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South Africa: One Dead And Sixty Injured in Xenophobia Attacks Near Joburg
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SW Radio Africa (London)
12 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Tererai Karimakwenda
Violence between locals and foreigners broke out again in South Africa on Sunday night, leaving 2 foreigners dead and 4 seriously injured.
Reports said 60 others suffered injuries in the xenophobic incident that flared up in Alexandra township near Johannesburg. The foreigners were mostly from Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique. The nationality of the two who died has not been determined.
Anna Moyo from the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) said the locals accused the foreigners of being responsible for the escalating crime rate in the area. There has been a recent increase in the number of armed robberies, house break-ins and theft. The incident started when a mob of locals broke into shacks and ordered the foreigners to move out of the area.
Police spokesperson Inspector Simon Maphakela said: "They threw stones at these people, shot at them, whipped some of them with sjamboks and robbed them. They say the foreigners rob them on the streets."
Maphakela said all the victims were either from Malawi, Mozambique or Zimbabwe. The police reportedly arrested 12 people, who will face a variety of charges including murder, attempted murder, theft, malicious damage to property and public violence.
Moyo said violent incidents between locals and foreigners have been occurring more frequently and the South African government is doing nothing to address the issues. In April alone there were violent incidents in Pretoria and in Cape Town, which also took several lives. Moyo said some of the perpetrators in the Pretoria incident were identified and brought to the police station. But as far as ZEF know they were never brought to book.
ZEF have written to the department of Theft and Security and the Ministry of Home Affairs about these serious attacks. Moyo said the Security Department wrote back saying they would confirm a date for a future meeting. The Home Affairs Department never responded. ZEF also wrote to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Moyo said officials there had no interest in talking to them.
Zimbabweans are experiencing a tough time in South Africa as the government of President Thabo Mbeki maintains the policy that there is no war in Zimbabwe and continues to deny legal status to the majority of refugees. Those with legal documents say the police sometimes force them to pay bribes in order for them not to rip up or burn their papers.
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Meanwhile, an unspecified number of Zimbabwean refugees have been at Lindela Detention centre for almost a month now, after they were arrested at a demonstration at the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria. The event was organised by the ZEF and the Zimbabwe Revolutionary Youth Movement to protest China's sale of arms to the Mugabe regime. Over 100 Zimbabweans were arrested and those with legal papers were released within a few days. The fate of the arrested group remains unclear but ZEF have lawyers fighting against their deportation back to Zimbabwe.
Black on black racism? Well who would have thought it. I'll bet £100 or $39,912,474,892.46 ZWD that someone blames whites for it.
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