Xenophobia two years on

This week marks two years since a wave of xenophobic attacks targeted foreign nationals living in South Africa. The two-week explosion of violence left 62 people dead and thousands homeless.

Miriam* is a mother of five from the DRC. She wept as she recounted what happened two weeks ago. She described how a man shoved a newspaper in her daughter’s face, saying: "After the World Cup we will kill you. We will come into your houses and kill you one by one." Traumatised, Miriam’s daughter looked at the newspaper: it featured a report by the Human Rights Commission on the possible resurgence of xenophobic violence.

"I will be counting the days after the World Cup,’ Miriam said."I will be killed. I will not still be alive."

Miriam was badly affected by the 2008 attacks. Her husband owned a large shop in Alexandra township. When the looting and harassment began, he left in search of a better life. Miriam stayed behind to support their children. "The way I am living today, in poverty, is because of this," she said.

Miriam has reason to be afraid. On Monday the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa released a press statement to voice concerns that "a month from the opening match of the World Cup, threats are mounting of further mass xenophobic violence once the event is over".

Little progress
Professor Loren Landau, director of the Forced Migration Studies Programme at Wits University, confirmed to the Mail & Guardian that "this is something we have been hearing all over".

According to Landau, there has been little progress since 2008. "What hasn’t happened at a community level is an effort to address the triggers of the violence," he said. "In the communities where foreigners have been attacked, our impression is that [they] have stayed away."

Professor Tinyiko Maluleke, President of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), told the M&G he had also heard about renewed threats of violence, and added: "We have always been aware that this [xenophobia] has not disappeared."

Maluleke said the SACC has asked its members to be on the look-out for rising xenophobic tensions. "It is something we need to take seriously".

Bea Abrahams works for the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Dialogue Programme and helps to host community conversations across the country.

"The tensions around reintegration are very real," she told the M&G. "There is a very pervasive sense of fear from migrants."

Marginalisation
Although community policing forum representatives in Alexandra and Diepsloot flatly denied that xenophobic tensions are on the rise, Abrahams insisted that "what emerged from our community conversations in Diepsloot, in particular, is the extent of foreign marginalisation in the community".

Landau and Abrahams were worried that next year's local elections may generate further xenophobic violence. Landau said that the struggle for local leadership often causes tension to rise. "There are all kinds of formal and informal political structures," Abrahams added. "They wield enormous power because they can easily influence opinion."

Abrahams pointed out that when it comes to government involvement, "there is almost a complete absence of mechanisms to deal with community conflicts".

Maluleke agreed that this was cause for concern: "We are not convinced that the previous government, or this one, has prioritised xenophobia. We have not seen a move away from that denial," he said.

Ministry of State Security spokesperson Brian Dube contested this view. Dube told M&G that the State Security Agency monitored the issue of xenophobia in various parts of the country. "As we indicated in the budget vote presentation to parliament, we are aware of cases where tension exists between communities and foreign nationals," he said. "We process information and liaise with the police and other stakeholders in averting such cases."

So what do these assurances mean for Miriam? Not much. She and her children are counting the days until the end of the Soccer World Cup. "Maybe the South African government will do something," she says. "Maybe they will prepare transport for us to leave."

*Not her real name.

- M&G