South African xenophobic attacks felt in Zimbabwe
The xenophobic attacks against migrant workers in South Africa is having its inevitable knock on impact on people here in Zimbabwe too.
Three people I know directly here in Zimbabwe have been affected so far and I am sure there are many more. One of them is an elderly woman whose daughter is currently in hosptial in South Africa after being attacked.
Initially it was thought her daughter had been the victim of a savage mugging, but we now realise it was the start of the swathe assaults in the news. This elderly person is deeply worried both for her daughter’s welfare, and also for how she herself is going to manage to continue looking after her grandchildren. Her daughter went to South Africa and left her children in the care of her mother; she was there trying to earn enough to send back to educate and feed them all.
Another is a friend whose relative left Zimbabwe years ago - entirely legally. She has a good job in South Africa, pays her taxes and has all the right papers. She rents a home there. Apparently she was approached by a group of people who demanded she speak to them in their language; she couldn’t, so they forced the landlord to terminate her rental agreement. She is now homeless and very short of money. The last she spoke to my friend she said she was worried about her safety and how she was going to manage to keep the children in school. Above all she was very fearful the xenophobic insults would extend into the school-yards and her children would be victimised as well.
The third person affected is someone else I know well. Her relative also works legally in South Africa. He lives frugally so he can send money to his family in Zimbabwe and the number if people depending on him to help has grown through the years he has been away. He is terrified he will be attacked and injured so badly that he will not be able to work. He needs to be healthy - too many people rely on him for their survival.
To preserve his job he has taken to sleeping in the bush at night and avoiding populated areas outside working hours. He uses a garage bathroom near to his work to try and keep himself tidy enough to not get into trouble with his employers.
Someone else I spoke to about all this said she was hearing that Zimbabweans in South Africa were saying they would rather return home to be killed in their own country than stay and be killed in South Africa. When you hear things like this the second thing you think of is the impact on votes in the run-off if migrants workers come back (if they are still registered to vote).
The first thing that comes to mind is deep worry for the number of people who will be badly affected. What about their dependents? What about the lack of food here in Zimbabwe? What about the fact that the survival of so many in our country is inextricably linked to the support and money coming in from hard-working Zimbabweans outside?
This is an ugly and desperate situation to be trapped in. Xenophobia is a state of mind I personally think is reserved for the most stupid people in a society and I’m not even going to try and be diplomatic about that. All the attacks are unwarrented and nasty, but in the case of Zimbabweans, the vicious attacks seem especially cruel given everything we are currently going through in our own country.
The fools responsible for this don’t even have the wits to see that their stupidity and hatred means they are fouling their own nest and destroying opportunity and possibility for thousands of South Africans who I am sure are just as disgusted and appalled as I am:
The violence helped weaken South Africa’s rand as investors backed away from the currency, fearing the xenophobic attacks could hurt the economy. The rand was pushed down further after Asian and European stocks weakened.
“We’ve got the domestic xenophobic violence which is scaring investors away, so these factors are combining to create a weaker rand,” said David Gracey, a trader at Nedbank.
The currency fell over 1.7 percent to 7.68 to the dollar. (via Reuters)
I wonder how many foreigners around the world, looking at this display of violence, are looking forward to travelling to South Africa to watch world cup football there?
May 20th, 2008 18:45
This is a tragedy. Mbeki et al doesn’t understand the dynamics this scenario presents. The Zims can stay and be murdered or they can go home and be murdered. I feel for them. I wonder how the SA government will react. I suppose RGM is on the phone to Mbeki and saying “Don’t make it worse, suppress the violence, make it comfortable for the MDC supporters in SA. Then they won’t come home.!!
Fat chance..I think they are moving home now. Good luck all of you. Get a life. Get rid of this Despot.
May 20th, 2008 19:24
That last point was well made.
I teach ICT in England and I remember visiting Alexandra nr Joburg some 15 or so years ago.
Actually the sticking point with the World Cup for me is Mugabe. And the balance of evidence seems to suggest the Zenophobia issue (awful as it is) would resolve itself more readily as Zimbabweans were able to live where I suspect they would rather live — in Zim.
If RM were in power I could not even watch the football on the telly. The fact that economic benefit and kudos would accrue to those politicians (and the old man himself) after this state of affairs is the reason why.
So look out media companies when you bid for the rights to broadcast the World Cup — you won’t make a profit out of me unless we see change on the ground first.
May 20th, 2008 22:38
This is disgusting violence by poor South Africans on foreigners and is not justifiable under any circumstances ! Nobody is justified to act out his savage jealousies just because he is poor. This is a completely diabolical moral justification for savagery that’s cause is naked covetousness in its most base form and probably one of the base reasons that Africa’s poor never prosper. They can never prosper until they learn to celebrate the most talented and entrepreneurial members of society. In fact poor African cultures are of the kind that try to level any individual successes away, down into the mediocre and away from the sublime and to prevent any revelation of personal inadequacies. They violate the 10th commandment : “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s ” so they will remain poor. All perpetually poor societies have one thing in common, they appear very covetous. Some people who are not covetous do sometimes go through lean times but they usually bounce back again. Unless South Africa recognizes that this is a sin against God and take ownership of this personal failure and repent of it then we have no hope for Africa. God’s laws can be violated but they will break you !
Nevertheless I do see some hope after the Special Assignment program on TV revealed there were a few people who wanted to rectify the situation and did not agree with this type of behaviour at all.
I do not think xenophobia is the right word for these types of South Africans , more like a paranoically jealous form of covetousness against somebody of another country. But government indifference to Zimbabwe, border control and socialist economic policies are probably mostly to blame for the situation.
May 20th, 2008 22:56
Is it a crisis now Mr. Mbeki?
Strange world indeed, when we are grateful for men like Jacob Zuma.
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL20522989.html
Zimbabwe elections are discredited-S.Africa’s Zuma
Tue 20 May 2008, 17:31 GMT
[-] Text [+] JOHANNESBURG, May 20 (Reuters) - South Africa’s ruling African National Congress believed the Zimbabwean elections are discredited after the long delay in releasing results, the party’s President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.
“It was unacceptable that the electoral commission should hold the results … we are criticising the electoral commission. Those elections are discredited, that’s our view, from the ANC point of view,” he said in an interview with the BBC World Service. (Reporting by Gordon Bell)
May 21st, 2008 02:40
I want to apologise on behalf of all sensible South Africans to all Zimbabweans affected by the senseless and mindless violence affecting everyone in South Africa.
It is a tragedy that in a time when Zimbabwe needs us we have turned our backs. The people of Zimbabwe stood shoulder to shoulder with South Africans oppressed under the apartheid regime during their times of need and now instead of helping Zimbabweans through their own hardships we are turning on them and in certain instances even setting them on fire.
It is absolutely disgraceful and ALL South Africans should feel ashamed and disgusted. I have been a proud South African my entire life, but tonight for the first time I am sad and ashamed to call myself South African.
I just hope Southern Africa as a region has a future, Gods Kingdom is burning and no one seems to care.
May 21st, 2008 07:05
Im shckd by thse attacks are thse people who wer in exile in otha countries or mybe they r sme its just another tribalism started among people it wil never end like ths 4 instance if ths if enter kzn its gna b war mre blood the government hvent dne anythng 2 resolve it is an hw linked 2 MUGABE AND MBEKI GAME PLAN WHY NOT CALLED FOR A STATE OF EMERGENCY WHILE PEOPLE ARE BEIN KILLED STOP XENOPHOBIC MASTERING MR MBEKI
May 21st, 2008 07:35
So I was looking at the sponsors for FIFA (Im not a football fan give me rugby any day) However, I see Macdonalds, Coke, Adidas, Sony, Emirates, Budwiser, MTN and Satyam, are sponsors and local sponsors are FNB and TeleKom…..Time to hit the money too I say….Greatest consumer power the Uni students and the school kids….Nestles were targeted by the Unis for pushing powdered milk in Africa through the Unis and it hurt them they had to spend more money on advertising so here’s what I am proposing Lets flood these guys with emails make suggestions on the Uni boards and get some backing…Not much of writer myself so anyone wants to do the writing…. Im happy to do the cutting and pasting….Oh and I keep having this thought about the fact that Chelsea (Prince Harry’s Girl friend)father was very involved in Zimbabwe but ditched all his stuff when they started going out I wonder if we can use this angle somehow?
May 21st, 2008 10:39
I am a South African living in Europe.
My mother is Angolan and also fled her own country to the “grass is greener” South Africa. She lived in refugee camps and had nothing, just like everyone else now fleeing a miserable existence and looking for something better in SA
My Step-father is Mozambican - also fled home.
This makes them “foreigners”. But it makes them “Extra-Special” foreigners because they are also “European”.
I, being the only one in the family that was BORN in SA (my sister is also a “European Angolan South African!”), am then the only “non-foreigner”!
My question is, would a mob attacking foreigners stop and analyse the “foreigners” - kill my family and leave me be?
Or am I also a foreigner because my ancestors from some time long-gone were from Europe?
My opinion is that people blog about this, even South Africans in Europe blog about this because regardless of what has happened in the past, violence is unnacceptable and will not be tolerated!.
If Mandela taught us anything, if he taught these mobbers anything, it is that one must love, move forward and be tolerant! This is NOT what I think he envisioned for our people!
May 21st, 2008 12:09
@ Ricardo What you are struggling with is what is known as being a Third Culture Kid and we are many and we have had to learn tolerance of all culture and language and back ground shows us that underneath all the difference there are more things in common….I would like to suggest to you to look one day at the Third Culture Kids website if you feel you are alone for you are not alone and I think that because there are now more of us that are born from intermingled societies and background we understand the true meaning of the value of Human Life….we are more tolerant…and you are right violence is unacceptable….
May 21st, 2008 12:53
Nothing will be done about this, it will just be ignored like everything else that happens in this country.
Same old till South Africa is in the same state as Zim and other african states.
Game Over !!!!
May 21st, 2008 13:14
repost with correction
@ mama,
Going for the sponsors is a really good idea. I have written a letter already for the FIFA President (http://aylesburylife.org/blogs/3/2008/05/17/time-fifa-to-say-no-to-mugabembeki).
I will gladly adapt the letter and look up names and addresses for the sponsors that you have helpfully identified.
Next week is half-term (I teach) in this part of England. I can see there will be one or two more letters taking a trip to the post office.
May 21st, 2008 15:20
Well, may I say after watching two TV programs on the violence here, I am so ashamed to live in S.A.and am actually stuck for words. This situation was a long time coming, and our Mr Mbeki knew all of that. He chose to let Bob rule the dictator way, until his people had no other choice but to flee to S.A. He also has not delivered basic services to his own people who voted for him.The picture is so clear now, what a disgrace to say this is no crisis, and Zim has no crisis either. He must also go as this festered sore aint going to go away on its own. I wonder what Mr Mandela is thinking about all of this, as he set an example for all of us to build on, and sadly it has gone totally the opposite way.My thoughts are with you all living here,may you come to no more harm and safely find your way back to your families again soon.
May 21st, 2008 16:01
@mama
Great idea. I shall write my letters to the sponsors and ask everyone I know to do so as well.
May 22nd, 2008 08:45
See it works check this out
http://www.sabcnews.com/sport/soccer/0,2172,169999,00.html
May 22nd, 2008 11:09
I am ashamed of my fellow South Africans and their intolerance: It’s called xenophobia, but it’s just another form of racism, surely? The skin colour might be the same, but it’s an intolerance of someone of a different creed.
Wake up, South Africa! We need to pull ourselves together …. This could be paradise in Africa. Start taking responsibility for your own lives.
May 23rd, 2008 11:32
My my, how soon we forget.I am a zimbabwean and during the apartheid era I remember zimbabwe being home to our south african brothers.I lived in Avondale close to more than a few south african political refugees.
Talk of the brotherhood of africans. You really think all these people enjoy leaving their homes to live like destitutes. God has mercy on us all.
May 23rd, 2008 13:17
Hi Sokwanele
I just received this poem eloquently written by a poet who calls him or herself Black African.
I might not be a South African
But I’m black; my skin is the same as yours
My colour is the same as yours
My genes are African, nothing but African
When your leaders were beaten by whites
I was there to shelter them
I was patient with them
I offered them food, shelter,
Most of all, I offered them protection
I might not be South African
I can’t speak Zulu, cause I’m Vhenda
I can’t speak Zulu, cause I’m Shangaan
I don’t know what an elbow is in Zulu
As much as you don’t know it in my language
Since when was Zulu the only South African language?
Yes……………I’m not from Gauteng
I was not born here, but I’m South African
Where should I go if you beat me
I’m not beating your father, mother, brother or sister who works at my area in the mines
I’m not calling them makwerekwere though they can’t speak my language.
I might be dark in complexion
I might have the foreigner’s looks
I might have the foreigner’s body structure
Now I am scared to go to the only place that I call home
I’m scared of working down the street without my ID
Whites wanted me to do that century ago
Now you, my black brother is acting white
Why should you Black South Africans do this?
What makes you think that you better than me?
Who told you that I’m responsible for your unemployment?
Who told you that I’m less human?
If I need to go back to Vhenda……..let all the Zulus go back to KZN
Let all the Tswana’s go back to Botswana
Let all the Sotho’s go back to Lesotho
Let all the Ndebele’s go back to Kwandebele
Let all the Xhosa’s go back to Eastern Cape
Yes…………let all the Swati’s go back to Swaziland
Is this not ignorance?
Your unemployment is your responsibility
Use your intellect
Get up and work
Let education empower you
Seek humanity
Before 1994 you blamed whites
Now you are blaming me
Who are you going to blame after chasing me away?
Who are you going to blame after killing me? m
For what it’s worth…………………..
I’m sorry I was not born here
I’m sorry I can’t speak Zulu
I’m sorry for being too dark for your Joburg
I’m sorry for cleaning the toilets you don’t want to clean
I’m sorry for doing your garden
I’m sorry for repairing your shoes
I’m sorry for protecting your leaders while they were in Exile
Yes…………………what you call Exile………..is my country
And most of all…….I’m sorry for building South African infrastructure
Please my brothers let there be peace and prosperity amongst black African people.
Written by a Black African ………………….
May 25th, 2008 10:41
Hi Nana
Thank you for publishing my poem on your blog.
The message has to reach all Black people in Africa and other countries.
From the Author of “Xenophobic Cry” (Poem name)
Deejay
http://splakaveli.blogspot.com/
May 25th, 2008 13:42
It’s not so surprising: witchhunts were burning across S.A. since the 80-s and earlier. The demeanor of burning people under the most ridiculous aspersions was trained and culturally based within a common ideology. So while Zombie-trains were worrying the minds of modern african Elites and African culture became a value in itself that should like an ointment take care for the violated self-esteem of disturbed societies, it was just a matter of time, that xenophobia arose, as it did years ago, sometimes merged with witchcraft-accusations, but now without (?).
Enlightenment and violence are up so far dialectical, but not intrinsic necessary parts, so the only remedy against such violence is a permanent enlighening critic of the very culture, that feeds it.
May 25th, 2008 15:52
@Nichtidentisches
Plain English/Shona/Sindebele…PLEASE. !!!!!
May 25th, 2008 16:44
@Nichtidentisches
Sorry for the rant Nichtidentisches, but I am a simple person who would like to share your knowledge but if you dress it up in High blown expressions and Psychological terms it loses it’s impact
Ndatenda chaisvo/Siyabonga kakhulu
May 26th, 2008 13:09
Sorry, I’m myself having difficulties translating my German to English, so some expressions might be old-fashioned or misfit.
What I wanted to say is:
This did not happen by accident nor is it surprising. Such violence has a long tradition in South Africa - about 5000 Persons were killed as witches just during the 1990s. Hundreds of persons fled to police stations. The social anthropologists Jean and John Comaroff wrote about accusations against immigrants and foreign workers: They were kept for zombies or witches and therefore hunted by students, unemployed, normal South-Africans.
The ANC-Ideology is: Apartheid was responsible for everything, all we Africans have to do is to govern ourselves. But the contradictions and conflicts within African societies - homophobia, racism, sexism, tribalism, witch-hunts - remained undiscussed. So I’m very glad about the ability to read this excellent Blog, that does a very good job.
May 28th, 2008 12:30
I just want to say that is in no way justifiable for anyone to kill another human being for whatever reason. I speak as a South African who sometimes gets frustrated at the way things are. Ever since access into the coutry has been so easy, a lot of things have gone down the drain.
Take Govan Mbeki street in PE, before it was easy to walk down the road and it was clean. Now all you get are stands and people selling fake clothing, its like mini Lagos up in there. We are already struggling to support our poor people, how can we support people from outside our boarders. SA is not the kand of milk and hunny, a large percentage of our population is poor. Our resources are being streched to the maximum. I just think we have to have stricter immigration laws and tighter security at our borders. Its is very evident that this “Saviour of Africa” mentality that our government has is not within our means.
We also have families to support, we are also struggling to survive, but guess what I don’t plan to go anywhere else but I plan to stick it out and make a contribution to the SA economy.
One last thing, there is a point that everyone raises everytime and that is of the South Africans that were in exile. There is a difference in the way the exiled South Africans lived and what is going on here. SA people were in training camps, training to go fight for their freedom. The way South Africans lived there is very different from how foreigner are living here. I could go on forever bt I won’t.
I’m just looking at things from the average South African’s perspective. Those who are able to go home should do so that will put a liitle relief to an already strained South Africa.
May 30th, 2008 07:55
I am disgusted by how black South Africans have treated our African brothers and sisters. It’s sad that Black South Africans coming from a past of racism and discrimination could turn and do the same thing to our people. South Africans who allow this violence to occur should do alot of soul-searching. I feel that South Africans who participate in the violence arespitting the graves of all people who fought for democracy in the country.
May 30th, 2008 22:38
Why is it that we lose the plot so easily when Race Creed Religion and of course the ever present apartheid comes under discussion. Just for one minute leave all those high minded philosophies behind and concentrate on the crux of the problem
The inability of the South African Politician to do their jobs properly. If Mbeki had not arse creeped RM with is silent diplomacy (what a nice word for doing nothing) and in taking action against a despot AND deliverde on his promises to help the poor instead of allowing his cronies to stuff their pockets as well as their faces on the ongoing parties given to the fet cat gravy train riders. The economic crisis in Zim would not have forced the people to seek a better life illegally in SA.
If Charles (the man) Ngakula had not belittled the start of the xenophobic purge as an isolated incident the bloodshed could have been curtailed But NO we are to clever for our shoes and to proud to admit that we cannot really do the job, and if and when the shit hits the fan we either go into a huddle and plan a meeting to appoint a committee that will come up with a 5 year plan to suppress the problem Man Oh Man do we have a problem Houston!
May 31st, 2008 10:04
Nichtidentisches
This is serious stuff. We want to understand what you are saying, so please be considerate and give us your meaningful viewof things.
June 1st, 2008 00:39
@ BK
Sorry to burst you bubble bro but as a person who saw the SA comrades in exile I can tell you this. They were not all in training camps behaving. Those that were in Zimbabwe (some anyway) were living it up in the late 80’s spending their time keCircus night club and living in middle class neighbourhoods such as Avondale and Mabelreign in Harare or the Avenues, in some cases guarded by the Zimbabwean police. I would not put this as a reason why SA should accept immigrants but be real man. Those thugs who attacked immigrants are in the main lampants who resorted to violence because your government has messed up policies which have benefitted the small but growing black middle class and already okay white population at the exclusion of the urban poor. The sad irony is because of the ANC’s political and economic hegemony these lampants have to find a scapegoat to blame for their misery other than the root cause…enter the immigrant.
July 24th, 2008 13:27
The South African Black man and woman are struggling to survive Why must they also support a bunch of people from Zimbabwe who the average Black South African has no time for anyway