Failure to act on red alert
‘Fresh xenophobic threats could have been halted’
FRESH threats of xenophobic violence bubbling in Durban townships could have been averted had provincial government officials implemented recommendations of a special task team that investigated the outbreak in 2015.
The controversial Northern Region Business Association (Norba) which is seeking to help local business owners stay afloat, gave foreign traders operating tuck shops in the Inanda, Ntuzuma and Kwamashu (INK) townships until Thursday to shut down.
An intervention by Kwazulunatal Premier Willies Mchunu has temporarily defused tensions and created an opportunity for positive engagement around grievances of local owners.
And this week, a licence verification process will begin as part of a plan to regulate trade.
But church leader Paddy Kearney, who was a member of the sevenperson Special Reference Group (SRG), which investigated the 2015 violence, said he was disappointed the government failed to implement advice the commission submitted.
The SRG was appointed by Senzo Mchunu, the former KZN premier and chaired by Navi Pillay, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Kearney said the final report, released in April 2016, had recommended that dialogue be established between locals and foreigners.
The SRG also recommended sensitising civil servants on rights and documentation of foreign nationals, and education campaigns in schools on diversity and cohesion, as well as the need to speak out against hate speech, derogatory and discriminatory language.
Following the release of the report, Mchunu tasked his executive council to ensuring the recommendations were implemented, saying a roll-out plan had been adopted.
Kearney says this never happened. “Foreign nationals do not feel they were properly integrated into the communities. They feel they do not belong here because they are always chastised by locals.” The task team found that the attacks were triggered by the deliberate attempts by locals to drive away competition from foreigners businesses.
The report also highlighted a lack of intelligence available before the outbreak of violence that started in Isipingo and spread to umlazi, Verulam, the CBD and Pietermaritzburg.
It said the violence, including seven murders, had been fuelled by unfounded rumours and misinformation circulated on social media.
Calm was eventually restored after nearly a month of mayhem through SAPS intervention and a call for calm by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.
By then thousands of foreign nationals had been displaced.
Could this happen again as tensions simmer over foreigners’ running tuckshops in the townships?
Norba secretary Mlungisi Mncube said dozens of new shops had recently been opened by foreign nationals.
“It is not true that we want to chase them away. We want to work with them in our communities while preserving our businesses. We have requested that shops should be regulated through licensing,” he said.
Mncube said the development of malls in the townships have further threatened their livelihoods and forced local traders into stiff competition. Some had been forced to close down.
“It is a dog-eat-dog environment. If not regulated properly, we may end up not being able to care for our families.
Mncube said they pinned their hopes on Sihle Zikalala, the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, and the premier to introduce new regulations as promised.