i think it is wrong for the people of SA to attack this people although some may have been seen robbing people but lets put ourselves in their position were you have no where to go you have a mad man running your country lets not attack the innocent and i feel that many people have problem about foreigners especially if the person is from africa but if it was someone from ameriva this would never had happened because they fear americans which is wrong.

i think it is wrong for the people of SA to attack this people although some may have been seen robbing people but lets put ourselves in their position were you have no where to go you have a mad man running your country lets not attack the innocent and i feel that many people have problem about foreigners especially if the person is from africa but if it was someone from america this would never had happened because they fear americans which is wrong.

It is not racially based according to defintion only "Whites" can be racists or am i incorrect look it up in a dictionary Normally black on black violence is called tribalism or is it "NEW SPEAK" aka 1984

Ignorance is more expensive than education. When I lived in South Africa(1995-98, I faced the same xenophobic attitude from our Black South African brothers.More than three times, I escaped death.Then I left the country.What surprises me is that the government has done little or nothing since then.By condoning Mugabe's regime, one of the unintended consequences is the flux of Zim refugees to South Africa and they have no choice but to fight for survival, which put them in collision with the poor black south africans who have been misled to expect entitlements from the government. The sad part is this problem can only get worse as long as it's not recognized and "third forces"are to be blamed. SA should have a comprehensive immigration policy and also educate its masses that South Africa is part of Africa whether they like it or not.

From a former"Makwerekwere"

Xenophobic Violence Against Foreigners

I am very saddened and disappointed about the xenophobic attitude and behaviour of some Black South Africans toward foreigners. They must surely have very short memory:

Over three decades they were victims of extreme White racist regimes. During these periods, many foreign countries including neibouring countries and those far off provided countless number of South African with safe havens;

Many countries imposed sanctioned on the White South African government in support of the suffering Black South Africans;

Some countries directly aided the ANC's fight against Apartheid by offering military and other assistance.

The success of the ANC was largely made possible by the role of the international community thereby creating the freed South Africa today in which these our fellow Black South Africans are unleashing xenophobic havoc against their non-South African brothers and sisters.

Let our Black South African brothers and sisters remember to not bite the hands that once fed them, above all, made their dream of a free and democratic South Africa possible.

They must also come to the realisation that foreign residents in South Africa are not in charge of running both the national and local governments including the economy, police, housing and social services. It is therefore very stupid to blame foreigners for the failures of national and local governments.

They must also crucially remember that every good term deserves another. Zimbabweans were one of the main hosts of South Africans in diaspora, and now that they too are running away from Robert Mugabe's regime, they deserve all the goodwill of their fellow South African Black brothers and sisters.

I am not a Zimbabwean or even from Southern Africa but a Black British of Liberian origin. I do however remember Liberia hosting several Black South Africans out of the sense of pan-African brotherly duty and responsibility.

I am particularly disappointed with the Mbeki’s government which appears to be doing very little or nothing to curb the xenophobic violence against foreigners in general and Zimbabwean at large.

Many thanks to those South Africans, who are against the xenophobic violence against their fellow Africans and other foreign nationals. Your individual and collective efforts would better surface by taking direct actions such as mass demonstrations against the violence, and petitioning your government for pro-active actions against those involved in the violence.

Zeo Mensah London