Schwartzerwitz: Xenophobia rears ugly head in "Free State"

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Xenophobia rears ugly head in "Free State" - oh the irony.

Over 500 foreign nationals have been displaced in xenophobic attacks in Botshabelo in the Free State, the SA Red Cross Society (Sarcs) says.

"It all started when unregistered street vendors were removed in Botshabelo town at a place called Fairways on July 3," the society said in a statement.

The same night, angry residents broke into businesses of Somalians, Chinese and Ethopians. They took goods and money from the shops, and some houses belonging to foreign nationals were burnt down.

The Red Cross said it was currently supporting 584 displaced foreigners at the community hall, providing food, blankets and other aid.

"Sarcs is pleading with the public, businesses and corporates to assist with clothes, school uniforms, toiletries and food to help the victims."

Police confirmed the attacks, but said the situation in Botshabelo was calm on Wednesday.

Claudia Mangwegape of the Red Cross in the Free State said a meeting was held on Wednesday between locals, foreign nationals and community organisations in a bid to end the conflict.

The outcome was expected later in the afternoon. (from TimesLive)

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Every Pogrom needs an Armband....

Welcome to Schwartzerwitz. The inevitable consequence of 4 million illegal immigrants arriving in South Africa. More desperate than our local folk they are willing to work longer harder faster for less. The immigrants are more reliable than South African unskilled labour and have outcompeted the local folk. No matter what anyone says it's not FAIR on our locals. Adding 4 million hungry mouths to the country has exacerbated the rocketing food prices felt across the globe. Adding 4 million potential electricity users to the mix has undoubtedly worsened the electricity situation. Having 4 million people send home money to their family drains the economy of money which should stay within the borders. Adding 4 million people and not registering them as taxpayers has cost the country billions. What chance does our government of ridding the country of shacks as per the Millennium Development Goal when 4 million immigrants build/rent shacks. Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe....? Just move to a shack in South Africa. On an individual basis this site condemns violent acts against individuals. However as a collective the illegal immigrants deserve no sympathy and should be deported back from whence they came. These people are economic refugees - "not real refugees" - and they are(generally speaking) in South Africa illegally.

kwerekwere.

The inside cover of my Oxford English dictionary features a word with which I have become all too familiar: the word is kwerekwere.

(It may be more familiar to you with one of its vernacular language–dependant prefixes prepended — the Sotho singular being le– and plural ma–, the Nguni singular being i– and plural ama–). This word is used to refer to black (in the morphological sense) Africans who are not South Africans — South African being defined as Sotho, Nguni, Venda and Tsonga ethnic groups (by that measure the Swazis, Batswana, etc. would be South African?). This word has a very negative sting to it and is often used with contempt. From what I gather it has undertones which speak of how black Africans are believed to be sub–human, too dark and have a pungent smell.