By Conor Sweeney

MOSCOW, May 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's foreign minister said on Friday violence that has erupted in the past two weeks in townships is embarrassing for the government and creates a "very bad image" for the country.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma pledged her government would deal decisively with the trouble that has killed 42 people and driven 25,000 from their homes in attacks that have now spread to the country's main tourist centre of Cape Town from Johannesburg.

"It's a very embarrassing issue and a very serious issue," she told Reuters during an interview after meeting Russian ministers in Moscow.

"It's giving us a very bad image and we are serious about stamping it out."

Dlamini-Zuma said property theft was a key motive for the latest violence.

"People are attacking others and taking their property so, it's really linked with criminality and we have to deal with it decisively."

Police say mobs have targeted shops and homes owned by Somalis and Zimbabweans in Cape Town, forcing hundreds of migrant workers to be evacuated. Malawi has started to evacuate 850 of its citizens.

But Dlamini-Zuma said the violence against Zimbabweans would not trigger any change in her government's policies towards the neighbouring country, where the economy has collapsed and is racked by political turmoil after elections in March.

Zimbabweans are due to vote in a presidential run-off on June 27 between incumbent Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Zimbabweans hope the run-off will start recovery from an economic collapse that has brought 165,000 percent inflation, 80 percent unemployment, chronic food and fuel shortages and has sent millions fleeing to nearby countries.

According to official results, which did not emerge for five weeks after the March 29 election, Tsvangirai beat Mugabe but fell short of the absolute majority needed for outright victory.

Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democratic Change says 43 of its supporters have been killed by militias loyal to Mugabe since the March poll. The MDC says the violence is intended to help rig the presidential vote.

The government has blamed the opposition for the violence.

Dlamini-Zuma robustly defended South African President Thabo Mbeki and shrugged off criticism that he could have done more to help resolve Zimbabwe's political crisis.

"We will do what we can, as we have been doing, but at the end of the day...we can't vote in Zimbabwean elections. The voters have to vote. We have to assist them in creating a free and fair election but beyond that, they have to take the decisions," she said.

The MDC has vowed to "bury" Mugabe in the run-off, ending his uninterrupted rule since independence from Britain in 1980. (Editing by David Fogarty)

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