Johannesburg ( CNN ) He checked the series of stills on his camera . It was then that photographer James Oatway realized the entire attack had taken less than two minutes . It was the morning after a night of unrest in Johannesburg 's Alexandra Township that saw foreign-owned shops looted and destroyed . Mozambican Emmanuel Sithole was walking down a street when four South Africans surrounded him . Sithole pleaded for mercy , but it was already too late . The attackers bludgeoned him with a wrench , stabbed him with knives , all in broad daylight . And Oatway had captured it all on his camera . `` They looked like hardened thugs , just by their intensity , the way they moved , the expressions on their faces , '' Oatway told CNN . `` They wanted one thing and that was to kill Emmanuel . They wanted his blood and nothing was going to stop them from doing that . '' Oatway says he tried to get as close as possible , conscious that the attackers were aware of his presence . `` When the attack started I was 20 meters ( 65 feet ) away , but at one point I was 4 or 5 meters away , '' he said . `` I did think that maybe they would leave him alone . '' The attackers finally did move on and leave Sithole alone . Oatway and his fellow journalist Beauregard Tromp quickly put the injured man in the back of the car and rushed him to a hospital , where he later died . `` I still remember him looking straight into my eyes , '' said Oatway . `` He had a kind of a dazed , shocked look in his face . '' Oatway 's series of images of the ordeal landed on the front page of South Africa 's Sunday Times under the headline , `` Kill thy neighbor : Alex attack brings home SA 's shame . '' It 's a shame that South Africa continues to confront . Seven people have been killed in the latest round of xenophobic violence against poorer immigrants , many from South Africa 's neighbors . Xenophobic attacks : How did we get here ? Local media alleged that the attacks were a consequence of Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini reportedly saying at a recent gathering that foreigners `` should pack their bags and go '' because they are taking jobs from citizens . Shortly after his reported comments , violence against immigrants erupted in the port city of Durban . But on Monday , Zwelithini said he had not called for a war on immigrants . `` This war I am calling for today is to protect everyone of foreign origin in this country irrespective of which country they are from . '' The United Nations said the attacks actually began in March after a labor dispute between citizens and foreign workers . OPINION : Labeling South Africa violence as xenophobia misses the point . But it was Oatway 's photos of the violent attack on Sithole that have seemingly encapsulated the true horror of the situation -- and South Africa 's leaders have begun to take notice . `` Terrible picture . People who live in rough townships have never seen such a scene , '' said President Jacob Zuma about the photos in a televised news conference . `` And I was sitting and I was saying to myself , what are we telling the world about ourselves ? '' Police announced they 've now arrested all four suspects -- the last caught overnight Tuesday -- with help from Oatway 's photos , which is little solace for the photographer who captured a level of depravity rarely seen . `` I 'm sickened by it , '' said Oatway . `` And I 'm extremely angry , angry with the men that did this , and ultimately I 'm upset that our efforts were n't successful in saving Emmanuel 's life . ''
Photographer James Oatway captured a violent attack that resulted in death of a Mozambican in South Africa 's . Seven people have been killed in recent violence against poorer immigrants , many from South Africa neighbors .