Fifty-five incidents of xenophobia were recorded in the Western Cape between May 1 and July 30, with 40 arrests, says Community Safety MEC Lennit Max.
He made the announcement in the provincial legislature yesterday during a debate on the provincial government's role in addressing xenophobic violence.
Max said charges laid included arson, intimidation, attempted murder, damage to property, assault, public violence and theft or looting.
He said the areas in which incidents occurred included Delft, Philippi, Lwandle, Kraaifontein, Paarl, Paarl East, Franschhoek, Grabouw, Wellington, Da Gammaskop, Mossel Bay, Gugulethu, Langa, Atlantis and Khayelitsha.
Max said police visibility in the areas where foreigners lived and had shops had been increased.
But he seemed to contradict the DA, which has consistently accused the ANC of denialism about xenophobia.
He said four distinct categories could be defined to separate acts and attitudes towards foreigners. These were:
# House shop robberies where foreigners were victims. This was ordinary crime and certain factors made foreigners more vulnerable targets.
# Opportunistic acts of looting by criminal youth. Youth offenders had been responsible for the majority of incidents in since the World Cup.
# The impact of the rumour that foreigners would be chased away after the World Cup. "This rumour has no defined source. Opportunistic acts were committed by youths and not the supposed communities as predicted by rumour-mongers or vulnerable foreigners."
# Local shopkeepers forming associations with the intent ion of intimidating foreign competition. "Instances have been recorded whereby foreigners have been warned verbally and by letter to vacate certain areas," said Max.
The ANC's Max Ozinsky, who had asked for the debate, said the response of the provincial government to xenophobia had prolonged the suffering of victims of violence.
He said under the leadership of Premier Helen Zille, the Premier's Coordinating Forum resolved in March that: "The premier raises with the national government the urgent need for a national plan to address the legal control and management of illegal migration to South Africa which is the underlying cause of xenophobia."
Ozinsky said this was contradicted by a report on xenophobia titled "Strategic and critical analysis of government interventions to the displacement of foreign nationals in De Doorns" written by an official in the premier's office which stated that: "In many instances, at the root of the social crisis are structural issues (poverty and general under-development) and institutional challenges (lack of co-ordination amongst various role players and political or leadership factions amongst implicated and affected parties).
"There is no evidence, nor any research findings, to suggest that illegal migration is the underlying cause, or indeed a significant cause, of xenophobia or xenophobic intimidation or violence.
"In fact, it is clear that perpetrators of xenophobic violence do not usually distinguish between those legally in the country and those not. As a result, it cannot be argued that 'illegal immigration' is the primary cause of the xenophobic violence."
Zille argued that the DA had done more than the national government, despite refugees being a national and international competency. - Cape Argus
He made the announcement in the provincial legislature yesterday during a debate on the provincial government's role in addressing xenophobic violence.
Max said charges laid included arson, intimidation, attempted murder, damage to property, assault, public violence and theft or looting.
He said the areas in which incidents occurred included Delft, Philippi, Lwandle, Kraaifontein, Paarl, Paarl East, Franschhoek, Grabouw, Wellington, Da Gammaskop, Mossel Bay, Gugulethu, Langa, Atlantis and Khayelitsha.
Max said police visibility in the areas where foreigners lived and had shops had been increased.
But he seemed to contradict the DA, which has consistently accused the ANC of denialism about xenophobia.
He said four distinct categories could be defined to separate acts and attitudes towards foreigners. These were:
# House shop robberies where foreigners were victims. This was ordinary crime and certain factors made foreigners more vulnerable targets.
# Opportunistic acts of looting by criminal youth. Youth offenders had been responsible for the majority of incidents in since the World Cup.
# The impact of the rumour that foreigners would be chased away after the World Cup. "This rumour has no defined source. Opportunistic acts were committed by youths and not the supposed communities as predicted by rumour-mongers or vulnerable foreigners."
# Local shopkeepers forming associations with the intent ion of intimidating foreign competition. "Instances have been recorded whereby foreigners have been warned verbally and by letter to vacate certain areas," said Max.
The ANC's Max Ozinsky, who had asked for the debate, said the response of the provincial government to xenophobia had prolonged the suffering of victims of violence.
He said under the leadership of Premier Helen Zille, the Premier's Coordinating Forum resolved in March that: "The premier raises with the national government the urgent need for a national plan to address the legal control and management of illegal migration to South Africa which is the underlying cause of xenophobia."
Ozinsky said this was contradicted by a report on xenophobia titled "Strategic and critical analysis of government interventions to the displacement of foreign nationals in De Doorns" written by an official in the premier's office which stated that: "In many instances, at the root of the social crisis are structural issues (poverty and general under-development) and institutional challenges (lack of co-ordination amongst various role players and political or leadership factions amongst implicated and affected parties).
"There is no evidence, nor any research findings, to suggest that illegal migration is the underlying cause, or indeed a significant cause, of xenophobia or xenophobic intimidation or violence.
"In fact, it is clear that perpetrators of xenophobic violence do not usually distinguish between those legally in the country and those not. As a result, it cannot be argued that 'illegal immigration' is the primary cause of the xenophobic violence."
Zille argued that the DA had done more than the national government, despite refugees being a national and international competency. - Cape Argus
