Cape Town , has brought allegations of hate speech and human rights violations against Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini , who he said referred to foreigners as `` lice '' and has said `` they should pack their bags and go . '' `` People listen to him , '' Flack said . `` He is a monarch . The Zulu people in South Africa take him very seriously , they do n't question what he says . '' Flack said he was motivated to make the allegations after seeing multiple complaints about xenophobic violence on social media and thinking they were n't enough . So he filed a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission , and then tweeted about it . `` The activists sit around feeling accomplished because they retweeted five times , '' Flack said . `` I want to reach people who see that they can lay a charge and it wo n't cost them anything , but I will have done something to change the country and push it into a better state of being . '' Now , the Human Rights Commission must decide whether to investigate Flack 's allegations against the King , who denies fueling any violence . Flack hopes others will also make complaints . Flack added that Zulus are n't the only people in South Africa who share in the xenophobic sentiment . `` People are frustrated and unemployed , and people in South Africa pay foreign nationals a lot less , '' he said of the tension between nationals and immigrants . `` A domestic worker would ask for 250 rand a day to clean a house , whereas a foreign national would ask for 150 rand , so it causes resentment . '' Imtiaz Sooliman , founder and chairman of the Gift of Givers Foundation in Durban , does n't think most South Africans are against foreigners . `` South Africans are against xenophobia , '' said Sooliman , who insists the majority of the country is providing an overwhelming amount of support for foreign nationals . Gift of Givers has been administering assistance at five refugee camps set up by the South African government that now hold roughly 8,000 foreign national refugees , he said , passing out things like clothing and hygiene packs . The organization posts its work at the camps online and tags it on social media with # xenophobia . Why ? `` In South Africa , everyone knows xenophobia , '' Sooliman said , `` and the way a disaster agency works is we post what people understand . So if you say # tsunami or # war , people follow it . So here , people say # xenophobia , and they all know what it is -- it is a disaster , so you are going to post what people understand . '' He said South Africans also have been going to the camps , which are on sports fields with makeshift tents , bringing cooked food and other necessities . `` This is different from what happened in 2008 , '' Sooliman said . That year , scores were killed in attacks in the poorest areas of Johannesburg . Most of the victims were Zimbabweans who had fled repression and dire economic circumstances . Sooliman said that along with the government strongly condemning the violence , community engagement is happening now as it never happened before . It is a kind of national unity that can be best summed up with another hashtag that has emerged from this story : # WeAreAfrica . Only time , or , tweets will tell if it works .
two people marched in Durban against violence , officials say . Twitter followers voiced their support through hashtag campaigns . A Cape Town resident tweets his complaints against a Zulu King .