Foreigners fret over hostility
Xenophobia counter-measures stall
MOST foreigners living in ethekwini, when asked, said they were worried about the delay in implementation of the recommendations of the Special Reference Group (SRG) on Migration and Community Integration in Kwazulu-natal. These were released last year. Chaired by Judge Navi Pillay, the SRG was appointed by the then premier, Senzo Mchunu, to investigate the causes and consequences of the March to May 2015 violent attacks in the province against foreigners.
The SRG was mandated to assess the reported causes and socio-economic impacts of the attacks; to consider the successes and shortcomings of past and ongoing initiatives for reducing tensions between communities; and to outline solutions in response to the violence.
The 2015 attacks claimed the lives of Ethopian Tasama Marcus, Abraham Shifiqui Alam from Bangladesh, Mozambicans Dava Sabastio and Mhugo Ngobeni, as well as South Africans Thembinkosi Dlamini, Ayanda Dlamini, and Thabo Owen Mzobe. More than 10 000 immigrants were displaced and sought shelter at temporarygovernment camps.
When Pillay released the group’s report last year, she warned that xenophobic violence could recur because the tensions, which went back to the 2008 attacks, had not been addressed.
“These tensions were amplified in the informal trading sector, where the successes of foreign traders were perceived to have come at the direct expense of their local counterparts,” the report reads.
Verulam-based street vendor Amos Benavent expressed his disappointment that the provincial government had not taken heed of the SRG’S recommendations
“Judge Pillay’s report was spot-on, but it’s almost a year now and nothing has been done even though there was a stern warning that history could repeat itself unless the root causes are addressed.”
Benavent is among the foreign nationals who have been fearful following the recent outbreak of xenophobic violence in Pretoria and Johannesburg .
The African Solidarity Network, an organisation that has been attempting, through community engagements, to quell tensions between South Africans and foreigners since the 2015 attacks, called for continuous dialogue to ensure genuine reintegration.
“”While poverty is often pointed to as a cause of crime, to take your neighbour’s life because of perceived competition for jobs or resources makes it clear that there is a need for education about the structural causes of poverty and inequality.
“Too many South Africans are blaming immigrants and refugees for economic ills and shortages of skills in their own societies, which are in fact caused by historical inequalities and government policies that have failed to address them adequately,” said spokesperson Nomvula Maneli.
Premier Willies Mchunu’s spokesperson, Ndabezinhle Sibiya, said several programmes were already under way in response to the SRG report.
“We understand people’s frustration, but these are long-term programmes and they will eventually reach everyone.”