South Africans speak out
In
response to "Xenophobia refugees; What will happen to us? [The Mail
and Guardian]
Chasing these men, women, children and
babies from their shelters will prove once and for all that this ANC
government is the cruelest on earth. It was South Africans that
attacked, burnt, murdered and looted the meagre belongings of these
unfortunate people and so they are surely entitled to protection and
shelter from the government, for as long as it takes.
Frank Hartry on August 13, 2008,
8:59 pm [Mail and Guardian]
No matter how hard we try to persuade
ourselves that one group (or race) is better than another or how
much we wish to insist that the arbitrary borders we have assigned
to our countries are actually real, our true consciences will find
us out. In God's sight we are all equally His children and the
borders and divisions which we have created between us do not exist.
Are we going to be good Samaritans and care for the strangers
amongst us or just bad Pharisaic hypocrites and whited sepulchres!
These are our real flesh and blood human brothers and sisters, they
have all of our needs, desires and insecurities and we are obliged
to treat them as such. Our national behaviour a couple of months ago
was racist and disgusting in human terms and condemned by every
civilised nation of the world.
Andrew Lawrence on August 14, 2008,
11:40 am [Mail and Guardian]
Where is "ubuntu" from SA government?. This
is totally not fair for this people to be evicted from these
shelters.Looking from another perspective, it clear that we still
have no fair government.People, what happened to what we call "
globalisation", I thought that was perceived as the phenomenon that
would interconnect us as one. This people need to be helped since
they are part of us. And to those who believe that these people are
that cause of poverty in SA, they are still living under an illusion
since I believe that poverty results from many angles.
S'nothile Mbatha on August 15, 2008,
8:34 am [Mail and Guardian]
A good woman in the
Congoby David
Smith-M&G Thought Leader
I was
thinking about xenophobia today. In fact, these days I think about
it far too often. The death of a friend in Kinshasa prompts today’s
thoughts.
Nathalie Muteba was a young and extremely gifted
journalist at Radio Okapi, a national radio network covering the
Democratic Republic of Congo. On Friday Nathalie died suddenly of a
heart attack; she was nine months pregnant. It’s almost certain that
Nathalie would be alive today if she had had access to the sort of
health care that is available in Johannesburg hospitals and clinics.
Had Nathalie not been employed by Radio Okapi, there’s a good chance
she would have been living in South Africa, as so many of her
educated peers are because of the almost hopeless job situation at
home.
The same
day Nathalie died, Radio Okapi ran a story about the troubles in
South Africa’s refugee camps. The story explained, through an
interview with on official from a Pretoria-based, non governmental
organisation helping the refugees, why there has been so much
reluctance to sign up for new temporary documents from Home Affairs.
The reluctance is two fold: most of the Congolese in the camps hold
two-year residence permits. They aren’t in the refugee camps because
of problems with paperwork; they are in the camps because they are
afraid. They are afraid of returning to the South African
communities that turned violently against them because they are
foreigners. And they fear that the new documents Home Affairs wants
them to sign for, valid for only six months, will force them to
relive some of the horrors they have recently escaped while at the
same time removing some of the rights they have with their existing
residence permits.
These
fears are not difficult to understand. Interviews in the media with
thugs boasting about nightly attacks on foreigners, as appeared in
this week’s Sunday Times don’t help to put already nervous people at
ease. It’s not just the Congolese who have these fears; the story is
the same with all the refugees living in South Africa, whether they
are Congolese, Mozambican, Zimbabwean, or anybody else.
It’s sad
to say but refugees from Darfur get better treatment in camps in the
Chadian desert than Africans who have been the victims of xenophobic
attacks in South Africa do. In Chad, neither the United Nation’s
refugee agency nor the Chadian government is threatening to close
the camps before the security situation in Darfur has stabilised.
Handicapped as it is, the international community is at least trying
to find a peaceful solution to that crisis.
While
South Africa is certainly not Darfur, fear is fear, and for this
fear to be overcome, the people of the camps need some kind of
assurance that their concerns are being addressed, and not just
through words, but through concrete actions.
That
brings me back to Nathalie Muteba. Nathalie was part of a team of
journalists at Sun City in 2002 during the Inter-Congolese Dialogue,
a process lasting several months that brought various belligerent
parties in the war in the DRC to the negotiating table, It was a
period of hope; a period when Congolese thought that perhaps their
country, a country so often prefaced with the word potential, might
be on the threshold of a period of peace and prosperity; a period
during which accountants and doctors and teachers would not have to
consider helping South Africans find parking spots at
Eastgate.
That dreamed-of period has not arrived. War lords
continue to sow terror in the east, the president of the republic
appears out of his depth for dealing with the problems of a country
where the word kleptocracy was coined, and the politician most
popular in the capital city is in jail in The Hague, answering to
charges of war crimes he allegedly committed in a neighbouring
country.
South
Africa’s refugee problem is not going to go away. It’s time to find
a way to make them feel at home, so that they can contribute to
nation building here. However they can only contribute effectively
if they are made to feel welcome.
Meanwhile,
back in the Congo, I would like to believe that, despite her
untimely death, Nathalie Muteba did not die in vain. She and many
others have been working towards the creation of a country where the
best and the brightest don’t have to leave home and be treated as
second-class citizens in a foreign land.
Rest in
Peace Nathalie.
I have a dream of a safe, united,
peaceful Africa
May 28, 2008
I am an African. Not your usual opening statement, but something
that is not usually stressed is that we are African. We are part of
the African continent.
Martin Luther King jun once addressed a crowd and started his
address by saying: "I have a dream."
Today, I want to tell you these exact same words. I have a dream.
I have a dream that all Africans may live together as one, in unity.
All drawing strength from one another as we strive for a better and
peaceful continent. Are we as Africans now going to destroy
ourselves and our countries?
Xenophobia has definitely taken our country by surprise. We all
thought our troubles ended with the demise of apartheid. This is
another point that needs to be made; during the apartheid era, when
our country was in turmoil, our African brothers and sisters were
the people taking us into their homes. They are now the people we
condemn for stealing our jobs. Is this a new type of apartheid my
generation is confronted with?
We need to keep in mind that they do not only fill these
positions but create more job opportunities, that when we are
killing them and storming into their shops and stealing their
possessions, we are stealing the jobs of not only those who are not
from South Africa but also of those who are South Africans.
It is not easy growing up in a country where you hear of grown
men beating up a seven-year-old girl. Is it her fault where she
originates from? Is it her fault her parents have moved her here so
she can grow up in a better environment where there isn't any war?
Shouldn't we feel flattered that people from other countries are
turning to our country so their children can live in a safe
environment?
At the age of just 14, and in my 14 years as a
South African citizen, I will not stand for xenophobia. We as South
Africans are lazy and we only want to kill the hard-working folk
because we think they are stealing our jobs.
We need to face the reality: we are lazy. There are job
opportunities; we are just too ashamed to take these jobs or we are
too lazy to do these jobs. Then you get these people that come into
our country and will accept any job because they want to make a
living and they know that they cannot live off the government. I am
upset that we as South Africans are even condoning such behaviour
and not speaking out.
I would like to say that I may be young, but we children of today
are the future. It is that seven-year-old girl who might have
invented the cure for Aids and we have killed her.
I weep for our land, for what we are doing to our own. I am
calling you to speak out. Let us unite and fight what xenophobia is
doing to South Africa. I have a dream that our land will unite once
more, like in our fight for democracy and freedom. Let us fight
this.
Lynn Thandi Seale
Grade 8, Pinelands High School
May 16th, 2008 by targetpunch2010 | Posted in
Human Rights, Politics |
The recent xenophobic attacks by Black South Africans
on black refugees seeking asylum here, is in my opinion,
another own goal by South Africa. What's the response by government?
Useless and impotent rhetoric with nothing more than the ANC
posturing before the cameras. They are opportunistic, and I suspect
this is the start of pre-election foreplay!
It's time to assault South Africa's 2010 goal
post.
I have joined many others in writing a letter of
appeal to the Chairman and FIFA 2010 World Cup Committee. My letter
attached below was submitted along with others at:
http://www.fifa.com/contact/form.html
If enough people contact them, Mr. Mbeki will have
scored an own goal! Here's a copy of my e-mail:
Dear Sirs,
International sporting bodies such as FIFA
and the Olympic Organizing Committee, have a powerful
platform in the form of international sporting events such as the
2010 World Cup, not only to unite diverse peoples and
nations, but also a moral obligation to protest the abuse of human
rights.
In the light of this, I appeal to FIFA to
move the 2010 World Cup from South Africa to a worthier
host nation. Why? For the reason that our President Thabo
Mbeki, has through his 'Quiet Diplomacy' rubber-stamped the
government of Robert Mugabe and his
Zanu-PF thugs. In addition, the current wave of
xenophobic attacks by black South Africans against foreign black
nationals seeking refuge in South Africa, and the unacceptable
levels of violent crime in our country, makes South
Africa an unworthy host for the 2010 World Cup soccer event.
The revenue that the 2010 World Cup will bring to South
Africa will not be liberating those who are oppressed in Africa, but
merely empowering further oppression of its people.
Please consider my appeal to FIFA in the
interests of upholding Human Rights and the Freedom of oppressed
people in Africa. You have a moral obligation to speak for those who
are not being heard!
Sincerely,
Leon van Greunen
SA bloggers want end to violence
South African bloggers have roundly condemned attacks on
foreigners in the country, with some saying the African National
Congress (ANC) government is to blame.
Bloggers from other countries including Zimbabwe and the United
Kingdom, who are currently living, working and studying in South
Africa, have also joined the chorus of condemnation against the
attacks, urging the government to provide urgent solutions
writes that the attacks have "cast an ominous veil of shame
over our rainbow".
"What an embarrassment this must be for those who still think
that we have dealt with racism and oppression, simply because there
are black and coloured faces in parliament. This scourge is running
much deeper," he writes.
"This is a call for speedy intervention, otherwise violence
against the other, whether it be Zimbabweans or Congolese, will
become violence against Indian shop owners, Coloured bus drivers and
white plumbers rendering service.
"This evil culture, raging in the Alexmob, will spread to another
township, another residential area, the towns, and eventually take
over. I am shocked by what is happening in our country... I am
appalled by the deafening silence of our leaders," Reggie writes.
On , blogger Kulkat says he is embarrassed by the attacks on
foreigners.
"It's unnecessary, it is unbecoming and cannot be condoned by any
explanation or justification by either
locals/representatives/leadership, and no cheap political
points should be scored on same. The perpetrators must be arrested,
named and shamed; and should face the fullest might of the law!"
Looking for reasons
On the blog, Newser wonders whether the attacks are "strictly
xenophobia related or is there another motive for these attacks"?
"Many foreigners have been living side by side with South
Africans in South Africa with very few problems but now all of a
sudden there is a problem."
He offers a theory that the attacks are not xenophobic, but
related to crime.
"If these attacks were purely xenophobic-related, then the
attacks would have spread to other townships across South Africa
that a lot of foreigners stay in. The fact that for now the attacks
are only happening in Johannesburg gets me to think that this is all
part of an organised crime syndicate," the blogger writes.
expresses shock at current affairs in her motherland.
"I am particularly pained because I too have been a refugee in
other African countries... I have been wondering whether I would
have been alive if the Zambians had been as unwelcoming to my
parents as my fellow nationals have been to our fellow Africans?
"I wonder too whether South Africa would be the free country it
is today if the rest of other African countries had been as
unwelcoming?"
The blog is run by an Englishman who has been living in Cape Town
for four years. He fears the violence will spread to other parts of
South Africa.
"It seems likely that this situation will certainly get worse
before it gets better," he writes.
He sympathises with Zimbabwean immigrants, who are being
targeted.
"What choice for the Zimbabwean immigrants particularly -
starvation in their own country or the threat of violence in this
new home?
"And me? An immigrant here myself - 'taking their jobs'. I'm just
glad that I am where I am and not facing what those less fortunate
than me are facing right now," he says.
ANC blamed
Shepherd Mpofu, a Zimbabwean student
studying in Johannesburg, writes on the blog that the violence highlights the country's leadership crisis.
"It is a crisis of governance. It is the results of the dreams
deferred... Indeed, ours shall be a stuff of nightmares. The recent
xenophobic attacks have exposed South Africa's leadership vacuum. He
condemns the "outrageous actions" by "idiots and barbarians" which,
he says, "once again shows how a country with the most progressive
constitution is still stuck in the past".
Shepherd decries the attacks on his countrymen. "It is painful to
see my countrymen being reduced to such targets of mindless attacks
by barbarians who not only fail to value themselves but humanity in
general."
The blogger suggests that an end to the Zimbabwe crisis would
help resolve the problem.
"What South Africa needs to do, through Mbeki, is act strongly
against Mugabe... The return to sanity will reflect on South Africa.
People will go back home and resources will not be as strained."
South Africa's image
Newser is concerned that the xenophobic attacks will hurt South
Africa's chance to host the 2010 World Cup.
The whole world is seeing pictures and videos of the attacks and
it cannot paint a pretty picture at all. Crime has always been a
huge issue about South Africa hosting the world cup," the blogger
writes.
"The xenophobia attacks are happening in the townships where the
poor are, so that should not affect 2010 - right? Wrong. Any form of
crime in South Africa is a negative to how the world portrays South
Africa, be it crime in the townships or crime in the leafy suburbs."
Bloggers also commented on calls for the army to be deployed to
quell the violence.
Mike, writing on , suggests that using the army is the only way to stem the
violence.
"We don't have the convenience of avoiding the embarrassment of
deploying the SANDF in our streets to restore order, it should have
been done already," says Mike.
The blogger also supports the use of the military.
"I would suggest that the time for that decision has already
passed. With every news bulletin, we are hearing of more problems,
more casualties, more deaths. However, whether Mbeki will (for
once?) act decisively in this situation remains to be seen," he
writes.
Wessel, writing on , also shares this feeling. "Perhaps we do need the army now,
even if it's a blunt instrument. It's best to stop this as quickly
as possible. It's creating instability and could soon become
something else," he says.
Mike of responds to Wessel's post: "It is a blunt instrument, but in a
way we're dealing with a 'blunt' situation here. Initially, to stem
the violence, well-managed and limited force will be necessary".
Newser also supports the calls for the army to be deployed, as
the police appear to be overwhelmed.
"There have been calls for the South African army to step in and
help or take over from the police. South Africa is not at war with
anyone, so the army is available to assist in times like this," says
Newser.
The blogger calls on the government to provide urgent solutions
before the problem gets out of hand.
"The government has an opportunity to act now and try stop these
attacks. Or do they want to wait until it really gets out of hand
before they act?"
Solutions suggested
Mike calls for commitment and determined action from the
government to resolve the problem.
"The current orgy of hate and lawlessness cannot be ignored or
dealt with by run-of-the-mill press statements," he writes.
"President Mbeki needs to address the nation via national TV and
radio and make clear that the government will not tolerate the evil
of xenophobia. He can gather the new ANC leadership (including Jacob
Zuma) and other prominent leaders around him when making such a
statement. Obviously this needs to be backed up by action."
However Wessel, on the blog, feels that Mbeki cannot provide solutions.
"I don't know if Mbeki making a speech would work. His
credibility is zero. Zuma should be on the ground, speaking to
people."
BBC Monitoring selects and translates
news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet
from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in
Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.
South Africa: Shattered Myths - The Xenophobic Violence - Nathan Geffen
http://allafrica.com/stories/200807040094.html/
Mbeki speaks on "attacks on
foreign nationals
Thabo
Mbeki - 04 July 2008
Text of address by South
African President July 3
2008
Address of the President of South
Africa, Thabo Mbeki, at the National Tribute in Remembrance of the
victims of attacks on Foreign Nationals,
Tshwane
Directors of
Ceremony,
Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Premiers, Mayors
and members of all spheres of
Government,
Your Excellencies, Diplomatic Representatives
of the sister nations of the world,
Representatives of communities which live and
work side by side with our immigrant
population,
Leaders of political
parties,
Comrades, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
Fellow South
Africans:
I am privileged to participate in this
important Gathering of Remembrance to honour fellow Africans from
our country and other parts of the African continent whose lives
were needlessly ended through the criminal violence which erupted in
various localities in our country in May this
year.
Many of us present here today view ourselves
as the offspring of forebears who advanced a noble vision starting
150 years ago - the vision of Africans, on our Continent and the
Diaspora, free at last, proud of themselves and their heritage, and
united in their resolve to combine in a mighty force of liberation
to uplift themselves.
I speak here of the Rev Tiyo
Soga.
More than 140 years ago,
Tiyo Soga wrote about the unity of all Africans both on the
Continent and the Diaspora. Writing to salute the struggle of the
African-Americans for freedom from slavery during the American Civil
War, he said the African-Americans were "looking forward to the dawn
of a better day for (the African-American) and all his sable
brethren inAfrica."
I also speak here of J.G.
Xaba.
110 (1897) years ago, J.G. Xaba, one of the
founders of the Ethiopian church movement in our country, said "the
aim of the Ethiopian church is to promote...unity in the whole
continent of Africa."
I speak too of Pixley ka Isaka
Seme.
100 (1906) years ago, Pixley Seme celebrated
the grandeur and dignity of all Africans in the following and famous
moving passages:
"I would ask you not to compare Africa to
Europe or to any other continent. I
make this request not from any fear that such comparison might bring
humiliation upon Africa. The
reason, I have stated - a common standard is impossible! Come with
me to the ancient capital of Egypt, Thebes, the city of one hundred
gates. The grandeur of its venerable ruins and the gigantic
proportions of its architecture reduce to insignificance the boasted
monuments of other nations.
"The pyramids of Egypt are structures to
which the world presents nothing comparable. The mighty monuments
seem to look with disdain on every other work of human art and to
vie with nature herself. All the glory of Egypt belongs to Africa and her people. These monuments are the
indestructible memorials of their great and original
genius.
"It is not through Egypt alone that Africa claims such unrivalled historic
achievements. I could have spoken of the pyramids of
Ethiopia, which, though inferior in
size to those of Egypt, far surpass them in
architectural beauty; their sepulchres which evince the highest
purity of taste, and of many prehistoric ruins in other parts of
Africa. In such
ruins Africa is
like the golden sun, that, having sunk beneath the western horizon,
still plays upon the world which he sustained and enlightened in his
career...
"Oh, for that historian
who, with the open pen of truth, will bring to Africa''s claim the
strength of written proof. He will tell of a race whose onward tide
was often swelled with tears, but in whose heart bondage has not
quenched the fire of former years. He will write that in these later
days when Earth''s noble ones are named, she has a roll of honour
too, of whom she is not ashamed.
"The giant is awakening!
From the four corners of the earth Africa''s sons, who have been proved through
fire and sword, are marching to the future''s golden door bearing
the records of deeds of valour done."
The visionary words
spoken by Tiyo Soga in the 7th decade of the 19th century gave birth
to the historic goal enunciated by J.G. Xaba in the 10th decade of
the same century, and this, in turn, inspired Pixley Seme's
prophetic imagining during the 1st decade of the 20th century, which
foretold of the future golden door of freedom.
It is on these
foundations, which are more than a hundred-and-fifty years old, that
generations of our people built a great edifice of African hope,
Africa's oldest
liberation movement, the African National Congress.
It is from this Mother
of Hope that we have drawn the nourishment that has defined and
taught us who and what we want to be, a Mother of Hope who must
fight through all time to remain the Mother of Hope she has been for
many generations.
As we have grown up,
because of where we have suckled, we have therefore always known
that we belong among the teeming millions of Africans in Africa and the Diaspora,
an inalienable part of these masses.
We have always known
that regardless of the boundaries drawn by others to define us as
different and separate from our kith and kin, and even despite our
occupation of different spaces across the divides occasioned by the
existence of the oceans that nature has formed, we share with those
of whom we are part, a common destiny.
We have also always
striven to combine with all Africans in Africa and the Diaspora in
one united, gigantic, open conspiracy and effort to restore to
ourselves our collective human dignity, based on the unshakeable
conviction that no African anywhere will be free until all Africans
everywhere are free.
Because we have, at all
times, known of the grandeur and originality of Africa and the
Africans, of which Pixley Seme spoke, of the indelible valour of the
African heroes and heroines proved through fire and sword, of whom
Pixley Seme wrote, we have known that as Africa and Africans, acting
together, we will achieve our Renaissance, our rebirth.
We have constantly
thought it self-evident that, as Pixley ka Isaka Seme had said, the
regeneration of Africa would come to be, and would mean that "a new
and unique civilisation would soon be added to the world...(whose)
essential departure (would be) that it is thoroughly spiritual and
humanistic - indeed a regeneration moral and eternal!"
And yet we, the
offspring and heirs to the noble spirit and vision of African unity
and solidarity advanced by our own giants of thought and action,
Tiyo Soga, J.G. Xaba and Pixley Seme, have gathered here today with
heads bowed in shame because it has seemed that what happened in our
country in May betrayed the dreams of many generations, including
our own.
We have gathered here
today to convey to all Africans everywhere, to all African nations,
severally and collectively, to our own people, and to the families
of people who were murdered, our sincere condolences, and our
heartfelt apologies that Africans in our country committed
unpardonable crimes against other Africans.
We have convened here to
express our pain that, today, we have fellow Africans from various
African countries - Somalia, the DRC, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Nigeria,
Malawi - and others, who are quarantined in temporary camps,
separated from the African communities in which they lived
peacefully as fellow-Africans, until the dark days of May that
descended upon them without warning.
We are meeting here,
today, to pledge that:
• we will do everything
necessary to ensure that as Africans, regardless of our geographic
origins, we will once more live together as Africans, at peace with
one another, refusing to impose on ourselves a new apartheid
order;
• we will work
expeditiously to achieve the reintegration of all the displaced
Africans within the communities from which they were forced to flee
because of murderous criminal activities;
• we will do everything
necessary to assist the victims of this criminal onslaught, both the
South Africans and our foreign guests, to resume their normal
lives;
• we will act without
any unnecessary delay to address all genuine concerns which may give
birth to tensions between the native and immigrant Africans;
• as we work to improve
our social and national cohesion, we will also address the challenge
to entrench the understanding that this includes full acceptance
within all our communities of new residents from other countries, as
well as the understanding among the latter that we welcome them as
good neighbours and citizens;
• we will work to
mobilise all our communities to isolate and defeat the evil elements
in our midst who target vulnerable African migrants, subjecting them
to violent attacks for criminal purposes and personal gain;
• we will ensure that
all those responsible for the criminal activities during the dark
days of May, targeted against African migrants, face the full might
of the law; and,
• we will take all
necessary and possible measures to sustain respect for the law and
our Constitutional order by all who live in our country, and the
safety and security of all these, whether native-born or
immigrant.
As many were killed or
maimed during the dark days of May, thousands displaced, businesses
and homes looted, and homes and businesses destroyed by arson, I
heard it said insistently that my people have turned or have become
xenophobic.
The word xenophobia
means a deep antipathy towards or hatred of foreigners. When I heard
some accuse my people of xenophobia, of hatred of foreigners, I
wondered what the accusers knew about my people, which I did not
know.
Over many years I have
visited many parts of our country, both urban and rural, in all our
provinces, and met many people from other countries, including
African countries, who have not hesitated to announce their
countries of origin.
On occasion I have been
amazed to hear people in the Western Cape introduce themselves as migrants
from Angola and the Democratic
Republic of Congo. On occasion I have been amazed to hear people in
small towns of Mpumalanga introduce themselves as migrants
from Somalia. On occasion I
have been amazed to hear people in Western Gauteng introduce
themselves as migrants from Mozambique.
On these and other
occasions I have known that these immigrants could thus openly
introduce themselves because they knew, from their experience, that
because they had not experienced any xenophobia, they had no need to
hide their countries of origin.
I have been to Guinea
Conakry, at the upper end of the Gulf of Guinea on
the African west coast. The Guineans told me of their
fellow-nationals who live in our country and tell their relatives
and government of how they have made our country their new home.
Everything I know about
my people tells me that these heirs to the teachings of Tiyo Soga,
J.G. Xaba and Pixley Seme, the masses who have consistently
responded positively to the Pan-African messages of the oldest
liberation movement on our Continent, the African National Congress,
are not xenophobic.
These masses are neither
antipathetic towards, nor do they hate foreigners. And this I must
also say - none in our society has any right to encourage or incite
xenophobia by trying to explain naked criminal activity by cloaking
it in the garb of xenophobia.
I know that there are
some in our country who will charge that what I have said
constitutes a denial of our reality.
However, I dare say that
if anyone convenes residents of Nkomazi in Mpumalanga,
Hammanskaraal, Atteridgeville, Alexandra Township, Diepsloot, Orange
Farm, Ekurhuleni, Motherwell, Khayelitsha, Inanda, and stays to
listen to these ordinary South Africans, none will hear our people
say we should attack immigrants, or that they hate these because
they are foreigners.
And yet, despite
everything I have said, we have, as native South Africans, gathered
here today with heads bowed in shame, because of the immense pain
and fear about the future that some among us deliberately inflicted
on fellow Africans in our country, who originate from other lands on
our Continent and elsewhere in the world.
In spite of this
reality, I will not hesitate to assert that my people are not
diseased by the terrible affliction of xenophobia which has, in the
past, led to the commission of the heinous crime of genocide.
I will not hesitate to
say that the cultures of all our people, black and white, and
despite the many centuries of racism imposed on our society by force
of arms, continue to inform the overwhelming majority of our
homesteads that they should welcome all visitors and travellers in a
spirit friendship and human compassion.
I will not hesitate to
say that despite the centrifugal impulses generated by colonialism
and apartheid leading to the dissipation of the human instinct
towards human solidarity, my people, still, harbour in their hearts
a deep-seated respect for the practice immanent in the outlook
described as Ubuntu, to give water, food and refuge to the
traveller.
As a people, we fully
understand the proverb of the people of Madagascar that it is not
the fire in the fireplace which warms the house, but the people who
get along well.
Still, we, the offspring
and heirs to the noble spirit and vision of African unity and
solidarity advanced by our own giants of thought and action, Tiyo
Soga, J.G. Xaba and Pixley Seme, have gathered here today with heads
bowed in shame, because some in our communities acted in ways that
communicated the message that the values of Ubuntu are dead, and
that they lie entombed in the graves of the cadavers of people who
died ostensibly solely because they came among us as travellers in
search of refuge.
Obviously and needless
to say, we have a common responsibility to explain this conundrum -
the seeming disjuncture which sets in opposition one to the other,
what we pride ourselves about who and what we are, and what our
practical actions broadcast about who and what we really are.
The dark days of May
which have brought us here today were visited on our country by
people who acted with criminal intent. What happened during these
days was not inspired by a perverse nationalism, or extreme
chauvinism, resulting in our communities violently expressing the
hitherto unknown sentiment of mass and mindless hatred of foreigners
- xenophobia.
Those who have eyes to
see will have seen that much of the violence we experienced was
targeted at the immigrants who had property to loot. Those who have
eyes to see will have seen that the majority of the immigrants who
live in conditions of poverty as do many of our people were not
attacked.
Those who have eyes to
see will have seen that in other disturbances in the past, allegedly
occasioned by so-called service failures of municipal councils,
small shops owned by immigrants have been looted.
We are confronted by the
reality that, objectively, it will take a considerable period of
time before we achieve our objective of providing a better life for
all our people. Objectively, therefore, together with the masses of
our people as a conscious agent of change, we must continue to
manage the reality of unfulfilled expectations.
As we have said before,
like other countries in Africa and elsewhere in the world, we are
going through a very difficult period of rising food and fuel
prices, higher costs of borrowing, rising inflation, and therefore
the erosion of the living standards of especially the poor.
None of us can be happy
or satisfied with this reality.
At the same time we must
recognise the reality, and work continuously to oppose it, that some
in our midst will seek to exploit this to attack the immigrants in
our midst, falsely blaming them for our woes, seeking to use their
vulnerability to loot their possessions for personal gain, as
happened during the dark days of May.
Today, gathered here as
a representative microcosm of our country, we must reaffirm that we
remain loyal heirs of our noble forebears, Tiyo Soga, J.G. Xaba,
Pixley Seme and the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for our
liberation, and therefore will continue, as Africans, to be our
brothers' and our sisters' keepers.
Today, gathered here as
a representative microcosm of our country, we must reaffirm that we
are committed to the sustained pursuit of the goal of the
regeneration of Africa and the African Diaspora, based on the
unshakeable understanding that we are to one another, as Africans,
brothers and sisters.
Today, gathered here as
a representative microcosm of our country, we must pledge that never
again will we allow that anybody brings shame to our nation by
betraying the values of Ubuntu and committing crimes against our
visitors and travellers, thus to besmirch the character of the
eminently good human beings who constitute our nation as a people
afflicted by the cancerous disease of xenophobia.
Today, gathered here as
a representative microcosm of our country, and proud of our people's
pioneering and vanguard role in the struggle for the emancipation of
all Africans and the restoration of their dignity, we must make the
solemn undertaking that we, as leaders and representatives of our
people, will continue to act as servants of the African peoples,
determined to combat all tendencies that lead to the dissolution of
African cohesion and solidarity at the altar of the pursuit of the
pernicious goal of personal gain and aggrandisement.
Today, gathered here as
a representative microcosm of our country, we must state that we
know that the problems of our country and Continent will not be
solved by declarations and demands, and suggestions that we have
instant solutions to address long-standing and complicated
challenges.
I thank you for taking
the trouble to gather here this afternoon. Let everybody who comes
to learn of this occasion and everything that was said this
afternoon, understand the unalterable truths that:
• as Africans we will
never abandon the values of Ubuntu;
• as Africans we will
never become enemies of other Africans;
• we define ourselves as
Africans because we belong within the family of the billion Africans
who live in Africa and the Africa Diaspora, who are linked
to one another by a common destiny;
• we are proudly
African, not only because of our indelible contribution to human
civilisation, but also because we know that the regeneration of
Africa will add new humane values to human society, as demonstrated
by the many in our society who rallied to provide assistance to and
reintegrate the thousands of displaced fellow Africans;
• as South Africans, who
fought for more than three centuries to achieve the dignity of all
Africans and all human beings, regardless of race, colour, and
gender, we will never allow that we fall victim to the criminal
perversion of xenophobia, which, in earlier times, led to the
genocidal destruction of entire peoples in the Americas, South
Africa and Australia, and, more recently, the Jewish Holocaust in
Europe and the Genocide in Rwanda; and,
• as South Africans, who
know the value of international solidarity and Pan-Africanism, we
will continue to extend a hand of help to all other Africans whether
in Haiti or the Central African
Republic; Somalia, Guinea
Bissau or Comoros; Sudan,
Niger or Zimbabwe.
On behalf of our people
and Government I humbly convey to our people, our foreign guests,
all Africa and the peoples of the world, our apology that we allowed
criminals in our midst to inflict terrible pain and damage to many
in our society, including and particularly our foreign guests.
We will do everything
possible and necessary to ensure that we have no need in future to
proffer this humble apology, which is inspired by genuine
remorse.
Thank you.
Text of speech issued by
The Presidency, Tshwane, July 3 2008
Street soccer festival to end
xenophobia
http://www.genderjustice.org.za/
Sonke Gender Justice in partnership with
Hope World Wide, Western CapeStreet Soccer League and Grassroots
Soccer is hosting a "Street Soccer Festival to End Xenophobia" on
Saturday, 5 July 2008.
As civil society organisations working on
human rights for all people living in South Africa we have all been
distressed by the recent spate of xenophobic violence. We are,
however, proud of the response by the many individuals and ordinary
citizens in the affected communities who have shown their opposition
to the violence and their commitment to a human rights culture by
taking swift action to support people affected by xenophobia.
By hosting this event, Sonke intends to both
honour those who played a role in addressing the violence and also
foster interaction and dialogue between all people living in
Khayelitsha. Teams comprising both South Africans and foreign
nationals will play in this inaugural event and in so doing
strengthen friendships, connections and common bonds.
We invite you to attend this event, to be
held at Manyanani Peace Park,
Section A, Khayelitsha on 5 July 2008 from
10:00 to 15:00.
For further information please contact Leo
Mbobi on
leo@genderjustice.org.za
A FOREIGNER IN MY OWN LAND.
IF BEING a South
African means beating on the door of a shack and demanding to see a
green identity book – the dompas of citizenship – then I am a
foreigner.
If being
a South African means dragging a woman into the road to push up her
skirt and drive my boot between her legs, then I am a foreigner.
If being a South
African means sharpening my machete to split the skull of a man
returning home from work, then I am a foreigner.
If being a South
African means ripping an infant from its mother’s back to spit in a
little face wizened by terror, then I am a foreigner.
If being a South
African means dropping concrete blocks on that mother’s head until
it bursts like a ripe watermelon on the dry dust of my street, then
I am a foreigner.
If being a South African means arrogating the
roles of policeman, prosecutor, judge and executioner, then I am a
foreigner. If being a South African means hanging over my fence and
watching the smooth skin of a man blister as he burns alive, then I
am a foreigner.
For
that skin is an infant’s, once caressed by a mother’s hand. That
skin is a man’s, and a lover’s hand passed over it, marveling at its
smoothness. That skin is a father’s, reached for in the night by a
child afraid of the dark. That burning skin was a man’s – and if
being a South African means I can’t feel that skin as my own, then I
am a foreigner. -
Margie Orford
AFRICA DAY: CELEBRATION AND REFLECTION ON THE
CHALLENGES OF LIVING TOGETHER
The violence
in Alexandra and other places in our country, including the
Western Cape,
is shocking. It is horrible and has left us sad, bewildered,
confused, insecure and deeply concerned. Our growing confidence (in
some areas of our development) has been dealt a severe blow. We
could not have imagined, as we astonished the world and stood in
long lines in all our glorious diversity in 1994, that just 14 years
later we would see South Africans turn on themselves in crime and on
their African brothers and sisters with ferocity, the explanation
for the latter simplistically called
xenophobia. We had believed that as a nation we had taken "a
great leap forward", that we had shown the world a new way to live.
The world stood in awe and used us as an example of what was
possible when human differences were dealt with within a spirit of
respect, reconciliation and civility. We were encouraged to act in
the most wonderful ways by national leaders who knew and impressed
upon us that our chances of building a nation and contributing to
the development of our continent would be greatly influenced by the
ways in which we behaved towards one another as we engaged in that
quest. We realised how fragile this young democracy was and that we
would be challenged severely, but we were bold enough to believe
that our triumph was assured. Alas!
But just as
concerning perhaps is the willingness on the part of many in our
nation and elsewhere to take the high moral ground and treat such
horrible events as the behaviour of others whom it is enough to
despise and condemn in public statement. The fact is that large
numbers of South Africans, many of them otherwise ordinary citizens,
have been caught up in these events and have themselves done
terrible things. These are our own people. We must distance
ourselves from what they have done, but we must not use moral
outrage to avoid our responsibility to search together for answers
to our many, many potentially crushing challenges. There is work to
be done on three levels, that of the state, the organisation and the
individual. History suggests that the struggle of building a culture
that is competent to support the needs of its citizens is not an
easy matter. This challenge now, given the dramatic global changes
on so many levels, is probably more difficult than it has ever been.
University
people have a particular responsibility in this. The privilege of a
higher education brings with it responsibility. Educated people are
expected to lead in ways which support the growth and welfare of our
people. Countries spend considerable sums supporting their
universities so that they can generate new ideas and suggest new
actions for the good of the society.
• We, at UWC,
can be expected to lead by example in our relationships with one
another on and off campus, including the ways in which we engage
with and challenge one another so that we can overcome the deadening
aspects of our past. This is a challenge in the classroom, in
residences, in campus activities and in the ways in which we behave
in our interactions with people in the wider world. We have to have
always before us the question of whether our conduct is inclusive
and likely to promote social transformation and development. This is
no simple matter and needs to be discussed and debated regularly.
Last year and early this year we took on this challenge boldly. We
had a week long project on homophobia and a conference on
Citizenship under the rubric of ‘Contesting with the Past". We
arranged discussions on diversity, on inclusion, and racism, each of
these connected directly to the matter of inclusively and respect.
Unfortunately not all of them were well attended.
• We can be
expected to lead by action in areas which are close to us in the
communities and organisations to which we belong. This involves
being good citizens in standing up to be counted not just
rhetorically, but also through applying our knowledge and skills to
immediate circumstances.
• Perhaps
most important, we can be expected to give an intellectual lead. The
debates about matters of racial and national difference are often
conducted largely in grab-all terms like racism and xenophobia,
which have long since lost the sharp edge of meaning which is
necessary if they are not going to blur our vision and prevent us
from understanding the major issues which they once pointed to. We
have to challenge one another constructively to come to grips with
our realities within a dramatically changed world, where our
erstwhile allies are now often our biggest competitors, and
understand these realities well enough to be able to take and
promote practical action. The word "intellectual" means someone who
understands. We must not caricature it and reduce the intellectual
work to a secondary consideration which we would struggle defend.
The concept ivory tower is unfortunate and profoundly misleading. We
must reclaim our intellectual space as one of our nation’s
indispensable treasures.
The
challenges of our country can come very close to us. We all know of
people who have been brutally dealt with, not only in what is
described as xenophobic attacks, but through crimes like murder and
rape. A student at a neighbouring institution was murdered on their
campus this week and another student was kidnapped from our
Tygerberg campus and raped. We also have unconfirmed information
about a UWC student whose father was killed in these attacks. These
three instances show the kinds of challenges our society faces. We
must unhesitatingly show our support to them and for all others
whose lives have been directly affected by these waves of attacks.
We have a long tradition at UWC of showing our solidarity in ways
which are really helpful. I ask you to make it your business to give
such support when the opportunity presents itself. But we have to go
further than the individual cases. We have to commit ourselves to
building the new South
Africa that the struggle was about.
That means facing the fact that each one us has to change: to grow
in the process.
There have
been many opportunities on our campus to work through these issues
over the past year and there will be many more. I must ask you to
make use of them. Attend the discussions. Read widely about the
issues, many of them which are dealt with in your curriculum. They
should draw engaged and enthusiastic scholarship from you. We are a
University. We have a very strong mandate to support our country’s
intellectual capabilities. Success in this alone would make us good
citizens, responding appropriately to what the real challenges are.
The special sense of concern that characterises so much of what we
do here is a powerful force. This gives us confidence that we can
take practical account of the brutal legacy of the past and surmount
it.
Sunday is
Africa day,
our continent’s special day. Traditionally it is a day where we
spend some time in celebration, but perhaps this year it should not
be celebrations of the banners and fanfare kind. Perhaps a quieter
reflective time in our own private spaces and also in the company of
those closest to us: families, special friends, roommates in
residences, study groups, societies, clubs or the like. We do a lot
of public celebrating with thunderous speeches and perhaps a T-Shirt
and a cap as a memento. Perhaps the current challenges call for
deeper, more personal moments and longer term practical commitments.
Our mission
alerts us to our responsibility to Africa within an international context.
Africa day
offers each of us an opportunity to renew our commitment to the task
of building a strong, viable and democratic continent, characterised
by the principles of Ubuntu: another term that requires our
intellectual attention. I have been asked for comments by the media.
I have responded immediately and in addition I am writing an article
on the challenge of living together. It should be published next
week. Our generation has been called to lead the way. We may not
fail.
Prof Brian O’Connell
Rector and
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western
Cape
CPUT strongly
condemns xenophobia
Cape Peninsula
University of Technology deplores the shameful and painful treatment
of foreign nationals in different parts of South Africa during the
past two weeks. Ubuntu, respect and
integrity are some of the values the University embeds in everyday
living, through example and teaching. Intolerance, killing and
maiming fellow human beings are viewed with abhorrence.
CPUT further declares
its respect and love for international staff and students who help
to make its community a truly universal one. This community will
continue to strive to create an empowering environment for all its
staff and students.
Dr Nomathamsanqa
Tisani, Acting Registrar
The Cape Peninsula University of
Technology supports the efforts of Higher Education
South
Africa (HESA) and The International Education
Association of South
Africa (IEASA) to mobilise
universities against xenophobia.
http://info.cput.ac.za/News/news.php?aid=538
PRESS STATEMENT
Law Deans condemn Xenophobia
The South African Law Deans´ Association
(SALDA) deplores the rise of
xenophobia in
various sectors of our society and expresses its concern
at the
state´s apparent incapacity to deal effectively with the causes
of the
problem and its consequences. We are particularly concerned that
students and
colleagues around the country might no longer feel safe in
our society
and we would like to reassure them of our support and
solidarity.
SALDA totally
opposes the expression of prejudice and intolerance and
the violent
reaction that we have witnessed recently. Such conduct
violates the
values of human dignity, equality and freedom which are
fundamental
to our Constitution. We emphasise that the Constitution
does not have
limited application: except in a few particular instances,
the
fundamental rights apply to everyone. Irrespective of their place
of
origin, every
person in our society is entitled to have their rights to
life, human
dignity and property respected.
We associate
ourselves fully with calls upon perpetrators to desist
from such
unacceptable conduct and instead to respect one another and
uphold and
promote our fundamental values.
Issued by:
Prof Rob Midgley, President: SALDA, 23 May 2008
Prof Riekie
Wandrag,
Deputy
Dean
Faculty of
Law
UWC
By Andrea Hart and
Jean Yung, Cape Times, 9 June 2008
DESPERATE for
United Nations intervention, at least one Somali - and possibly five
others - at Soetwater attempted suicide by jumping into the Atlantic
Ocean yesterday as 100 others threatened to do the same.
While police
and Sea Rescue stopped a suicide bid, rumours spread that some
refugees were still missing, causing a score of others to swim out
looking for them.
Husein Faras,
who attempted suicide, was rescued by other Somalis and carried back
to the camp, refugees said. Community members surrounded the
shivering 25-year-old Faras as he rubbed the bloodied cuts on his
legs.
“He wanted to
die because of his stress,” said community leader Abdulaani Wenliye.
“His brother
was murdered in Du Noon in 2006 by robbers and now he has nothing to
eat,” Wenliye translated.
Unrest was
sparked in the refugee camp after an unsatisfactory meeting between
refugee leaders and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) on Saturday. Immediately after the discussions,
Somalis at Soetwater went on a hunger strike that escalated into
threats of suicide.
They were “left
with no options and no one else to appeal to” and “had no choice but
to resort to desperate measures to get the world’s attention”, read
a statement released by the Soetwater Refugee Leadership Committee.
The NSRI pulled
from the water people looking for the missing four, said incident
commander Ian Klopper. Three rescue boats and a team of swimmers
were sent to the scene at 10am.
“We woke up and
heard that four people had gone into the water to kill themselves,”
said Somali Fatima Hiljk, who went searching in the water with 20
other community members. Hiljk said she was pulled out by the NSRI
after several hours in the water.
“It is quite a
dangerous situation because they (community members) were not
trained for rescue and those waters are extremely cold and unsafe,”
Klopper said. The typically unclear waters near Soetwater are full
of rocky ledges and sharp barnacles, he added.
When the Cape
Times arrived there, more than 50 people were standing on the rocks,
still looking for people in the water.
“We are
fighting with the UN because they don’t give us assistance,” Hiljk
said, pointing to a pile of stale bread and bottles of expired juice
delivered to the camp the previous day.
In addition to
meeting Soetwater community members on Saturday, two
representatives, Arvin Gupta and Yusuf Hassan, from the UNHCR’s
Pretoria field office, met displaced expatriates from Caledon
Square, Blue Water and His People Centre.
Though he could
not discuss the specifics of the weekend’s talks, Hassan said South
Africa did not have a resettlement programme and the UNHCR’s plan
was to help the government with the reintegration of the displaced
people - an unwelcome option for most camp leaders.
“We submitted
our request to quit this country,” said Burundian Damas Nigonkuru
from His People Centre in N1 City. “(UNHRC) told us they can’t do
anything except to help the government reintegrate us. That was not
something we were expecting. We were shocked.”
Yves Bonyeme,
spokesperson for the Blue Waters camp, said they were writing to UN
headquarters to ask for a visit from a resettlement expert.
According to
Hassan, resettlement is an option, but an extremely rare one. A
single resettlement application takes between 18 and 24 months to
process.
“It’s not that
UNHCR has a key to open the doors to all these countries, which is a
deeply embedded view in the minds of these people,” Hassan said.
Rather, its focus is on the safety and security of the large number
of displaced people and to ensure that they are receiving
assistance.
“We cannot look
at the medium- and long-term solutions,” Hassan said.
In light of the
Soetwater crisis, the Treatment Action Campaign has once again asked
all levels of government to take action and close the camps.
Activists have
demanded that President Thabo Mbeki deliver a mandate to the UN to
repatriate or resettle displaced people in a third country.
“A tragedy is
unfolding as people who fled xenophobic terror now face the uncaring
machinery of the state,” read a TAC statement.
While the SAPS
said the situation at Soetwater was back to “normal”, some Somalis
were still threatening suicide.
“I’m ready to
jump in the sea with my eight children because I have no hope,” said
a Somali woman, Raxma Moalin. Clutching her five-month-old daughter,
Moalin added: “I have nothing to give my children.”
09/06/2008 - Since this morning
there have been conflicting reports on the issue of
refugees attempting to commit suicide by drowning themselves at
Soetwater, even blatant denials - the norm as far as the government
is concerned. When I saw the front page of the Cape Times this
evening, I was horrified, angry and sad. Apart from the hell the
foreigners have had to endure; being attacked, threatened, robbed of
their belongings and chased from their homes, they were placed in
camps. Over the weekend I heard that the 2010 Stadium in Green Point
needs another R600 million to complete the task. To hell with the
stadium and the World Cup - is soccer and the World Cup more
important than the lives of these refugees? Something has gone
dreadfully wrong in this country and it has been that way for a long
time. Some of these refugees at Soetwater were desperate enough to
try to commit suicide by drowning themselves. My God, they have been
given 2 months to either leave the country or to return to their
battered and broken down communities where they were treated worse
than dogs a few weeks ago. This hatred of foreigners is not
something that happened overnight. The only reason they want some of
them back is because they miss the spaza shops where goods were
cheaper than the supermarkets - they have grown tired of travelling
to the supermarkets. I am ashamed to be a South African and have
been for years, only now I am disgusted as well.
In a recent magazine
article dated 29th May, Malose Langa, a psychologist at the
Johnnesburg Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation was
quoted as saying "South African history reflects a culture of
violence, especially in townships. We've always used violence to
solve our problems and bring about change."
Nelson
Mandela, your vision and dream has died along with the spirit of the
rainbow nation.
In
your own words" Never, never and never again shall it be that this
beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by
another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world."
The foreigners are being treated like
skunks.
- Barbara Volkwyn
I would like first to send my
greatest warm condolences to those who lost their loved ones at the
hands of those hooligans and barbarians. It saddens me to see our
so-called people spitting in the same hands that gave us shelter in
the times of apartheid, supported us in their best possible way, for
us to enjoy the freedom we are abusing.
May the Lord protect our fellow
brothers and sisters against evilness.
’’Never spit to the hand that
feeds or once fed you because calamity and catastrophy will be upon
you.’’
Today I’m ashamed to be a South
African.
- Syanda Ngcobo,
Cape Town
We South Africans lack the
understanding of what is it to be Africans, so we only think of
being a South African.
We "black South Africans" should
learn to appreciate our fellow Africans and nothing more. Most if
not all of the foreigners in our country are here because the
political situations in their countries is unendurable, and they are
contributing to our GDP by establishing businesses and employing
most of South Africans. We South Africans don’t even have the skills
to run businesses like our foreign brothers.
My last words are: "Let’s not
forget that the same might happen to us tomorrow".
- Vincent
Rikhotso
If this is the way we should die
or the price of being in this country ..so let it be. Above all let
God have mercy on all the South African brothers and sisters who
believe that killing us will solve the problems of this country.
- Stanley
Ndlovu
I am very much disappointed on my
fellow South Africans. Where is the Ubuntu as Africans? We are in
Africa and we are killing our fellow Africans, which is inhuman and
unacceptable. We are all Africans so let us unite and treat our
brothers and sister equally.
I am afraid as they say they want
to kill all Shangaan, after that they will get to the other tribes
and the minority will suffer. Shangaan are people from Limpopo which
is part of South Africa, so why kill them as they are South African?
I hope the government will do
something.
- Eric Nnditshedzeni
What is happening here is not
right. We must just think about our people (fellow brothers and
sisters) who are abroad, if something like this can happen to them.
And I think our president has
turned a blank eye about this.
The energy that people are
putting into this, they should be using to find jobs.
- Khanyisa
MAVIKANI
I think there is a group of
people behind this, and those are the ones who don’t want to see
South Africa progress.
What we must look @ is that
people are desperate to succeed as this country is growing, (but
some of them are) hopeless, so they blame people who also need to
survive. This thing makes me sad.
- Nathi
Mashinini
This is really
sad.
These are people like us,
regardless how dark they are or where they come from.
But my question is where is our
protection force (police) when these thing are
happening?
Right now there is chaos in the
streets of Jozi, at this very moment. This is ridiculous!!!!!
- Mpho Mokoka
Right now I feel ashamed of being
Proudly South African.
I feel so much pain when I see
the effect of apartheid colonization manifesting in our country.
Apartheid: divide and rule. Democracy: divide and kill.
This is very un-African, it’s
something every normal South African should be ashamed of.
We should begin to teach the
history of the SA struggle. Those mindless people should know that
our democracy came though Africa....
Please let’s teach our fellow
South Africans.
- Ally Mathye
South Africans are lucky that we,
by a miracle, managed to avoid a civil war. We were almost there and
with our current political situation, we could still end up there.
It’s amazing how quickly we have
forgotten our past. We were assisted by our brothers and sisters
from foreign lands and they supported the end of Apartheid.
Think back to the genocide in
Rwanda, the wars in DRC Congo and all over Africa. Imagine that was
you or your loved ones suffering. Wars start quickly and South
Africa is not immune, we could find ourselves in the same suffering.
These people have battled all
kinds of odds to come here with a dream for a better life which is
shared by all human beings, they eke out whatever living they can
and they take whatever job they can get. We lazy South Africans then
accuse them of taking jobs and whatever else.
While this happens our
incompetent, lazy government does nothing, they are protected by
their bodyguards and high walls while, we, the people, will have to
face whatever we find on our ways home through the city. There was
apparently no crisis in Zimbabwe, then why are all the Zimbabweans
here? Home Affairs doesn’t give skilled foreigners the right papers
so they have to take whatever job they can get, maybe that job could
have been for a South African.
It’s sad, though, that we have
become animals.
Human beings are made in God’s
image, and there is no hate in that image.
People: stand up against evil.
- Zain
Dhoodat
I’m lost for words. I don’t
understand why people are heartless. How do you look a person in the
eye, hear their screams and still continue to inflict pain on them?
That is just barbaric and not the
way of life. How do these people sleep at night knowing that you
have taken someone’s life?
It is like they have just turned
into predators hunting down animals.
Come on people, this is not fair.
They need our help, not to be killed.
- Masilo.
This is really an outcry - our
government should do something, and not tomorrow, but now.
The whole world is watching, What
about 2010 and our sisters and brothers living on the other side of
the world?
- Zweli Zulu
Why kill our own?
I am very much saddened,
disappointed and very angry with what is happening in South Africa
now, xenophobic attacks on our own brothers and sisters.
Those who blame the government
for these attacks are just making this matter worse.
We all ask ourselves where is
this hatred coming from?
This is clearly a criminal mind,
because those of us that know the history of our continent, regard
our fellow Africans as our brothers.
Parents and teachers must play a
vital rule in teaching the youth and children about brotherhood.
Police must arrest those
criminals and put them behind bars.
We are one blood, one skin and
one nation. Right now I am just disappointed at being South African.
Nkwame Nkrumah, Bob Marley, Samora Machel, Oliver Tambo and all that
preached and hoped for a United AFRIKA, should be in Shame now.
Africa Unite for the sake of our future, unite for the sake of our
children. SAY NO TO XENOPHOBIA, SAY YES TO AFRIKA.
- Mpho
Mulaudzi
South Africans (the thugs) say
that they are coming to get their jobs and are increasing the crime
statistics of South Africa…….. Correct me if am wrong….. Why then
are they looting and taking the hard-earned stuff of immigrants???
To me they are just lazy bastards that want things for free and not
willing to work hard for it. They want a job to be given to them on
their laps…..why can’t they go and get the jobs themselves… they can
start by getting a qualification and then improving themselves maybe
if they did immigrants would not stand a chance to be the preferred
candidate when applying for jobs!!
How many years have passed since
1994? It’s not about apartheid anymore……. They have had enough time
to transform themselves since then but they sit back and expect
manna from heaven…. Life doesn’t happen like that you strive to
achieve. Nothing is for mahara these days, you have to support
yourself academically as well to get anywhere in life.
South Africans went into exile
the times of apartheid and it’s these people’s countries that
supported them and looked after their people in the time of
struggle… now they are too good for their own shoes!!!!
I lived in SA for a good 7 years,
went to high school there and I left because of people with
mentalities like those that think if one is an immigrant… they are
all in the same boat …they are all makhwerekwere!!
That attitude has to stop, South
Africans…..
Racheal Phiri
It’s amazing how a fellow African
attacks another fellow African.
We need to urge our people to go
and get some education.
Let’s urge our people not to rely
on government to make a living.
Parents have to play a role too.
Our people need to know that attacking foreigners wont solve their
problems but rather get them in jail.
Why can’t we just live together
and get along.
I was in Musina this weekend and
I must say I was impressed with the way people tolerate each other
there, taking into consideration Musina is the reception and entry
point for most foreigners from Zimbabwe, Malawi and other northern
African countries.
- Prince
Mulaudzi
We would all like to travel
abroad at some point, even for a vacation with family, (yet we)
can’t even treat people (right) in our own country. This is sad and
revolting to us as South Africans.
- Nkateko
Masingi
I don’t think it’s xenophobia
anymore. Now it’s criminals attacking all nationalities and hiding
their criminal act behind the xenophobia issue.
This has opened doors to all
criminals around the country; this so-called Xenophobia has spread
to Soweto area. People are being mugged in broad day-light, people
are being killed for no reason, people are being attacked inside
their homes...
The next thing we know It will be
South African nationalities attacking each other for no reason.
It’s about time we put an end to
these criminals acts.
- Nomhle
Mdluli
I think it’s very wrong, this thing that is
happening. If they didn’t want to stay with those people, they could
have warned them to say ‘we are giving you up to this day you must
be gone’. Now they just attack and kill. It’s very sad. I didn’t
think South Africa will end up like this.
- Mapitsi Diniso
I am very sad and disappointed to
see the Africans killing and hating each other like this. It makes
me lose hope in the African Renaissance.
I hope our government is doing
something about this. It is really bad to treat our brothers and
sisters like this.
- Michael Muthadi,
Diepsloot
I think it’s just a bunch of
criminals giving the whole country and its good citizens a bad image
because they know our justice is not tough enough and they will get
away with this.
I know our government is looking
into this and trying to see what triggered these attacks.
I think they must provide proper
shelter to those people staying in police stations and come up with
a proper system from the border gates ASAP.
I really feel sorry for all of
them, especially young kids.
Kgaogelo Masilo -
Sunninghill
Where are the community leaders
in these places? Where were they when these attacks were planned? I
suppose even now they are nowhere to be found, whereas their
constituencies are in turmoil.
This situation was perpetuated by
lack of progressive leadership in these places.
The so-called councillors did not
pay attention to the needs of the people. They shifted the blame to
foreigners for a lack of service delivery. If these foreigners were
jumping queues on the housing lists, who was helping them?
This not to say our fellow
Africans are saints but South Africa’s social ills are not to be
blamed entirely on them. Most of them are poor, just like the
majority of us. Many of them are hard working, honest people, we
should embrace them and learn from them.
And please fellow South Africans,
we must not celebrate when our fellow Africans are being victimised
by criminal elements in our country.
These elements are moving to the
next level, that one of tribalism. Soon South Africans are going to
turn against each other, Xhosas will be told to go the Cape, Zulus
to KZN, Pedis to Limpopo etc.
We want progressive leaders to
talk to people on the ground to try and change their attitudes.
- Asanda
Mdala
I just want to let my brothers
and sisters know how much this is hurting and how horrible this is.
I am very ashamed of my fellow black brothers. It hurts just to
think how inhuman our chocolate coloured people are. It sends chills
down my spine!
We have children my GOD why do we
have to subject them to this?
African Brothers and Sisters you
are hurting me deeply, I am feeling the worst pain than the brother
from another mother you necklace, all because I am still alive and
burning inside, where I cannot reach out and cool
down.
The fire of pain and helplessness
inside my heart is so unbearable to bear thinking that someone out
there is homeless today yet I have a shelter, only because I am
still lucky and tomorrow it might be me.
When is this going to stop?
When is my heartache going to
stop?
Will I be able to remove the
memory of the burning human being from my conscience?
Tell me my South African Brother!
Tell me my South African Momma?
Tell me my South African Papa
How do I explain this to the next
generation?
How do I explain this to my
children?
I feel like I have failed my
country just because I am black and ashamed!
We have failed! We have failed!
- BERTHA SEREKWENG
I’m just so deeply disturbed by
this barbaric behaviour, which has been displayed by my fellow South
Africans. To see people being treated this way is totally
unacceptable. My best friend is from Zimbabwe and I love her dearly
- she is human just like anyone of us. They are also hurting. It’s
not like they have no feelings..... So please stop these senseless
attacks and brutal killings.
- Ayanda Dyasi
South Africans continue to find
themselves in a war with their black brothers and sisters from
neighbouring countries.
The current state of affairs in
most of our townships regarding the war between locals and
foreigners takes us back to the black-on-black war which saw many of
our people losing their lives. During those days, we had no idea why
there was such a war and this is also no exception as we are
fighting each other in the name of where one is from.
It saddens many of us to bear
witness to the way in which foreigners are treated in the midst of
all the crisis in Zimbabwe (even though Thabo Mbeki seems certain
that there is no crisis in that country) and how government seems to
be stuck not knowing what to do.
While the war against foreigners
is not necessary at this stage in our country, maybe it is time for
government (especially Thabo Mbeki as Mugabe’s PA) to utilize
Lindela Refugee Centre for the benefit of foreigners because the
current situation leaves a lot to be desired.
Moeketsi Sebiloane -
Ratanda
I think that South Africans are
promoting racism with this kind of behaviour. Violence has never
been a solution for anything, we know that for sure.
Zimbabweans,Malawians etc. are
all human beings. I don’t even understand the reason for attacking
these people. They are getting killed in their country.
By running to South Africa they
only want to save their life, not to take anything from us.
What happened to good South
African people?
Where do we want to go? How are
we going to establish new relationships with other countries? What
type of image are we getting?
It touches my heart to see people
being treated like that. I hate what I saw/heard on the papers,tv
& radio. South Africans should stop this because we also have
brothers and sisters in other countries who are being treated with
respect.
- Lindiwe
Sibeko
We are ALL
AFRICANS.
Why should our fellow Africans be
treated so badly and killed so brutally by we South Africans?
This xenophobic thing has helped
thugs who are busy taking valuable properties from this innocent
people.
I was shocked on Saturday when
these thugs were bullying street vendors at Tembisa station -
spilling their food, destroying their shelters.
As a Christian, we must all love
each other as we are all Africans.
May the Holy Spirit come upon us.
- Thandi
Mthombothi
I don’t like what they are doing
to our brothers and sisters. This so heart-breaking. I wish
something can be done about this situation.
- Siyabonga
Mtolo
As a young South African living
in the United Kingdom as an immigrant, I feel sad to have read in
your newspaper about the brutal attack on our fellow African
brothers by few ignorant illiterate South Africans. At first, it was
crime that turned me off from coming back home to South Africa and
now it is this....!!!
In the United Kingdom we have
many ... immigrants coming from Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia and the
rest of Europe but not even a single day have I heard of xenophobic
attacks on them. Why? Because the people were informed about
immigration and the reason for immigration and the benefits of
immigration to the country, which is economic development.
In South Africa this violence is
caused by ignorance and the failure by the South African government
to train people about immigration.
It is not their choice for them
to immigrate to South Africa. They were forced by their political
situation in their countries.
It’s a shame that this violence
is happening to a country which has just got its freedom, where many
freedom fighters were immigrants to the African countries.
Government should encourage these people to read the books about the
history of South Africa to see the contribution made by African
countries to our freedom.
Shaun ’Avuziwe
Amandulwini’ waka Dlanjwa e-London, United Kingdom
I think the government must
deport them, to save their lives!
- Rebecca
I think the police are wasting
time on keeping people at police stations.
They must be taken back to their
countries cause they no longer feel safe in South Africa. For how
long are the police stations going to be their home of safety?
They will be afraid to go back to
the township now. They are in big shock over what their brothers and
sisters have done to them.
- Lindelwa Coka
Our SA law must be blamed for
this attack as we all know it easy to become a SA citizen, even the
jobs here are easy to get without... work permits. The Department of
Home Affairs together with the Department of Labour needs to employ
people to start (inspection visits to stop companies employing
foreigners).
Ndip’s Ozithobile
(this is my personal opinion, and does not reflect the views of my
employer)
According to my individual
opinion... these monsters are lazy while others are diligent. You
take them to school; they drop out coz they are too lazy to study.
You give them a job that requires physical strength, they down tools
and vanish. They are only good at vandalism, serial killing, raping,
ATM bombing, shoplifting, looting, eish the list is endless.
Meanwhile I also suspect poor governance of our country by leaders
and others within the sphere of the government (like) in the Dept of
Home Affairs...
Nevertheless, the hard core issue
is to ensure that all of us South Africans should ensure that we
distance ourselves from xenophobic onslaught.
If today we beat up and kill the
foreigners, then tomorrow it is gonna be a Zulu versus Xhosa, Tsonga
versus Mopedi, Venda versus uMswati to name just a
few.
From Dr. Dre T
Makhubela (shortened)
This is what I think we need to
be aware of:
We need to be aware of what we
are saying because by our mouths we can also make a very big
contribution on the current situation.
The present talking is “this
thing is going to spread” why as a child of God you say such thing?
We need to say positive words and plead to God for his intervention.
If we say is going to spread as others say, to whose brother,
sister, Mother, Father is spreading too?
Let’s love one another
Let’s protect our county’s image
Let’s be kind to each other
Lastly,
Let’s all pray
for peace and I know the Lord will give it to us.
- Niko
Sithole
I don’t think this is the right
way, because this is affecting even fellow South Africans.
I appeal to those who really have
powers to put a command in this matter to stop with immediate
effect.
Apart from that, we are too lazy
to work for ourselves but we need to shine and claim that the
foreigners took our jobs.
This is not about the foreigners;
this is affecting the dignity of our country as well.
- John Lolo
Maswanganye,Tembisa
I think what South Africans do to
those people from outside the country is not right.
I think if they don’t want them
to stay here, they must make a plan to tell them to go back were
they belong. not to kill them the way they do. It is very painful to
see a man crying like a baby.
- Jane Makoro
I think this is being stupid,
fighting against our own brothers and sisters. Apartheid is over
now. It’s black against black crime legendary. It is about the
language? Our origin? At first it was about xenophobia but now
thieves got a way of doing crime.
- Sipho Masuku from
Alexandra
My heart bleeds to see what
is happening in our country. I’m even ashamed to be an African,
right now. We’ve got so much self-hate and an inferiority complex.
Why do you have to hate your
fellow brother just because he comes from the other side of the
fence which was erected by Germans, Dutch, etc. who came to colonise
our continent? Other races are probably laughing at us right now,
I’ve never seen a white South African hating another white from
France, Italy, etc. I’ve never seen an Indian hating another Indian
from India or Pakistan.
To Thapelo Mana who thinks more
than 70% of South Africans hate foreigners, don’t assume everybody
(thinks the same as you)... How many SA citizens are in UK right
now, how would you feel if they had to be killed only because they
are from SA?
I’m a South African who was born
in Zambia because my parents were involved in the Struggle.
I grew up in Zambia because the
ANC head office was in Zambia and people from Zambia were very warm
to South Africans.
There were hundreds and hundreds
of South Africans who were accommodated in proper houses not shacks.
This is shameful.
I’m even disappointed our leaders
are not doing enough about this situation.
- Tsepiso
Molotsi
I’m a very angry South African...
My father helped in building what South Africa is today. We were
helping to fight within the country whilst others were exiled and if
I may quote, during 76 we were fully committed to the struggle, we
were mobilised to fight the oppressor.
Today we don’t live to celebrate,
let alone enjoy, the outcome of the struggle.
...Government was supposed to
STOP these attacks when it started in Pretoria... Why don’t they
send the army to guard .... (the vulnerable areas where attacks are
happening)?
- P. Mkoronpi
I feel shame to poor people of
God. Guys, we are all African, why are we treating our bradas like
that?
Please South Africans, let’s
think twice . can we put the GUNS downs. Let’s join our hands
together so we can make a difference.
- MRS Rapholo,
Phomolong
I believe as South Africans we
have lost a sense of humanity (ubuntu).
It all started with people losing
respect for others for e.g. in old times your child was also my
child.
There are many issues happening
because of the lost respect like rapes, the Noord taxi rank and the
violence in Alexandra, which is the worst on the list.
We are biting the hand that fed
us, I mean back in our Struggle (apartheid) we were refugees in
their countries.
We are a lost nation.
The whole issue makes me angry
because not only is it immigrants but also our own South Africans.
So what is the really problem Alexandra? I believe the people doing
this are not working because where do they get the time to do all
this.
This must come to an end.
- Julie
Malatji
To say that I am shocked and
disgusted would be an understatement. What is going on in our
country? Have our brothers and sisters forgotten that our
neigbouring countries were assisting us during our apartheid era?
Why can’t we just be human and do the same?
How many white people are
foreigners in S.A? Do we plan on asking for their identity documents
to see their nationality?
How many South Africans are
foreigners in other countries like London, Australia, England and
Canada?
How would we as South Africans
feel if our brothers and sisters were treated this way in other
countries?
This is not Xenophobia but just
plain Thuggery and laziness of South Africans to work. We expect
things on a silver platter and seek attention from the government in
wrong ways.
Killing, raping and robbing our
foreign brothers won’t bring the price of bread down.
- M. Maseko
We have our South African
citizens that are overseas illegally, they also regard them as
foreigners but they don’t kill them….
It is not fair for foreigners to
be treated like that, I’m highly disappointed……not all of them are
criminals…like our brothers and sisters here, there are criminals
and they don’t get burned. Why not deport them?
So please South Africans let’s
practice…………….UBUNTU
- Marjorie
Makhafola
How can we turn our backs on our
own brothers and sisters? They need help from their fellow Africans,
not for us to abuse them.
How do these people sleep at
night?
Why do we call our fellow
Africans foreigners, they are African just like the rest of us.
- Tebogo Mangope
I don’t think those heartless
people who are busy killing innocent people, saying they are
criminals, are using their mind. There have been criminals here in
SA before those people came in here.
- Jenifer
Mathebula
It’s really sad that we have to
be so cruel as a nation.
We are only bringing a curse on
our nation and God will judge us.
If we really were fed up with
foreigners, why not find better means of chasing them rather than
murdering? We are murderers, thieves, selfish, full of hatred and it
now is a shame to call oneself Proudly South African.
The government on the other hand
is taking its time in trying to put a stop to this. The army should
be out there putting law and order in place.
May God give peace and comfort to
those foreigners who’ve lost loved ones. I wonder if they will ever
forgive a South African for the rest of their lives. We have made
ourselves an enemy to every African in this
continent.
- B. Phakathi
This is so sad & very
gruesome, my heart is bleeding.
How could somebody do something
like this? There is a phrase that says "Love your neighbour like you
love yourself".
People don’t have respect
anymore. They’re lost because they what are they are fighting for,
they’re killing innocent people. The people who are doing such
things, they really to be penalised.
South Africa is in Africa, where
are all these fellows suppose to go if not South
Africa.
We South Africans, we like to
make funny issues & most of us we are very lazy especially when
coming to work related issues. For e.g. We South Africans can’t go
out & look 4 the job because we have this perception of saying
‘Government said there’s gonna be more jobs created so we think that
government will come to our houses & deliver jobs 4 us’, which
is wrong.
Our fellows are here to make a
living & they don’t deserve to be treated like this, I must say.
We had voted for freedom &
democracy -- where are those 2 things? Why did we vote for Democracy
& Freedom if we are still fighting with each
other?
- Nel from
JHB
I believe the people committing
this injustice are criminals attempting to acquire assets belonging
to foreigners illegally.
The one thing that people do not
realize is that for all these people they are violating; you can
take away their homes and property but you will never take away the
experience they went through to build their lives.
So when the dust settles, these
people will go back to their country or start afresh and will become
just as successful again.
The question is: where will the
person who did the looting and killing be?
- Ishmael
Dube
IWhat is happening at the moment
is totally without sense.
Our country is not ready for such
barbaric acts.
Do those involved ever think
about the bad reputation our country is gaining, and my question is:
’Are those involved ready for the after-effects?’
- Noughty Maluleke
I really think this is not on.
Yes they are in our country illegally but who gave the South
Africans the right to kill anybody.
Look at these guys selling fruit,
veggies, sweating their lives away. These poor people do not choose
the jobs they do - they take anything that can put food on the
table.
What I would like to say to the
South Africans who do this is: when the wheel turns, their turn will
come.
- CD Sefekedi
Where is ubuntu, guys? Leave
God’s children, they deserve to be alive like you and
me.
- Concerned
Nthabi
I don’t think this is fair and
democratic. People gave up their lives for this country to be where
it is today. Our late politicians must be very ashamed of us. We
fought very have to live free and fair.
We ruled out apartheid against
whites, so why are we doing the same thing we fought very hard to
take away.
Let us give our fellow Africans a
chance to live in our country. They work very hard to make a living.
Believe me, innocent people will
die because of some selfish people of South Africa.
Give them a chance, they are good
people.
- Precious
Mnisi
My heart has an immense vacuum.
I don’t really understand why
should we fight our brothers and sisters. They are trying to make a
living here in our country same as our brothers and sisters who are
trying to make a fortune in United Kingdom and America etc.
How would South Africans feel if
their families can get kicked out in the foreign countries?
Our politicians were well-treated
in the neighbouring and overseas countries. They could do anything
they wanted to do freely.
What infuriates me the most is
that our leaders are not doing enough to stop this violence. Instead
of going out there to speak to these angry people, they are sitting
and making comments from their offices.
Our president as a leader of this
country should leave whatever he is busy with, and attend to
attackers and victims before it’s too late. Our leaders must lead by
example.
- Buns
I saw the clips Flames
of Hate. The next thing, a drop of tear fell off my face…
How on earth can I sleep at night
when I have witnessed (or those who participated) in such an act?
I call upon HIS name I ask HIM to
lay HIS holy hand above every SA citizen who has lost their
conscience.
Let their conscience be
re-awakened so that they can feel the pain I feel about them.
They are human and victims of
unforeseen circumstances from their home of birth... the next thing
to be killed heartlessly…
I plea to all who has power and
voice to put a stop to it with immediate effect!!!!!!!
- Mthandeni
Masuku
This is very disturbing to see
our fellow neighbours dying in this fashion.
I will say the Home Affairs
Department has still got a lot to do in this issue. The control for
who gets in and goes out is not effective. Enough is not done on our
borders. I think police need to control the situation as soon as
possible.
- Emmanuel Magoro,
Tshwane
The freedom that our brothers and
sisters fought for in the apartheid era, we use to kill today.
The rainbow nation has now turned
their backs on their needy African neighbours. The right to life and
dignity does not only apply to SA citizens but to all human kind. By
taking their lives we imply that they do not deserve to live not
only in our country but anywhere else? But it makes it okay when we
go to other countries to empower ourselves and we are treated with
the utmost humanity.
The thing that foreigners are
taking our jobs is not true because we are too arrogant to start at
low jobs, we rather settle for stealing people’s hand bags and cell
phones. Even if foreigners are all dragged out of the country,
conditions will not change for as long as the attitudes of people do
not change! South Africans are lazy and blaming it on the
foreigners.
We must start learning to use our
brains because nothing is free and hard work pays.
I am not encouraging illegals to
come to our country, but my cry is against the brutal killings as a
result of Xenophobia.
- Kelebogile Khoza
in Pretoria
Do the people in South Africa
still want SA to host the Soccer World Cup? Violence against
foreigners is sending out a negative message to the world.
The people whom are attacking and
killing foreigners are murderers.
I think in SA we would rather
want the good foreigners than criminal South
Africans.
Instead of taking the law in your
own hands, let’s petition the government, to start a campaign to
send foreigners back to their own countries.
Using violence is not the right
thing to do, as a lot of innocent people are killed.
- Concerned South
African, M. Steyn
We have had the great fortune of
having someone who took our country from chains into freedom without
plunging us into a war, these unfortunate people did not have such a
leader.
I beg you as once-proud South
Africans to listen to your hearts and have a bit of compassion.
If you believe that there are
some foreigners who are causing problems, help the police in
identifying them and apprehending the and leave those hardworking
ones alone.
- James Burton
(shortened)
It’s very bad that some South Africans are
beating foreigners, especially blacks. I think they forgot the days
of apartheid when they used to live in other countries peacefully
even in Mozambique.
What could have triggered this?
Should we treat South Africans
who live in our countries like that too?
I don’t think an educated person
does what this people are doing.
They should be ashamed.
- Modiri
Ontitile
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