SW Radio Africa (London)
Tererai Karimakwenda
19 May 2008
The xenophobic attacks on foreigners, including Zimbabweans, that left 3 dead in Alexandra township last week have now claimed over 20 lives after the gangs moved into other areas of Johannesburg over the weekend.
The violence has continued to escalate and more fatal attacks were reported Monday. In the last 3 days hundreds have been injured, thousands left homeless and many raped as the attacks on foreigners spread to the whole of the Johannesburg area, including Germiston, Alexandra, Hillbrow, Ekurhuleni in Boksburg, Thembisa, Thokoza and the Eastrand area.
The South Africa Police Service have said they do not have enough manpower to cover all areas. Police stations have become temporary shelters for thousands of displaced refugees. These tragic events have added another stain on the record of President Thabo Mbeki, who is being blamed for ignoring the Zimbabwe crisis and its effect on his own soil.
Anna Moyo of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum reported that gangs of youths, numbering from 50 to 100, attacked the homes of refugees over the weekend. The attacks were vicious and cold blooded. Moyo said that one gang was photographed by a reporter as they laughed while a victim was burning to death. Many victims were thrown out of windows and dozens have serious back injuries.
The Central Methodist church in Johannesburg where Bishop Paul Verryn shelters about 1000 Zimbabwean refugees, was saved by the police on Sunday. Bishop Verryn said a gang that was making its way towards the church was blocked by police who were patrolling nearby. A local resident had passed by earlier during church services and flashed a gun to scare the parishioners. The Bishop said the divisions between locals and foreigners could have been mended sooner, if the language of the country's leadership had been more welcoming. He said: "The locals believe they are doing what the government is doing anyway, getting rid of the 'illegals.'" He also blamed press reports for painting a negative image of foreigners in their reports.
Zimbabwean organizations based in South Africa have blamed President Mbeki and the South African government for doing nothing, for too long. South Africa's own civil organizations have also pointed to the official policy as contributing to the divisions.
The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum released a statement that said: "There is a pattern to this, and senior government officials who suggest that foreigners are to blame for unemployment, crime and HIV-AIDS do not help the situation, and should be brought to account for their incitement to hatred. Equally responsible are sections of the media that are known to government, and have been writing inflammatory first page editorials against so-called 'aliens'."
The umbrella labour group, Cosatu, conducted anti-xenophobia demonstrations in several cities on Saturday. Cosatu officials made speeches in the local townships appealing to the locals to understand the plight of the refugees. They also explained that unemployment and housing shortages were not the result of the presence of foreigners, but a failure on the part of government to provide for the people.
Fred Bridgland, of the Institute for War And Peace Reporting, described the riots as a "black-on-black ethnic-cleansing frenzy". He said it was a crisis that has been waiting to happen for months and seems likely to escalate. Bridgland said the locals have been growing increasingly angry with their own head of state, President Thabo Mbeki, accusing him of being 'more concerned with appeasing Mr Mugabe than recognising the scale of the problem caused by the flood of Zimbabweans into South Africa'.
South African blame the outsiders for taking their jobs, accommodation and women. The tragic truth is that South Africa's problems are not being caused by foreigners. The country has 40% unemployment, rising food prices and a shortage of housing. The presence of more foreigners just makes a bad situation appear worse.
Mbeki refuses to publicly acknowledge the depth of the problem caused by Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF, but with an estimated 3 million refugees from Zimbabwe alone, and more crossing the border every day, he better wake up to the problem and deal with it. The Zimbabwe crisis is not just about one small country. It's about a situation that is destabilizing the entire region.
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I was shocked to hear the comments like these from Mbeki after all these attacks, He said Police are not doing their work right, he then said POLICE MUST ACT FIRMLY TO THOSE WHO ARE PERPETRATORS. We never heard such comments from him on what is his brother(Mugabe) is doing in Zimbabwe. Mbeki needs to do his job right and to act firmly on Mugabe before this happens here in South Africa. I'm surppoting or against what is happening to the foreighners but the truth is South Africans will not suffer because Mbeki is Accademically Educated or whatever reasons that… [Read Full Text]
Forget racism! Mbeki, as a person and the current leader, has a responsibility to carry out "good" governance in South Africa. It is a known fact that problems on your borders are bound to effect your own country. When a leader denies or is blind to the facts and states "there are no problems in Zimbabwe ....", then you are destined to follow the same slippery slope that most African countries seem to go through.
It's sosad these must be the Darkest days for Zimbabweans even outside our country we cannot excape the horror and violence. I was not born in the Rodesian Era so I dont know if its ever been this bad? When will we return home and live in peace ans prosperity is it too much to ask
Kving, Zimbabweans have been treated like this before in Britain, after welcoming them, then telling them to go back to Zimbabwe because there are no human rights violations in Zimbabwe. Why do Zimbabweans not learn from that! Why would a Zimbabwean teacher leave his country and go to South Africa to become a street beggar? Is it not better to suffer in your own country? Zimbabweans fall easily to prey by people promising them life is better outside. Life maybe better in South Africa, but is it good for Zimbabweans when they get there!!! Our neigbors are losing patince with… [Read Full Text]
The interesting is that the attitude of South Africans towards people from other countries is very strange. Even if you meet them in other countries, they still call you derogatory names "kwerekwere", even if theya re in your country. Even the professional ones. Its not hatred of Zimbabweans only, but every African except for Tswana, who will also call you a "kwerekwere". If the foreigner is white then they are exempted, they are not called by derogatory names.
I do not condone the attacks on foreigners, and i think South Africa has gained so much from foreigners, for a long… [Read Full Text]
South africans are behaving like kenya's Odm warlords. after being hosted by other countries during aphatheid it is true that thanks of a donkey are kicks. What could they have done if they were kenyans who have hosted refugees from uganda, sudan, ethiopia, somalia, congo, nigeria for decades?
My Heart goes out to ALL of Africa. Why is South Africa, after all these years, now picking on foreigners IN NEED. They can treat Europeans like their brothers and sisters and forsake their own people. This is BS. I'm so tired of all the RACISM in AFRICA towards BLACK on BLACK - not WHITE on BLACK, etc.
What is wrong with our people. Ever since the White man stepped foot in Africa and Colonized us (even though I'm American - I still consider my Ancestors from Africa) we have been SCREWED as a RACE… [Read Full Text]
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It would seem Mbeki is the perfect sacrificial lamb at the moment,as he cannot or will not defend himself,BUT to think you (the people) have an entitlement over others, is not only RACIST but EVOLUTIONIST as well.