SA becomes Africa’s pariah once again

XENOPHOBIA: REPRISALS START AGAINST EXPAT COMPANIES

Many South African companies are banking a sizeable chunk of their futures on expansion into Africa, but that may be undone by murderous xenophobia back home.

Aresurgence of anti-immigrant violence in South Africa has sparked outrage in other African countries and spurred calls for more to be done to stamp out xenophobia.

Residents of the Pretoria suburbs of Mamelodi and Atteridgeville took to the streets of the capital last week to protest against the presence of undocumented Nigerians, Pakistanis and Zimbabweans, who they accuse of perpetuating crime and taking jobs away from locals. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds, who stoned cars and used rocks to block off streets. At least 136 people were arrested.

Backlash

Foreign Minister Bukar Ibrahim.

On Monday, Ghanaian lawmaker Okudzeto Ablakwa called on the African Union to take action.

“The government has to do more,” Ablakwa, who sits on the foreign affairs committee in Ghana’s parliament, told Accra-based Class FM. “Sometimes you don’t get very clear signals from authorities. Their comments sometimes exacerbate the situation and that really is worrying.”

Herman Mashaba, the mayor of Johannesburg, has labelled some undocumented migrants criminals. Residents of the city’s southern Rosettenville suburb this month set fire to at least a dozen houses that they said were used as drug dens or brothels and were mostly occupied by foreigners. Anti-immigrant violence also claimed seven lives in 2015 before the army and police restored calm. In 2008, about 60 people died and 50 000 were forced to flee their homes. Attacks have mostly taken place in poor townships, where some residents see migrants as competitors for jobs and business opportunities. South African President Jacob Zuma has appealed for calm and condemned the violence.

“We are not a xenophobic country,” Zuma said last Friday. “At the same time, we cannot close our eyes to the concerns of the communities that most of the crimes such as drug dealing, prostitution and human trafficking are allegedly perpetuated by foreign nationals.” The South African government’s failure to create sufficient jobs and economic opportunities for its citizens has sparked a backlash against foreigners.

In response, protesters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, vandalised the offices of South African telecommunications company MTN Group to protest the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

The Nigerian government summoned South Africa’s high commissioner to register its concerns about the threat to its nationals, AFP reported, citing Junior

‘One too many’

Ablakwa said the South African government’s failure to create sufficient jobs and economic opportunities for its citizens had sparked a backlash against foreigners. – Bloomberg