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WE are appalled at the escalating xenophobic attacks currently underway in South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province and call on the government of President Jacob Zuma to do all it can to stop them. Mobs of South African nationals are roaming the townships of Durban and other surrounding areas wantonly looting shops, burning them and attacking foreigners who run them in sickening scenes reminiscent of the violence which engulfed Gauteng province in 2008.
More than 2,000 foreigners, mostly Ethiopians, Malawians, Congolese and Zimbabweans are homeless and have sought shelter in makeshift camps and we are worried for their safety. Some of them have lost all of their belongings and sources of livelihood after their homes were torched and shops burnt and looted by crazed gangs that appear to be a law unto themselves.
The police appear heavily outnumbered or reluctant to confront the mobs who have been unleashing a reign of terror for the past weeks. Criminals have also taken advantage of the situation and joined the bandwagon. As of yesterday, the death toll stood at seven according to South African media reports. The government of Malawi yesterday reportedly began the voluntary repatriation of its citizens while President Zuma is reported to have dispatched three ministers to KZN to deal with the situation.
Four people were killed and shops were looted and burnt as violence between residents and foreign nationals escalated in Durban at the weekend. Those killed included an Ethiopian, whose shop was petrol bombed last week, an immigrant whose nationality was not immediately known and two South Africans, police spokesman Thulani Zwane said on Monday. Police said 28 people have been arrested for looting and torching immigrants’ shops and were due to appear in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court.
Agency reports said on Sunday night a mob set upon foreigners at KwaMashu’s A-Section hostel, and the township’s B and D-sections. Several police vehicles that responded were stoned. Residents in neighbouring Avoca Hills reported they could hear screams, and what sounded like gunshots. In Varsity Drive, Reservoir Hills, another mob, carrying sticks and grass cutters, attacked foreigners. A resident said the mob was going to various tuck shops, owned by foreigners, and looting them.
Yesterday, the children displaced by the attacks did not go back to school. Sinikiwe Sibanda, a Zimbabwean woman, told the Reuters agency that she had just returned from an Easter break in Zimbabwe with her four-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son when they were attacked and forced out of their informal settlement home.
“We can’t even go back for their uniforms,” she said. A witness told of horrific scenes in Durban’s Umlazi Township where marauding gangs were attacking foreigners and looting their shops.
“This is like a war zone. It’s like we’re in Syria. I’ve never seen such cruelty,” he told news agency AFP.
Xenophobia is now a perennial problem in South Africa and the government there should find ways of addressing it in a holistic manner. Most foreigners who run spaza shops are in South Africa legally and invest their hard earned money to open them. It is not their problem that locals lack the business acumen they possess and the South African government should make it clear to its citizens that looting and burning foreign-owned shops will not help improve their lot. Granted, there is grinding poverty in some sections of these xenophobic hotspots but attacking foreign nationals just because they appear to be running thriving businesses is the height of irresponsibility and barbarism which have no place in modern society.
The law should be allowed to take its course and the perpetrators of xenophobic attacks must be brought to book. We urge the South African government to deal ruthlessly with these lumpen elements out to tarnish the image of that country. We are sure South Africa does not want to appear like a nation that does not tolerate nationals of other countries and we have faith in the government of President Zuma that it will tackle the problem head on and nip it in the bud.
Traditional leaders such as King Goodwill Zwelithini should be reminded that it is not a coincidence that xenophobic attacks began soon after he made some unfortunate remarks about foreigners needing to go back to their countries.
Now that his subjects have latched onto those misguided utterances, we hope he sleeps soundly at night after watching the horrific scenes playing out in the streets of Umlazi and other KZN townships.
Online Reporter