South African President Thabo Mbeki says anti-immigrant attacks that left 62 dead must never be repeated.

Mbeki spoke Thursday at a ceremony organized by his government in honor of the immigrants and South Africans caught up in the May violence.

Attacks pitted the poorest of the poor against one another. South Africans in squatter camps and other impoverished areas accused people from neighboring countries like crisis-hit Zimbabwe of taking scarce jobs and housing.

Some 9,000 people remain in the tent camps the government organized for those who fled the violence. Thousands of others have returned to their homelands.

Mbeki says South Africans have their heads "bowed in shame" and will work to ensure those who fled the violence can resume their lives in South Africa.

Watch a Video on the Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa