Wading through the tons of articles on xenophobia, I am of the view that while some — such as Jacob Zuma, the ANC as a party, Cosatu, AfriForum and Patricia de Lille — are hitting the nail on the head, others are just taking gratuitous pot shots at the people of Alexandra without any insight into the problems giving rise to the attacks.
The bottom line is that xenophobia is unacceptable, but so too is ignoring its underlying causes.
Many “experts” and politicians are jumping on to the “clampdown on xenophobia” bandwagon without so much as a casual remark about those victims suffering from uncontrolled immigration run wild. Perhaps they’d best remember that these so-called members of a third force (or criminals, as they are so quick to judge them) are, in the main, simply the residents of towns and cities overrun by immigrants.
In addition, many of their grievances are related to issues that have nothing to do with immigrants at all — so best people go and find out why our brothers and sisters in these areas are up in arms before applying labels of expedience. An adamantine approach to the xenophobia issue will leave more than just the residents of Alexandra much poorer.
While people are quick to point out that African countries housed South Africans during apartheid, they are slow to recognise that most communities involved in this issue are those that suffered the most under that evil.
In addition, don’t fool yourself into believing that only those who have committed acts of violence are disenchanted with the situation. The residents are very sympathetic to the reasons that gave rise to the violence, as I discovered when I visited Alexandra this week.
Polokwane, lest we all quickly forget, was all about uplifting the poorest communities. Well, guys, labelling them as criminals is not in the spirit of that conference. It’s a slap in the face of these communities to hear that their desperation and frustration make them into criminals. It might have slipped many people’s minds, but many of those labelling them as criminals really have no room to speak.
An apology is due to the people of Alexandra and Diepsloot for the insensitive way that they have been treated by the press, experts and politicians. Everyone has apologised to our guests — now try to do the same for your fellow South Africans.
Having said that, I am highly encouraged by the way Jacob Zuma, for example, highlighted their plight. While addressing students at the University of Zululand, he stated: “We must understand that nation-building requires that we tackle the material differences between our people. We cannot have a united nation when a significant section of our society remains in poverty, or do not have access to quality education, or still live without basic services like water or housing. We cannot have a united nation when the bulk of the country’s wealth is retained in the hands of an extremely small minority.”
As Obama pointed out at Philadelphia, their problems must be considered our problems because in finding solutions for them benefits all South Africans. (Of course he was referring to the plight of black and white Americans.)
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille’s response to the outcry was: “Xenophobia is happening because we have no proper mechanisms to deal with refugees and illegal immigrants.” This is right on the money. It is pointless hammering the people of Alexandra when one of the major reasons for their anger has not even begun to be addressed. The ANC must also note that recognising the plight of the poor and the problems with immigration is not the same as doing something about it. It needs to put pressure on the government to start clarifying, implementing and adding to policy very quickly.
Cosatu, together with the ANC, the SACP, the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum in South Africa, the Swaziland Solidarity Network, the South African NGO Coalition, Disabled People of South Africa, the Treatment Action Campaign and the Anti-Privatisation Forum will be marching in protest to highlight both the situation in Zimbabwe and the soaring food prices that are hitting the poor particularly hard.
They have added xenophobia to the reasons for the march, which is primarily to focus on these communities as well as Zimbabwe.
In addition, AfriForum’s deputy CEO, Alana Bailey, wrote a very relevant piece on the reasons giving rise to these communities finding themselves fearful and frustrated.
The government would do well to read this piece. It sets out the problems that have been created by its failure to control the borders and implement stricter immigration control.
There are many more positive examples of people slamming xenophobia while calling for recognition of the problems being experienced by our poorer communities.
What I would like people to do is read the articles attacking xenophobia and check to see whether the same people have regard to the people of these communities. If they don’t, ask them why. Our poorer communities are meant to be the focus of our government post-Polokwane and it’s time people start acting like that is the case.
In addition, do not condone the branding or labelling of communities or individuals as criminals or a third force before checking to see whether the hat fits. It is far too expedient for my liking and suggests a laziness or refusal to investigate the causes of the problems.
Xenophobia, despite much of the nonsense you are reading, is not a crime. Acting on your fear or contempt for foreigners by committing acts of violence or even spreading hatred are crimes.
Let’s decriminalise the situation by removing the criminals and getting rid of the reasons which give rise to the unreasonable fear and hatred.
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61 Responses to “Xenophobia: Residents of Alexandra owed an apology”
While you are at it, Stop using the word xenophobia. It contadicts your recently acquired sentiment as expressed above.
Fact of the matter is the ANC in its unpragmatic reasoning invited my countryman to share in limited dwindling cake The realisation that South Africa is not infinitely rich as per the impression it has given out there is sobering.
Where was Jacob Zuma all along? He is a lucky guy that when the house they built has come down he blames the foreman. In December 2007 I was telling some guys who were thinking of obtaining quota work permits to make it snappy and work in SA for at the maximum 2 years because after 2009 the sentiment towards foreigners would change. It is how the system works all over the world. Only bad because it happened much earlier and on Thabo’s watch.
What is scary is the absence of an openly black political rightwing to support the locals. It is very scary because it is there waiting to take advantage of the dissenting locals for political expediency but for now it is clothed in the veil of political correctness. There are many Rush Limbaugh’s and Lepein’s out there and until the issue of immigration is dealt with fully in the open with every sentiment and hate in the South African intelligentsia out there the situation is very scary. let us know what everybody including every intellectual really feel about us. It is nothing to be ashamed of. So much for democracy.
Man, you’re damn right. Funny that all our so-called mainstream newspapers and TV stations while they profess to be left-wing, people’s papers and other false assertions none are based in any of these areas. Does any newspaper have a Soweto, Alexandra or Khayelitsha bureu chief?
Methinks this is where the trouble lies, it was so funny this week seeing journalists and photographers being in Alex and Diepsloot overnight hoping for that career scoop.
If they made Alex or any other township their beat, they’d get more career-changing scoops.
And those who talk about civilised township folks should come and spend a night in a shack on the banks of the Jukskei river this winter then they can blabber.
Not from the comfort of their fenced-off and guarded mansions.
I suppose Michael Trapido will not respond to these comments, but so be it. He has spoken the word, we have to listen. I have been one of those who wrote against the xenophobia displayed in Alex, Mamelodi and Attridgeville. I am still against it and also against the explaining and justifying. Xenophobia, like racism and the ethnocentric violence that erupted in the wake of the Kenia elections is unacceptable and the perpetrators should be shamed and they should account for their actions. We all stand ‘amazed’ at what happened in Kenya, at what happens in Zimbabwe, but when it happens in our own townships, it’s expedient to go soft on the cruelty and barbarity (if there is such a word) and point the finger at the government. [I’m not event going to go to the question what would have happened if it was whites or coloureds being the perpetrators!]
Of course, there are social conditions that adds fuel these actions, and pro-active actions that government should have taken. That is a different debate and legitimate in terms of our political processes. The bottom-line is: there are political mechanisms in place in our country, to address these real concerns. What happens in these incidents of xenobhobia is undermining what we as a nation stands for and believes in, but more so it undermine our constitution. It’s embarrassing to find people who justify it… shameful
Mike,
The events of this week made me remember what one colleague of mine told me some time ago, that “Its difficulty to be Black”. In the South African context add, To be Black and a foreigner is deadly. Whilst there are many immigrants in this country, Indians, Whites, Chinese and African Xenophobia is only directed at African immigrants! Its facinating because just as the other groups have chosen to live in South Africa legally or otherwise there are not subjected to the same scrutiny as the africans. To most South Africans especially African, black immigrants are all painted with the same shade. I hear crime now is being blamed on these same people. One has to wonder if South Africa pre-1994 was any safer to live in than now.
Mike, do you really think that immigrants are to blame for the poverty and economic hardships in SA poor communities today? In times of economic strife weaker members of society are easy targets even when they have nothing to do with the current ststus quo. Hitler did and worked wonders for him against jews. They were easy targets because they were defenseless. In America today because of the down turn in the economic immigrants are being targeted as people grupple with the economic situation.
Why is that its only black african immigrants who are targeted for this attacks? The xenophobia happening now is a result of apartheid which prescribed poverty for black South Africans.
Mike you are here because your descendants chose to come and live here. Why can’t black africans also have that same choice.
Last December, some illegal immigrants living in a block of flats near my house decided to spend the 25th to the 2nd of January having a long, loud party which exceeded all bounds of decency and neighbourliness.
After five fruitless calls to SAPS’s 10111 number (including getting a response that if I couldn’t give them the exact street address, they couldn’t come - just as well it wasn’t a murder in progress), I finally went to my local police station to report the matter.
The police told me they have received a directive from above not to interefere with, nor arrest illegal immigrants. I nonetheless insisted they follow me to the block of flats and restore order, which they eventually did.
Obviously, one crowd of unruly illegals doesn’t mean one should tar them all with the same brush, but my attitude is simple: if I owned a gun, I would have gone across and shot them and hang the consequences.
We live in a country where law-abiding citizens cannot count on assistance from the police and where the powers-that-be (Denialist Mbeki, et al) make public pronouncements that our borders should be porous and we should welcome all and sundry to come and snaffle the proceeds of a few tax slaves who try and do things the right way.
This is unacceptable. I full support the people of Alexandra. Drive this rubbish back to the countries they came from, and tell our President to stop his quiet diplomacy nonsense and exert some leadership in the SADC region so that citizens of its country don’t need to come to South Africa to seek refuge from dicators to begin with.
You do have a blind spot about Zuma don’t you? He is great at stateing the obvious - like “people need to eat”. I have never read anything he has said which could not have been equally said by you, me, or the homeless man in the street. Give me one example of original thought please?
Well put, Michael! Consider this: First we support Uncle Bob for years and years because we deem him a brother in our never-ending struggle for freedom, despite the fact that he is a brutal dictator with the emotional intelligence of a 6-year old who oppresses his fellow countrymen, yet when 100s of 1000s of the members of his family flee to seek shelter in this country we have nothing but a blind eye for their ordeal and leave the citizens of South Africa with bearing the brunt of the consequences of this quiet hypocrisy.
With leaders like these, who needs enemies?
you need to write something called: “Residents of zimbambwe owed an apology” they wouldn’t be here if mbeki weren’t helping to create the conditions under which they were leaving in the first place, innit?
George,
Do you think the fact that so many illegal black Africans live in black South African townships and squatter camps might have anything to do with them being ’singled out’ as a special threat to locals?
How many Indian, Oriental or white immigrants live and work in the townships and squatter camps? Could that have anything to do with the black on black ‘zenophobia’–ya think?
There is no excuse for illegal immigration;however, there may be several reasons for it. Many of the legal–and illegal–black immigrants bring with them a set of skills, a command of language and some experience in business and the professions that this country is in dire need of in the wake of mass white emigration over the past 15 years. It is far cheaper for the government to permit such skilled black Africans to stay here and build an economic base than it is to provide the training and funding that is needed to ‘up-lift’ the poorly educated, unskilled, unemployed local population!
The government can use this foreign influx as it pleases: to fill a local need or to decry the need to replace those who have left or–if all else fails–explain why local development initiatives haven’t been more effective (these foreigners are more ’saavy’ and know to work the system so don’t chase them away,learn from them.) The one thing an ANC government will never do is put an efficient, non-corrupt Department of Home Affairs in place. The chaos serves to deflect attention from failed—or largely Un-Enforced policies.
Sadly, the present state of affairs will only encourage all kinds of factionalism: racist, nationalist, and ultimately, tribal. Not to mention the benefit to the health department of an influx of mainly healthy new black workers in the age of HIV/AIDS. Cynical? So is permitting arms to reach Zimbabwe. Fewer people = less cost to government. Healthy illegal immigrants can be used to re-stock the economy —and they can always be chucked out when they served have purpose! Convenient, isn’t it?
Mike these is a very controvesial conversation.I must start by admitting that you made a great effort to understanding the plight of the people of Alex and have gone a great way rather than just condenming them as rascals and hotheads who dont want to work but will take every opportunity to blame anyone for their misery.
The truth is(,as i have always insisted in my responses to your articles)the ANC led government has failed a lot on coming with the solutions surrounding poor service delivery.Listening to the people of Alex on why they have behaved like these it makes great sense why are they up in arms.If the house that should be yours is occupied by a foreigner while you are staying in a shack thats enough reason to turn you into violence.
The people of Alex are saying enough is enough.We have spoken to our councilors about the problem and they still continued to give houses to foreigners in a corrupt manner while we as South Africans have no houses,no proper sanitation and no proper water system.
Come the elections,the same officials will be campaigning and making new promises they cant keep.Do i support their resort to violence?no i dont.but listening from them, they claim to have tried to bring these to the government attention but those in authority turned a blind eye on them.So what is the next step?to take out our frustration on everything we are trying to make right by law and doesnt want to come right.
The government should take these matter seriously since now its like a disease,its spreading all over the other townships throughtout the province.
Don’t confuse one issue with the other. At no stage am I condoning xenophobia - quite the contrary - read all 3 articles in the set. I am scathing of xenophobia and call for harsh measures for those who commit crimes resulting from it.
That said having exonerated our refugees I call on the government and those who just slam the local people of our country not to just condemn xenophobia and then ignore the very real problems facing the communities of Alexandria, Soweto, Diepsloot etc.
Just to call them criminals or a third force is bullshit. They need to go in there and find out what is making them angry. A lot of it has nothing to do with immigration but corruption and incompetence of local authority. It suits people to just call them criminals.
Soft spot for Jacob Zuma?
Initially I was very pro-Mbeki and tolerant of JZ. If you read through you will see articles where I was scathing of JZ.
Blind spot - me? Doubt it, I still have a go when I don’t like things that are said. If you go through the blog you will see as Mbeki has destroyed our foreign policy including Zim I have become very hard on him and yes I a have become a big JZ fan.
When last have you seen our president on TV or newspaper headlines opening a new School or new Hospital?. Our minds and eyes need a bit of a break from the violent scenes, crime, cyclones, earthquakes pictures, Mugabe attacks and the sort.
When last have we celebrated successes as a nation? Ok I know people will say: Last year when we won Rugby world cup, but how long did those celebrations last? Hardly a month before we heard the story that Jake White is losing his jobs, politics in rugby, quotas blah blah.
No wonder we are such a violent nation, we need a good laugh & a crack of a jol. I don’t know who’ll deliver that to us. Because Leon Schuster the man who unites the nation with jokes and laughter was complaining after the release of his last movie that people are killing his business by selling & purchasing pirated DVDs. Again the crime factor hijacked and stole our fun and laughter.
Siphiwo Qangani with Kangaroos on May 17th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Is no one thinking out of the box here?
There is always cause and effect.
Effect is what happens to the poor people on the ground and cause is that Mbeki is related to Mugabe through marriage.Cause is also that
Mugabe protects his own and Mbeki’s Diamond interests in the DRC. Thats why Mbeki is also complicit in Mugabe’s continuous vote rigging and this is the reason why the Chinese weapons shipment was not stopped in Durban and has now reached Zimbabwe.The appalling incompetence and corruption in Home Affairs ensured that nobody knew exactly how many Zimbabweans are officially in the Country, because a lot of them have false I.D.documents and can therefore be statistically regarded as SA citizens.
This suits Mbeki and his sycophants down to the ground because it confuses the whole refugee issue and shuts up the Opposition Parties;at least to a degree. Now Zuma enters the stage, who quite understandably wants to get rid of this lame duck president. The Luthuli House resolution to get Mbeki to resign was quashed,therefore lets use the split in the party to start a few little riots to remind everybody of the fact that it is Mbeki’s “quiet Diplomacy” who is the cause of the Zimbabwean refugee problem.
The next chapter has yet to be written, but watch this space.
Has anyone been down there to investigate what would happen if you just thrust these unfortunate people back into their homes?
I met with many of the displaced Zimbabweans this week and they were severely traumatised. They spoke of being woken up and told to get out or else.
Are the government suggesting that these people be forced back into the homes from where they have been displaced ie removing the guys who have moved into those houses?
Are they also suggesting a new song for the masses? : “One settler one permanent security guard” because that is what it would take.
Minister go down among the people and ask the people of Alexandra what they think. How do we accomodate the Zimbabweans who were good friends to us during apartheid?
If you just impose unilateral solutions on these communities you are opening up a pandoras box that will bite you in the backside.
There is no tangible immigration policy - papering over the cracks like this is, how can I put this kindly, unhelpful.
What residents will then be seeing is 1)Masses of illegals coming in unchecked 2) Police who have been told not to remove them 3) When the locals remove them the government removes the locals and puts these poor traumatised foreigners back in.
That suggests 2 things ;
1) A total failure to implement whatever policies we have on immigration ; and 2) Nobody can be bothered to check up on what would happen to refugees or locals when you apply the law selectively. By this I mean you ignore the laws which apply to illegals BUT enforce those that apply to locals who commit crimes BECAUSE you don’t apply the laws relating to illegals.
Ground control to Major Tom, commencing countdown engines on….
When it’s anti-black action by whites it’s racism;
When it’s anti-white action (e.g. BEE, AA, farm murders) it’s okay;
When it’s anti-foreign black action (by blacks) it’s xenophobia.
What cant.
Bottom line is that Mbeki, without a support base within his party, unwilling to admit that there is too much backlog of poverty & poor education, and terminally incompetent (think Eskom, Aids) has elevated ethnic-conciousness in a futile bid for votes.
Furthermore his obsessive propping up of Mad Bob has stunted wealth creation in the sub-continent. Instead of importing food from Zim, we are importing refugees.
His crony-enrichment schemes, hiding behind land “reform” (grab, more like), BEE & AA has the unintended consequence of retarding delivery and retarding development. Hence the unthinkable Polokwane reaction.
The above has been aggravated by the ANC’s knee-jerk regulatory mindset shackling the productive sector, while the weak defence of rule of law and abuse of judicial processes (Selebi, Pikoli, Erasmus commission) and creeping assault on property rights.
In short, the violence is the direct results of ANC mis-rule.
I could not agree with you more and we’re facing a similar problem in post Katrina New Orleans but the foreigners are Mexicans many living here illegally. They are being accused of taking jobs from natives and committing crimes. Before hurricane Katrina hit the city New Orleans was over 70% African American; however, after the hurricane devastated the city many poor African Americans could not afford to come back to the city because of the lack of housing. In addition, thousands of employees both in the private sector and public sector lost their jobs. The City of New Orleans laid off 3,000 city employees.
Mayor Nagin has talk about immigrants taking jobs away from natives and he is correct. However, the real problem that we have in New Orleans is poverty and the lack of a quality education for the poor. I agree with your article that until politicians start talking about the real problems in a community xenophobia will continue to be a problem in poor communities. Thanks for your time. Todd Kidd black american.
WHAT ABOUT A LEGAL ZIMBABWEAN. The person who has worked hard and honestly to get his qualifications and papers in order gone through the vetting process, police clearance etc etc then gets confused with an illegal and gets treated the same.That is the real tragedy.
australia has solved the problem of illegals by sending them to the island of Nauru (I understsnd they have stopped now- but why spoil a good story- line)
Robben Island anyone???!?sea breeze is quite good there and the rocks are still there for the breaking.
Not much policing required and they can party to their hearts content.
An illegal who takes on a my job because he is paid less is really stealing from me.The whole fabric of society values is broken then. Just because the exchange rate with the zinbabwe dollar makes him able to support his extended family with the miserly wages he getshe can afford to be paid less.. He does not have to pay a mortgage because his stay is “temporary” (is 10 years clasified as temporary??)
The so called xenophobes have a point.
And Traps- you say 70 % of court time is on crimes committed by foreigners.Thats totally unacceptable.
Traps, just because you found The Big Clue, don’t bang your head onto that wall!
I’ll recall you something: some years ago, USA was definitelly ready to back Jakarta’s move into East Timor. I dunno why, but I was one of the moroons that followed a nobody’s sugestion to send an email to USA State Dept. at a certain address. Afterwards we found out that State Dept.’s fax and email servers were blocked by the huge amount of accesses. The same happened to indonesian Ali Alatas’ office (remember him?). That, added to a few protests in a small unimportant european country in front of USA’s embassy, plus a few diplomatic moves, made the miracle. Even if the guys didn’t take full opportunity of the fact, East Timor is independent.
With this I mean that public oppinion is a VERY HEAVY mean of pressure. Put out some brilliant idea for some legal public pressure, and ask your readers’ support: you will be surprised!
Depressing to have a government of corrupt Nero’s. I reckon Mugabe committed an act of terrorism against SA but did it with people instead of an aeroplane or suicide bomber. And the SA governemt refuels him, gave him freedom of our airspace and lets him crash wherever he likes, and as many times as he fancies.
Most of those Hutus who killed a million Tutsis during a 100-day genocide in Rwanda in 1994 were ordinary people, often the neighbors and relatives of the victims.
I guess you would also say that we owe an apology to those Rwandan Hutus who killed a million people; there were, after all, underlying causes that led to the genocide.
Xenophobia is no different than racism; murders, rapes, destruction of property, looting… they are all crimes and the perpetrators are criminals.
According to this article some studies show foreigners under represented in arrests.
You mentioned 70% of armed robberies, as committed by foreigners in Alexandra courts. If this number turns out to be as grossly wrong as the studies suggest, then you might be pouring unnecessary fuel on the fire.
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out. - Martin Niemoller (1892-1984)
That people fleeing violence and economic hardships in their own countries come into South Africa, are prepared to work harder and longer for less than local South Africans - this is a different matter.
That foreigners without skills to earn legitimate wages find a conducive space here to engage in crime - that is a different matter.
That corrupt Home Affairs and council officials allocate housing to foreigners for a fee - that is a different matter.
That Thabo Mbeki’s quiet diplomacy is a disaster and has hurt rather than helped Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans - this is a different matter -
That because of all the above, people take the law into their hands and loot homes, kill people and rape women - this is unacceptable and cannot ever, ever be justified. I am disgusted that you, Michael Trapido, son of immigrants who once found it tough going in this country would justify xenophobia and even suggest an apology to rapists and murderers, because somehow, their actions were provoked by lack of service delivery…. this is simply disgusting.
How far back shall we go to drive foreigners out of South Africa? There are many South Africans today who are second, third, fourth or nth generation Zimbabweans, Lesotho, Zambians, Chinese, Europeans and so on. Must we drive these ones out too?
If we have social and immigration problems, they must be addressed, but not with the blood of human beings because they are “illegal immigrants”. You owe humanity an apology, Michael Trapido!
For Barry’s benefit and never again - In the set of 4 articles I must have condemned xenophobia (including 4 times in this article) about 20 times.
I have reccommended denying offenders bail, harsh crackdowns and just about everything else against those who commit crimes as a result of this fear or contempt for foreigners.
If in your zealousness to post your own comments you can’t be bothered to read what you are replying to I won’t bother responding.
Barry is as guilty as others who ignore the causes giving rise to xenophobia, as they are on the ground now in our communities like Alexandra.
Which means having CONDEMNED xenophobia your priority should be to understand why one community after the other is rising up against the foreigners among them.
Or are you suggesting that fighting the xenophobia cause is all that matters and our fellow citizens in Soweto, Alexandra and Diepsloot must just bite their tongues.
What I am saying is address the issues on the ground to avoid this getting more serious than it already is.
Heavy handed policing and condemning the residents of those communities without addressing their problems is a recipe for meltdown.
In psychology there is a principle of signal and noise. Go read about it before judging my short definition, but it will serve as an introduction to those who are unfamiliar with it. When you see something that confirms something you believe or are inclined to believe (have a readiness to receive) it becomes a signal, when something disproves it, it becomes noise. In other words you only see the confirmations of your theory and fail to notice those happenings that disprove it. The truth of the principle has been experimentally demonstrated.
That is why we can’t go on percentages based on staff perceptions, but NEED to go with a paper based analysis.
So the 70% (or even more as you suggest) is dubious, and not fit for the gravity of the situation.
PS. If my previous judgment seems harsh. I am not saying that the 70% is necessarily wrong, but if a study by a university suggests 2-3% of crimes committed by foreigners and you give a number of 70% for foreigners, it does point to some fundamental discrepancy.
I am just worried about misinformation, even if it isn’t purposeful, many conflicts have been fueled by people’s wrong perceptions. eg. In Kenya, one party spread misinformation about another, such as that they get interest free loans from banks, and pay less taxes, in the run-up to the elections. We know what happened there.
Michael,
Could the latest findings by Carte Blanche that the occupants of the Alex Hostel are among those behind the organised violence to drive out foreigners be worth investigating?
This situtaion is a ripple effect of SA’s absurd approach towards Mugabe. In short, Mbeki-made! Best way to remedy it is to insist the Zim voters in SA be allowed to vote in the run-off. There are probably more of them in Jhb than there are in Hre!
A bit surreal and I do hope that your comments were not simply an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of Niemoller.
If you feel strongly enough it might be good idea to emulate Michael and actually try and get close to the people involved in this ghastly situation. He has provided many of us with the only balanced insight into what is happening and never once have I felt that he is trying to justify the behaviour of the people attacking the foreigners. He has done what so few journalists ever do……present all sides of the story
This crisis is a failure of government at a number of levels and this is where your criticism and anger would be more appropriately directed. Not that it will do much good because once again it is a case of “what crisis”
Shame, to this present xenophobia and its consequences to human lives. South africa has nine provences to look after and it cannot afford adding other neighboring countries as extra provinces to it, because it cannot afford that, but it can only afford to help ensuring the proper democratic structures formation to help its neighbours sorting their own problems, this is my opinon, otherwise the present problem will be an ongoing phenominon.
I feel all the tabulations,theories and excuses around this issue won!t solve the present problems but instead it can help the news makers to have something to say and write about on their day to day businesses. Our govt. has to be a bit more practical than theorising solutions ,which has obvious failures and nusty consequences ,affecting our communities. Foreign nationals as much as they are encountering this problems , they must also acknowledge the facts that are facing this country.
This problem clearly demostrates that South Africa has neither the inclination or the capacity to lead Africa. One would have thought that being the largest economy, it would be a logical choice for such a position but alas no!! Zimbabwe, DRC, UN etc all signal poor leadership and lack of clout. Move over South Africa let Nigeria take over.
I dont blame the South African people. It was the South African government that started by raiding these places and burning up people’s homes.They started it so why should Mbeki and Zuma be surprised now. As they say, a fish starts rotting from the head.
You have openly said you are an ANC supporter - which you are perfectly entitled to be. Your only choice was Mbeki or Zuma - the ANC has given no other choice. Now you “have become a big JZ fan”.
You also say if “you can’t be bothered to read what you are replying to….”
Read your last 10 blogs. You NEVER reply to my questions.
I will repeat the question re Zuma:
“I have never read anything he has said which could not have been equally said by you, me or the homeless man on the street. Give me one example of original thought please”
I have it on the good authority of my President that there is no crisis in Zim. Therefore, all are economic refugees and that is not permitted and they must be repatriated. Same goes for the Nigerians, Mozambiquans, Indians, Pakistanis and all hailing from countries without political strife. Somalians, DRC, Eritrea welcome.
I listened in horror on Friday as a Department of Housing person was attempting to deny an accusation that houses were allocated to foreigners. He did not deny that 3 houses were indeed given to foreigners, who were now legal South Africans.
Now, I am strongly against using violence to resolves any issues even if justified. Even if it is true that legal or illegal migrants are given housing in preference of locals, it is not the foreigners that need to be swung on their genetalia, rather than people who allocate these housing.
Legal or not, the RDP houses are intended to assist the backlog created by apartheid policies or not building homes near so called “white areas” because blacks were expected to go to homelands. When the ANC came to power, they promised to build 1 million houses to assist in the backlog. They have achieved that, but the needs have since grown and many South Africans still live in shacks waiting patiently for a home. Enter someone who moved into the country in 1995, who has eventually become legal South Africa. One has no doubt that such a person had legitimate reasons to seek a home in South Africa (political percetution), but do that qualify them to move in front of the line to get a house ahead of South Africans who were directly affected by apartheid or lack of housing problem?
The fact that the Housing Dept spokespeson is defending the allocation of houses to foreigners on the basis that they are legal is immaterial. Fact is, if someone moves into the country as a refugee and attains legal status, they should be allowed to work and then build their own livelihood including buying their own home, rather than swell the ranks of the RDP and social grant queues.
Having said that, nothing can justify the thuggery and behaviour of my fellow South Africans in places around Johannesburg. They are targetting the wrong people. Instead of our visitors to the country, they should go after the politicians including those in home affairs, department of housing and the largely useless metro police who manage to take a break on Sunday from all the violence to do what they do best i.e. collecting money while sitting under the bridges and bushes. Oddly, this only happens when the weather is good and yet most of the traffic problems happen during inclement weather.
While I am not embarrassed to be a South African, I am embarrassed that these thugs are called South African. Perhaps they need to be chased out of the country and they can understand what it feels like to a foreigner in other lands.
@Mundundu,
President Mbeki and South Africa do not owe Zimbabweans anything Zimbabweans do not owe themselves. Nothing President Mbeki will ever say that would make Mugabe any less criminal and a swine. Tony Blair and Bush have tried and their activities actually made the situation worse for Zimbabweans, but guess where do they flock to? Not England or USA, but to South Africa.
Mugabe alone is to blame for the mess that is Zimbabwe and not Mbeki, South Africa, Khama or any other leaders.
It is the weak people of Zimbabwe who did not rise up to their own satan.
You know,my sister who is a telemarketer just told me how high food prices in SA now are.My brother?He was recently diagnosed with TB,he was working for a delivery company ,and one of his coworkers was a guy from Zim who coughed for months but refused to see a Dr because he couldn’t afford to miss work.Worse than that, all the healthcare workers he consulted treated him with contempt because to them TB=HIV ,which he doesn’t have.Yes, these things make me angry at1. the ANC gov and 2.the Zim guy.As a right thinking person, I do not condone any violence but I believe there are lots of aggrieved
SAns and they are not all poverty stricken!Being Black does not automatically qualify you for BEE/AA especially in areas like education and healthcare.I personally can’t imagine the desperation of the uneducated casualties of our past.It does not lend itself to charity towards others.I for one do not feel indebted to anyone for helping me fight apartheid,sorry but I know a few exiles who were PAC/SACP/Mkhonto and I’ve heard stories of how lowly our African “brothers” regarded them while in exile to the point where they often communicated in Afrikaans when in their company ,point is they received no red carpet treatment and were often treated like poor cousins by the Zam,Zim,Ngr,etc brothers.The children of the who’s who of the struggle may have enjoyed warm welcomes but that was just a handful of people.Multitudes came back from exile uneducated soldiers pumped for a war they would thankfully not fight.So, as much as I have sympathy for the refugees in SA,I feel that they should really be in refugee camps and SA should, like every civilized society have tight immigration policies and seperate skilled immigrants(a useful resource ) from refugees(some of whom are claiming rights equal to the people who have paid a high price for their liberation).It is unfair to my taxpaying SAn bros and sisters ,I was one myself for 5 yrs until I realised that I was getting nowhere after a very long and expensive university education,so as much as I love my country,I had to seek greener pastures for awhile.Note to my fellow Africans: South Africa has a history of violence much of which occured in townships like Alex.Even South Africans have to be cautious in these communities,so remember to show regard for their hospitality(over the past 14 years,at least)and don’t forget that you’re visitors/and don’t collude with corrupt officials through bribery to acquire ID’s/houses and stop pretending like your being in Mzansi is a favour to the poor SAns.Seriously, I’m shocked by the naivete of these brothers of ours, I’m just remembering a news piece on TV where some schoolkids made an old lady drink a bottle of fishoil with OMO (washing powder)because she was shopping in a store that was being boycotted.That was in Alexander in the 80’s and as a kid growing up in a homeland, I was scared stiff of going to any township,as a country bumpkin I was sure I would be swallowed up by the soldiers/tsotsis/something would surely get me. There are some really sick and tired folks here and rubbing your newfound success in their faces is not appreciated.They may be lazy in your eyes but they know that you’re here for your own advancement and not really to help SA like some people allege.Respect is a twoway street and some of these folks cannot afford a second wave of being disemfranchised.That’s just my opinion.
@Todd Kidd,
I spent 4 years of my life in New Orleans studying at Loyola. Watching the visuals of New Orleans under water was such a shocking reminder of what could happen in a very shock time. We as South Africans forget that we could suffer the same fate as New Orleans, Thailand/Indonesia, Mynmar or China. Who will help us when we need this help, as we know how long it took Bush to hep New Orleans.
Living in the Garden District, perhaps I was not familiar with how the poor people living East and North east of Downtown New Orleans. We rode in the street car, with the tourists going to Bourbon Street, Jackson Square, Audobon Zoo, Superdome, etc.
What I do remember of New Orleans is the government corruption and the underlying racism that caused whites to move to Jefferson Parish (Metarie) and blacks to remain in Orleans Parish (New Orleans).
It saddens me when I hear of the high rate of crime, but New Orleans has always been an area of high crime.
I look forward to the day when I can visit to meet old friends and once again enjoy the crawfish boils, crawfish and shrimp poboys, red beans and rice, crawfish etouffe and bignets.
I really miss my second home and wish it well, the lunch at Cafe Maspero and dinner at Houston’s on St Charles Avenue, shopping at Winn Dixie and KBs and brunch at that nice establishment on Napoleon between Magazine and St Charles opposite the graveyard.
These attacks will never be forgotten by the people of Zimbabwe. What South Africans are doing is “spitting in our face”; its your time but do not forget what goes around comes around. Mr Trapido wants to simplify the role played by African states during the apartheid era to; “Africans housed South Africans during aprtheid era”. Either he does not understand the true nature of sacrifices made by the rest of Africa during the period, or white as he is, he is trying to undermine it altogether in line with the policy of his kith and kin. In addition to “housing”, Africans contributed to the education of the exiles. Zimbabwe chose to use expensive Beira ports (due to distance) for its imports rather than support the apartheid governement by using its port facilities. The eceonmic cost of not trading with the aprtheid government was enourmous and can never be quantified, all done to ensure South Africans would be independent. By the way, all SA exiles during this period were treated with dignity and never did they fear attack by locals. We understood that it was a passing phase, as much as we hoped the South Africans would understand that the current influx is a passing phase. We helped you when you needed help and we were hoping you would understand. By the way, Zimbabwe had an influx of Mozambicans during the time of their internal strife and we wellcomed them until their problems were sorted and the same happened with the Rwandese and Burundians.Politics in Africa are never certain hence the “makwerekwere” you currently despise will be the very people you will need in future. Where will you run to?
Gerhart everything is worth a look at - no doubt having watched Carte Blanche that that may be a factor.
That said this is becoming so widespread it’s going to need a very broad mandate from the government to those doing the research.
I am very pleased to say that from Carte Blanche, Justice Malala, the Alex spokeswoman, Jake Bloom and many more the word is going out - LOOK AT THE GRIEVANCES.
The people of Alex are owed an apology. They are owed an apology for being treated in a disgusting and ignorant manner by successive governments. The evils of segregation and the old education system were succeeded by promises to make things better but nothing really materialised - neither housing, nor training nor anything else that really could make a material difference. Not to any great degree.
But certainly we do not owe anyone who burns an innocent person to death a personal apology. No one owes that person anything except the right to a speedy trial with an opportunity to defend himself, a privilege that wasn’t allowed his victim.
I’m a Zimbabwean living in the UK. I’ve lived in Botswana, SA and for brief periods in the US and parts of continental Europe. I feel guilty that I am not contributing to Africa or indeed Zim but rather living and contributing out here in the UK along with many other skilled Africans (loads and loads of South Africans as well).I’m comfortable in my skin as a kwere-kwere but as I always say to my Batswana friends and those in SA why should I feel more comfortable and more welcomed in Europe or America than I will ever feel in Botswana or SA ? Our leadership in SADC has failed. It shouldn’t be possible to gawk on Sky news as we do, mothers with babies on their backs “border jumping” or growm men being rounded up by Boer farmers for being “illegal” or indeed the scenes we now witness. In the end are we to look as always to the west for answers and yet again to be taught how to get things done and indeed how to treat fellow human beings? All that cheap labour from Zim all those resources in SA and the only thing you can think of doing with that vast resoure is to beat it up and burn it ?? In a country as vast as SA and as endowed as SA how can there possibly be immigration issues ? The real problem is inept black leadership throughout SADC and Africa in general - the whites took all immigrants in, they worked the mines, the farms, the suburbs etc and they made SA beautiful. Give those same immigrants to the blacks and we can’t figure out what to do with the huge resource so we just beat them up - no one wins ! But look to the west and see how immigrants are readily put use; be it the Mexicans in America, the Polish , africans and other east europeans in the UK and western Europe, the Indians in Dubai (we all love shopping there and marvel at it - thats immigrants for you when the hosts are smart)…C’mon lets build Africa and lets not forget our common destiny.
WFT’s words further above come so close to inciting violence against foreigners that I wonder why this contribution was let through. ‘If I had a gun I would have gone and shot them’ and ‘drive the rubbish out’. This is incitement to do people harm and has no place in a publication like this.
You are seriously out of line, bro. You are dangerous; while people’s grievances are real I do not believe you come on blogs and incite the violence that you are.
You owe it to all of us to stay away from your computer and from immigrants until you have had a brain transplant. Maybe you will become rational then.
Even if 70% of convicted prisoners are foreigners, there could be contributing factors. Maybe the people shop them but not their own. Maybe the police catch them but not their own.(I am totally against young police being allocated to their home towns). Maybe they don’t qualify for legal help. Maybe some of them are even framed to get rid of them
And maybe they do crime because without papers allowing them to work it is the only way to make money.
Thanks for your description of the real New Orleans: Good food and great music. As much as I love New Orleans, I want to visit South Africa and Zimbabwe. I especially want to visit Kruger National Park and the beautiful city of Harare. I love Africa but I especially love southern Africa. I can’t wait to take my trip in 2009. Thanks. Todd Kidd.
Ladies and gentlemen
I think Traps you have hit it right on the money!
People either have short memories or they suffer selective memory loss.Most people that are now being caught in the Alex fracas are the ones that have been voting Mugabe into power year in year out!They are the same people that celebrated when Mugabe killed some Zimbabweans because they were of different tribe to the so called ruling tribe.And a lot of times these victims were told to get out of Zimbabwe and go back to South Africa because thats where they come from.I am certain that there are some Ndebeles that have been caught in the cross fire but like we say in isiZulu that ‘zonela mvu inye’
It is really sad that the same people for the first time are being killed by Zanu PF in their rural homes and on fleeing to South Africa the are facing problems.I remember during the struggle how the same hated ANC people because they were linked to Ndebeles.I also recall that the same used to say that the dream of any Ndebele child is to go to South Africa but today it is the dream of every Shona to go to South Africa and seek fame and fortune.Koze kunifice nani!
There is a journalist that carried out an investigation in December and discovered that there are about 500 Zimbos crossing over to Mzansi every single day.That is a huge number of people especially if they are going to live in mkhukhus in Alex.
If we care to take our minds back a few years.When Mozambique was going through its usual problems its nationals fled to Zimbabwe.The hoards of Mozambicans were beaten up and tortured by Zimbabweans and no one said a word.Thats why today Zimbos cant go to Mozambique to seek refugee.
When Shona people were told that Ndebeles were being killed by Mugabe’s government they did not believe it; they said Ndebeles were creating fiction and must go back to South Africa.Now they are being butchered in their rural areas;its their turn and I am sure they now understand what Ndebeles were talking about.
Lastly I think the Zimbabwean crisis is not Thabo’s baby ; they must sort their mess up.The same Thabo was arrested by the same Mugabe.
SA can kiss the 2010 WORLD CUP GOODBYE. WE ARE ALREADY LABELLED ONE THE NATIONS WITH THE HIGHEST RATES OF CRIME. I think it is time the SA government did one thing right: beef up security around the Alex. or most affected area(s). And punish these senseless murderers to the fullest extent of the law.
I find it interesting that Black South Africans would have usch animosity towards our fellow Africans, when African nations have been safe havens for our freedom fighters during the Apartheid regime. They welcomes the members of Umhkonto weSzwe with open arms, protected them and never once treated them as being less than human.
Is this how we show our gratitude. Blacks always complain about their White counterparts as being racist when we’re the worst racists! Even towards humans of the same color. Blacks South Africans are the most prejudiced in the Southern hemisphere and it is such a disgrace. No one wants to see others prosper, and when their neighbors do try to improve their lives, they take the very thing that keeps them alive.
I know what I am talking about. I was once a victim of pointless violence, back in 1985. Ihad to flee my own home as a teenager only woth clothes on my back, just because they alleged that my parents were ‘iimpmpi’. They worked hard to make a living and take care of four children. AND OUR OWN NEIGHBORS BURNED OUR HOME DOWN, FOR WHAT??? Nothing! It had nothing to do with fighting for freedom, but complete ENVY, EVIL AND IGNORANCE. AND NOW WE’RE TRAMPLING ON THESAME FREEDOM THAT MANDELA AND OTHERS FOUGHT FOR BY KILLING OUR OWN. FOR WHAT? WHO IS THE RACIST NOW?
And now everyone starts fussing about why people decide to migrate overseas. Black people need to wake up, we’r not immune to what happened in Kenya, Ruwanda and other African nations inflicted by civil wars/ethnic cleansing..
And this government needs a complete overhaul. For real!
What is wrong with providing housing for legal immigrants when they have done evrything by the book to earn alegal immigration status? If they ca afford to pay for a decent house, then they should have it. We always have to blame somebody for our lack of progress. And when houses were actually available when President Mandela was president none of the people who lived in Squatter camps took the opportunity of owning a decent home, becuase they did not want the repsonsibility that came with owning a house. Some want to benefit form our energy for free, while earning a decent wage- and still have the nerve to complain about being marginalized.
I am not saying that there are no discrepencies within the housing department, when it comes to taking care of our own-but we have to admit that we black people like not to have to toil for our living as if we deserve to handed everything for free.
I must add though that I do blame the government for failing to do it’s job in all aspects of public housing and home afairs. To whom much is given, much is expected, and all this laziness and incompetenece is comeing back to haunt us.
Zuma can say all he wants and try to act like he’s the good guy here. He had a grand opportunity to make a difference on our poorest communities while in a position of power and what did he do? Nothing. It is too late to pretend to be the champion of the poor. It’s been hyears and years since our people have been begging for better service. And Polokwane was months ago. What has he done since then?
In the above article , you fail to tell us what the Victims are owed. By implication, is it ‘what they got, they deserve ??
Endulge me if you may, what would your response be to hearing that ‘ Australia and UK were beating and burning (bbq ?) alive all your mates who emigrated to these countries ? Would your immediate reaction be to justify the action of the hosts ?? Ha Ha….It may be difficult to phanthom, but perhaps your social station masks this undesirable fact, but look deeper, and there might be a xenophobe lurking within…People are people, and human life counts for something, and should come first always. The fires are not even out, and yet your greatest concern is that of excusing barbaric acts of violence ? Repent whilst you still have the chance
Disgusting! How can we move forward in time if people still have the midframe to commit such acts of violence? During Apartheid many of our freedom fighters seeked refuge in other countries and now when immigrants ask for the same than we do not allow it. We all need to take an introspective!
I am a Student who is currently doing the international baccalaureate (IB) diploma. In order to receive my diploma one of the elements that I have to do is a 4000 word essay called the extended essay. I have chosen Xenophobia as the field in which I will undertake this task under the subject Peace and conflict studies. My research question is what were the perceptions of foreigners that lead to the attacks and the possible solutions and future preventions? I would like to send all those who are interested, a questioner which will give me a base to start my essay. My email address is lionofsa@hotmail.com .please send me an email if you gladly help me to carry out the questioner would truly be great full and very happy is you could help.
ofhani mandiwana on December 10th, 2009 at 7:04 am
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While you are at it, Stop using the word xenophobia. It contadicts your recently acquired sentiment as expressed above.
Fact of the matter is the ANC in its unpragmatic reasoning invited my countryman to share in limited dwindling cake The realisation that South Africa is not infinitely rich as per the impression it has given out there is sobering.
Where was Jacob Zuma all along? He is a lucky guy that when the house they built has come down he blames the foreman. In December 2007 I was telling some guys who were thinking of obtaining quota work permits to make it snappy and work in SA for at the maximum 2 years because after 2009 the sentiment towards foreigners would change. It is how the system works all over the world. Only bad because it happened much earlier and on Thabo’s watch.
What is scary is the absence of an openly black political rightwing to support the locals. It is very scary because it is there waiting to take advantage of the dissenting locals for political expediency but for now it is clothed in the veil of political correctness. There are many Rush Limbaugh’s and Lepein’s out there and until the issue of immigration is dealt with fully in the open with every sentiment and hate in the South African intelligentsia out there the situation is very scary. let us know what everybody including every intellectual really feel about us. It is nothing to be ashamed of. So much for democracy.
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