Xenophobia: S’Africa on negative side of history

The latest outbreak of anti-immigrant violence has been widely blamed on a speech by King Goodwill Zwelithini, traditional leader of the Zulu ethnic group, in which he linked foreigners to crime and said they must “take their bags and go”. The king has since claimed his words were misconstrued.After the incidences, more than 300 people […]

The latest outbreak of anti-immigrant violence has been widely blamed on a speech by King Goodwill Zwelithini, traditional leader of the Zulu ethnic group, in which he linked foreigners to crime and said they must “take their bags and go”. The king has since claimed his words were misconstrued.
After the incidences, more than 300 people have been arrested in connection with a wave of violence against immigrants from other parts of Africa, the minister of home affairs Malusi Gigaba says.
He issued a warning to those responsible, saying that they would be subject to “the full might of the law”.
At least six people have been killed in the past two weeks. Armed groups have targeted shops run by African immigrants, accusing them of taking jobs from locals.
In fact, the spate of attacks has revived memories of xenophobic bloodshed in 2008, when 62 people were killed in Johannesburg’s townships, shaking South Africa’s post-apartheid image as a “rainbow nation” of different ethnic groups.
In the present situation, thousands of foreigners have fled their homes to shelter in makeshift camps, and neighbouring Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique have announced plans to evacuate citizens.
“Everything is being done to restore peace and order,” he said. “The government will enforce the laws of the country and will not hesitate to act speedily and decisively.
“We also want to issue a stern warning to those who lend themselves to acts of public violence: We will find you, and you will be dealt with to the full might of the law,” he said.
In Durban on Saturday, President Jacob Zuma told a group of people displaced by the violence that the unrest went against South African values and that he would bring it to an end, but he was jeered by some in the crowd who accused him of acting too slowly.
He faced a hostile reception from the crowd, which yelled “go home, go home” and “too late, too late“.
He vowed to end the unrest and sought to assure the crowd there was a place for foreigners in South Africa.
“Even those who want to go home, they must know that when we the have stopped the violence they are welcome to come back,” Zuma said.
Zuma had cancelled a state visit to Indonesia to deal with the upsurge in violence, and pleaded with foreigners to stay in South Africa.
Migrants, mostly from other African states and Asia, have moved to South Africa in large numbers since white-minority rule ended in 1994. Many South Africans accuse them of taking jobs in a country where the unemployment rate is 24%.
Official data suggests there are about two million foreign nationals in South Africa, about 4% of the total population. But some estimates put the number of immigrants at five million.
Heightening public concern over the attacks, the Sunday Times published front-page pictures of a Mozambican man being stabbed to death in broad daylight in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra.
The photographs showed Emmanuel Sithole being attacked early Saturday by a man in jeans wielding a knife.
Sithole was taken to hospital but died of his wounds, the paper reported.
Speaking on Aljazeera’s Inside Story, Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder, “Gift of the Givers” and Human Rights Advocate said immigrants are “very, very disillusioned, very sad and very angry. They are saying they stood by the country during the time of liberation when they are fighting for liberation.  We took South Africans into our country as brothers. We hosted them, we showed them love, we showed them care.
According to him, the immigrants are asked to stay back until the matter is resolved but refused saying they have “lost faith in South Africa, lost respect for South Africa and lost respect for South African people.”   
Also speaking on the programme, Chairman Soweto Business Access and Director, South African Spazas and Tuckshop Association, Mphuthi Mphuthi described the incidence as very unfortunate as if it portrayed the views of all South Africans. “And what I wish to convey to everyone is that we are very sorry about what we are seeing,” he said.
Mphuthi confessed that the issue of targeting foreigners has been an issue in South Africa for decades now adding that there have been negative opinions about foreigners in the country.