XENOPHOBIA - SOUTH AFRICA

One dictionary definition of Xenophobia is an unreasonable fear, distrust, or hatred of strangers, foreigners, or anything perceived as foreign or different.

Xenophobia can manifest itself in several ways in a country - victimization by police, brutal assaults, murders, ethnic cleansing in an area, mass expulsion from the country.

The recent xenophobic violence in South Africa was primarily directed against foreigners living in some of the poorest urban areas of the country. However, it has also impacted on those who acquired citizenship by virtue of their specialized skills, such as medical doctors, academics, scientists and engineers. And it has also impacted on those with legitimate work an study permits, such as the tens of thousands of Mozambican mineworkers working in mines, Mathematics teachers from Zimbabwe and foreign university students.

Unfortunately, many South Africans, and not just those living in the poorest areas, are opposed to the presence of a large number of foreigners from other African countries, and they blame foreigners for may of the ills in SA, including high unemployment of locals, and crime. South Africans therefore need to do some soul searching, lest even more locals become xenophobic.

This website serves several purposes:

Contact details on organizations in SA than can assist xenophobia victims, practical information on who South Africans can assist, messages of South Africans opposed to xenophobia, messages from victims, articles on the deemed causes of xenophobia in SA, and a list of some well known immigrants and sojourners from other African countries, who have enriched or contributed to SA society. Last but not least, information is provided which outlines the negative economic impacts of xenophobia.

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