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The xenophobic attacks taking place in South Africa are synonymous with violence and hatred towards ‘foreigners’.
Incidents of xenophobic attacks, particularly against fellow Africans, increased after the end of apartheid in 1994. In 2008, scholars and activists urged the government to do more to protect the targets of violence.
In February 2015, a group calling itself “The Mamelodi concerned residents” marched in Pretoria to protest against African immigrants in South Africa, accusing them of crime and ‘stealing’ jobs meant for citizens.
It triggered a wave of violent clashes and shops owned by immigrants were looted.
In December 2016, Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba recklessly blamed illegal immigrants for crime and called on them to leave the city.
In July 2017, then-deputy minister of police, Bongani Mkongi, said a city in South Africa was occupied 80 percent by foreigners. The government took no action.
On March 25, 2019, foreigners reportedly died following attacks while others have been holed up in their houses.
But despite the recurring waves of attacks, authorities appear reluctant to publicly acknowledge xenophobia and take decisive action to combat it by ensuring proper police investigations.
Enlightened South Africans know foreigners aren’t the problem; officials’ false promises and unwillingness to counter corruption, violence, incompetence and institutional incapability is.
Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Lindiwe Sisulu must defend the immigrants. But even then, the United Nations should intervene.
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