Four die in wave of violence

Cape Town - Two Somali shopkeepers were killed, two robbers shot dead and five others wounded in separate incidents of violence at Gugulethu shops owned by foreigners in the past four days, police confirmed.

On Friday, Somali shopkeepers Abdimuhammad Ali and Ahmad Muse were shot dead after a robbery that took place in their Lucky No2 shop at the Lotus informal settlement.

At another Somali shop in Phola Park - not far from Lotus - two robbers were shot dead.

Police said the robberies took place at about 7.15pm. No arrests had been made.

“A part of the investigation will establish if the suspects can be linked with both robberies and murder incidents,” said police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut.

Lucky No2 owner Abdisalon Dhiblawe said he was uncertain of the events that led to the killing of his shopkeepers on Friday evening.

He said he received a phone call at his home in Bellville at about 9pm from a Somali shop owner telling him his “brothers” had been shot dead.

Dhiblawe said that when he got to the shop the bodies were still there and the shop had been looted.

The robbers took money, airtime and cigarettes before fleeing the scene, he said.

In Phola Park, Somalis said they were shocked and afraid of what would happen next after three consecutive shootings and robberies that took place at the Skoma Cash Store over the weekend.

The first attack occurred on Friday when the shop owner and his staff were shot at by gunmen - one staff member was shot in the stomach and another in the buttocks.

The following day, armed men again attacked the store - this time, one staff member was shot in the arm and another in the chest.

On Sunday, robbers shot and wounded the shopkeeper through the security bars and forced their way through the side door, smashing a refrigerator and taking cash, airtime and cigarettes.

Xasan Maxamalm who was at the scene, said the shopkeeper was serving customers when the gunmen entered the store.

“The two robbers said they wanted to buy a loaf of brown bread, so my brother went to fetch the bread.

“When he put the bread on the counter, they shot him. My brother then ran to our room and my friend came out with a gun and shot back at them,” he said.

The owner of the land on which the shop is situated, Luyanda Mbambane, said: “What’s happening here is bad. During apartheid we were foreigners in other countries, like Somalia, and they treated us well, but now we are treating them badly.

“I for one will protect them until I die. They have been very helpful to this community and the people know that,” he said, crying.

The wounded were all being treated at hospital.

Anyone with information about the incidents, or knows the whereabouts of the suspects, is urged to call the Gugulethu police on 021 684 2300 or 021 684 2324/5, or the Community Service Centre commander at 079 880 9884.

- Cadet News Agency - Cape Argus

Police get rough with queueing refugees

Cape Town - Dozens of refugees were manhandled by police as they queued in the rain outside Customs House on Monday.

The refugee centre has been plagued by allegations of corruption, violence and congestion.

Refugees say they have been returning every day for weeks trying to renew their expired documents.

Seeking shelter under a nearby bridge, Derrick Kibi - originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo - said he had been queueing since June 13. “I’ve been coming here every day, and this morning I came here at 5am, and I’m still here. What makes me upset is seeing the women and the children standing in the rain.”

Each time officials ushered small groups of people into the building, there would be a sudden dash from the group standing beneath the bridge.

Police stepped in and the Cape Argus watched as officers grabbed people and shoved others aside - a few were pushed so hard they fell to the ground. Last week, police reportedly fired tear gas outside the centre in a similar scenario. Police were called in when security guards struggled to control the crowd.

Some people accused officials of “slowing down processes” to fuel corruption.

Earlier this month, the security chief at the centre was removed from his post while being investigated for accepting bribes.

Refugee rights organisation People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty (Passop) members spent on Monday observing the commotion.

Passop’s Braam Hanekom said they were monitoring how many people were being turned away without being served, whether their dignity was being infringed upon, and the response from police.

“The situation is not acceptable,” Hanekom said, adding that many of the people in the queue appreciated having the police on-site from a safety perspective.

“But it’s not the job of the police to run the queue,” Hanekom said.

In response, provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel André Traut said police were stationed at Customs House to monitor the crowd.

“The situation at the Department of Home Affairs is monitored by SAPS to prevent incidents of violence while people are waiting.”

Local management at Customs House was unavailable for comment on Monday.

- Cape Argus

Xenophobia threatens democracy - Pandor

The inhumane and degrading treatment of African foreign nationals is a threat to democracy and freedom in South Africa, Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor said on Thursday.

“Our brothers and sisters on the African continent played an important role in the achievement of democracy and freedom in South Africa,” she said in a speech prepared for delivery in Tshwane for World Refugees Day.

“They extended hospitality and asylum to many of our exiled leaders and their families during the oppression of apartheid.”

She said Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Lesotho, Zambia, Tanzania, and Botswana paid an “even higher price” for supporting the anti-apartheid struggle.

“Many of their citizens perished in raids into their territories by the apartheid security forces.”

She said using force or threats of violence to resolve grievances in South Africa was unacceptable.

“Anti-immigrant violence is inseparable from the evil of racism. The insidious nature of rising levels of ethnicism in our society is another cause for concern.

“We need to re-commit to the non-racialism we believed in during the days of our struggle against apartheid. We need to teach our young people to recognise bias, intolerance, and racism and arm them with the skills to combat these forms of discrimination.”

She said more needed to be done to teach people the value of diversity and the advantages of living with people from different cultures.

“We will not shirk our responsibilities under our refugee law or international conventions. South Africa remains one of the most liberal countries in regard to the benefits asylum seekers and refugees are allowed in our country.”

In South Africa, refugees and asylum seekers could move freely, work and enjoy basic services, Pandor said.

“It is true that we do not grant refugee status easily. Show me a country that does. But we do take longer than we should in determining refugee status.

“We are taking steps to process applications more efficiently and fairly. We are reviewing our procedures and implementing a fast-track capacity to process application status.”

Her department was working with international organisations to strengthen partnerships so “durable” solutions could be found for problems affecting refugees. South Africa was always open to refugees.

“Because we understand the importance of family and we understand the pain of losing the support and security of a family,” she said.

“I would like to reassure refugees here today of our admiration and support for [their] strength and resilience in the face of huge adversity.”

- Sapa

Fear grips Wallacedene

Cape Town - Groups of Zimbabwean men armed with knives and axes gathered early today in Wallacedene, Kraaifontein, to defend themselves against possible attacks by disgruntled locals.

This followed rioting in the suburb on Wednesday during which Somali and Chinese-owned shops were looted, roads were blocked, property was damaged and stones were hurled at police and journalists by residents frustrated by poor housing and service delivery.

Ironically, today is World Refugee Day, an annual commemoration established by the UN to “honour the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homes under threat of persecution, conflict and violence”.

Police said about 1 000 residents had been involved in Wednesday’s rioting and that about 15 Somali shops had been attacked. Five people were arrested and charged with public violence.

A group of Zimbabweans told the Cape Argus on Wednesday that they were ready to protect their homes and businesses.

The group, armed with knives and an axe, patrolled in a bakkie and were inspecting a friend’s television sale and repair container shop that had been trashed and looted earlier on Thursday.

The owner of the shop, Bra Kapela, said he had lost uninsured merchandise worth more than R20 000.

One of the group was Shannon Siya, an environmental science student who moved to Wallacedene five years ago. He said Zimbabweans had “peacefully co-existed” with other people in Wallacedene for many years.

“Criminals and looters have taken advantage of the situation, and we hear that they want to target us now. We cannot put our faith in police, we must protect ourselves,” he said.

Nearby, looters were sifting through the remains of half a dozen other shops. Some had been torched and were still smouldering. Elsewhere, vandals were breaking open the latches of other shops.

A group of Zimbabwean women who left their Wallacedene homes for fear of being attacked gathered at Kraaifontein police station today.

One woman, who asked not to be named, said her house had been invaded by a group of men this morning who had demanded money. The woman’s neighbours had chased them off.

“Our Xhosa neighbours accept us, we live with them and we are good neighbours. It is only a small criminal element, mostly comprised of youngsters who don’t go to school and want to steal,” she said.

She complained that she had had to go to the police station for protection, “instead of the police coming to our community to protect us”.

What started as protests over allegations that government housing in the area had been handed over to beneficiaries from Khayelitsha and other “outsiders” turned to anarchy and looting yesterday.

Graham Daries, who said he applied for a home in the early 1990s, explained the frustrations which sparked the initial protests.

“We see people moving into these homes. They are Eskom employees, they are teachers and they are from far-flung townships,” he said.

“What aggravates the people more is that they have money. Within days of moving in, they start building high walls to enclose themselves from us, and mount DStv dishes on their walls.”

On Wednesday the Cape Argus found no sign of the Somali and Chinese businesspeople whose shops were attacked. Residents said they had fled.

The refugee rights NGO People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty condemned the violence and asked the police to provide security to “vulnerable” foreigners.

Police had not provided an update on the situation at the time of going to print.

- Cape Argus

Chaos as police fire tear gas at refugees

Cape Town - Police fired tear gas into a crowd outside the Home Affairs refugee centre on the Foreshore after some people tried to jump the queue and force their way in, refugees said yesterday.

“There were about 500 people in the queue outside and suddenly there were some people who jumped the queue and went for the doors,” said Mohamed Osman, waiting to renew his asylum-seeker temporary permit. “Then there was a lot of pushing and shoving and people shouting at each other.”

He said the police were called after security guards struggled to bring the situation under control.

“Police came and they fired tear gas. My eyes are still burning,” said Osman, a Somali who arrived in the country in 2008 and lives in Oudtshoorn.

Jeanott Mwangala, who hails from Congo, said: “There were about 1 000 people waiting outside when the doors opened at 8am and by 9am people were already having arguments in the queue.

“Then later in the day things became chaotic. Some people were fighting. I saw a lady collapse. When police came they sprayed tear gas. It was just hectic.”

Osman and Mwangala said there was no communication from Home Affairs officials at the centre. After waiting in vain for hours yesterday, they had to leave and would return today, they said.

Tuesday’s incident was the second in as many weeks after refugees in the queue were hosed with cold water and Cape Argus photographer Thomas Holder was allegedly assaulted by a guard when he took pictures of a chaotic situation outside the centre on May 30.

Days later, Home Affairs provincial head Yusuf Simons announced that the head of security at Customs House had been removed and investigated for bribery.

Simons said yesterday he was on leave and referred queries to acting provincial head Martha Mxgashe, who could not be reached.

- Cape Times

Imizamo Yethu man beaten to death

Cape Town - A Zimbabwean man was beaten to death in Imizamo Yethu on Sunday, Hout Bay police spokeswoman Tanya Lesch reported on Tuesday night.

Sam Budhala was one of two men murdered in the township, Lesch said in a report posted on the Hout Bay Neighbourhood Watch website.

Lesch said a morning police patrol in Imizamo Yethu had noticed a commotion and found Budhala dead in Sobukwe Street.

“It seemed as if the victim had been beaten,” Lesch wrote on the website.

“The 35-year-old Sam Budhala, a Zimbabwean, was declared dead on the scene.

“It is alleged that there was a fight earlier during the day between the victim and the community.”

Hours earlier

, Benny Magengelele, 23, of Imizamo Yethu, died in hospital after being stabbed in the chest in Mkhonto Street, Lesch said.

She said a person had taken in for questioning, but then released.

In another incident on Sunday, in Salmander Road in Hangberg, four men armed with knives and a gun robbed a bread deliveryman of his phone and money, Lesch said.

“After robbing the victim the suspects fled on foot.”

No arrests had been made, Lesch said.

Imizamo Yethu was one of several areas affected by the countrywide xenophobic attacks in 2008 when foreigners were killed, injured or chased from their homes.

In Cape Town, authorities accomodated displaced people from Imizamo Yethu, Dunoon and Masiphumelele, among other places, in tents in Strandfontein, Gordon’s Bay and the SANDF base in Wynberg.

- Cape Times

Xenophobia attacks not over: LHR

Xenophobia attacks in South Africa have not ended, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) said on Friday.

"It has been five years since [2008, when] co-ordinated attacks exploded across the country and led to the deaths of 64 people and the displacement of hundreds of thousands more," the head of LHR's strategic litigation unit, David Cote, said in a statement.

"Although the violence itself only lasted for a few weeks, the lingering fear has never quite gone away. This is partly due to the fact that these attacks never really ended."

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released figures showing that at least three incidents a week were reported in 2012, LHR said.

"Those not killed have been severely injured."

He said there was no way of determining how much had been lost in business and property after attacks in Sasolburg, Orange Farm, Diepsloot, Booysens Park, and Sebokeng.

Last month, police reported unrest at Diepsloot, after Somali businessman Bishar Isaack was arrested for allegedly shooting dead two men, believed to be Zimbabweans, outside his shop when they allegedly tried to rob him.

Afterwards, residents stoned the shop and looted it and other businesses in the area.

Police arrested 45 people for public violence, housebreaking, and possession of unlicensed firearms.

In the same month, more than 90 people were arrested for protest-related crimes in Evaton, Orange Farm, and Sebokeng, south of Johannesburg.

Complaints of looting and vandalism of spaza shops belonging to foreigners were reported.

Violence also flared in Port Elizabeth, in Eastern Cape, where Somali shop owners were targeted.

Cote said the other reason xenophobia never went away was because nothing had really been done to end the attacks, or start the healing process.

"Even more disturbing is the government's denial of the real threat of xenophobia. Hate crime legislation, which would prioritise such crimes, has been languishing in committees for years."

- Timeslive

SA ‘desensitised’ to xenophobia

South Africans are becoming desensitised to crime and xenophobic attacks, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria said on Thursday.

“We fear that xenophobic attacks are becoming regular phenomena, and the South African population is becoming increasingly desensitised,” it said in a statement.

“While the law prohibits heinous deeds such as sexual and violent crimes, the South African population has grown apathetic to these issues with little hope of them being addressed.”

It called on all tertiary institutions to address the issue.

“We need to start formulating plans on how to incorporate the issue of xenophobia into syllabi, create better awareness around xenophobia, and disseminate information about the scope and protection of the South African Constitution.”

Last month, police reported unrest at Diepsloot after Somali businessman Bishar Isaack was arrested for allegedly shooting dead two men, believed to be Zimbabweans, outside his shop after they allegedly tried to rob him.

Afterwards, residents stoned the shop and looted it and other businesses in the area.

Police arrested 45 people for public violence, housebreaking, and possession of unlicensed firearms.

In the same month, more than 90 people were arrested for protest-related crimes in Evaton, Orange Farm, and Sebokeng, south of Johannesburg.

Complaints of looting and vandalism of spaza shops belonging to foreigners were reported.

Violence also flared in Port Elizabeth, in Eastern Cape, where Somali shop owners were targeted.

A wave of xenophobic violence in 2008 left at least 60 foreigners dead.

The centre said South Africans needed to remember that the leaders of the anti-apartheid struggle, including President Jacob Zuma, often took refuge in neighbouring countries.

“President... Zuma should therefore understand the importance of supporting people that fled their countries as a result of intolerable situations better than most,” it said.

“It is of the utmost importance that President Zuma seize this opportunity to convey a message... about the important role that refugees played in the anti-apartheid movement, and reiterate South Africa's obligation to support refugees from other African states.” - Sapa

Shocking anti-migrant sentiment exposed

One in two South Africans wants foreign migrants to carry their IDs on them at all times and 63 percent of citizens want electrified fences on the country’s borders.

Half of the population also feel that migrants without the required documentation should never receive police protection and 14 percent believe that migrants, regardless of their legal status, enter the country with the main purpose of committing crime.

These shocking findings come from the latest survey by the Southern African Migration Programme on South African attitudes towards foreigners, done every four years to assess levels of xenophobia and identify possible areas of concern in which intervention may be necessary. The xenophobia survey was conducted in November and December 2010 in all nine provinces.

Census enumeration areas were used for household selection and respondent selection was random.

Respondents were all South African citizens and the survey used the same questions and indices as the survey in 2006, with additional questions about xenophobic violence and the Fifa World Cup.

The questionnaire was translated and administered in English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu and Tswana. The final sample of 2 400 citizens was weighted to make it nationally representative.

The xenophobia index we use in our surveys is calculated using answers to 15 questions for every participant and those with higher scores are assessed as being more xenophobic.

Important positive findings from the latest survey, published this week, include a noticeable reduction in the intensity of xenophobic sentiments among several groups, including coloured South Africans, Afrikaans-speakers, South Africans who speak the same languages as migrants, and citizens with low levels of education and income. Attitudes to migrants from other southern African countries have improved. At least 41 percent want mandatory HIV testing of refugees as compared to 60 percent in 2006.

One in three thought migrants contributed to skills development, an increase from 25 percent in 2006.

In 2010, close to one-third wanted refugees to live in border camps.

Support for this discriminatory policy has dropped from nearly 50 percent in the previous survey.

Interestingly, in 2006 xenophobia was inversely tied to income: the higher the income, the lower the xenophobia scores. But in the latest survey, levels of xenophobia increased with increasing income. Those in the lowest income groups were the least xenophobic.

However, the proportion of South Africans willing to transform their anti-foreigner attitudes into forceful action against migrants remained constant, suggesting that no lessons were learned from the mass xenophobic violence of May 2008.

The number of South Africans ready to remove migrants violently increased slightly from 2006 to 2010. South Africans unwilling to engage or participate in such actions declined in 2010 and the proportion of those prepared to unite with others in collective action against migrants remains unchanged from 2006.

Researchers asked questions about citizen reactions to the violence of May 2008.

Respondents were asked to identify what they felt were the underlying reasons. Close to half felt guilty about the violence; 54 percent agreed that migrants did not deserve such treatment and a similar proportion indicated that they would not endorse such actions.

However, a third was unmoved by the violence and a minority showed their approval. These differences are erased when it comes to offering reasons for the violence. Most accepted popular explanations or were apathetic.

For instance, more than 60 percent thought the violence occurred because of migrants’ involvement in crime or because they took jobs from South Africans or were culturally different.

While South Africans expressed their discomfort with the violence, they held migrants and refugees responsible for it, falling back on migrant stereotypes and falsehoods to justify it.

The survey looked for dissimilarities on a variety of indices in hot spot areas of the 2008 violence and other areas and did not find any significant differences.

It did find that residents of hot spot areas were less accepting of the violence compared to other South Africans, but fewer felt guilty about it or wanted to do something to repair it.

While violence directed at migrants and refugees has certainly not disappeared since mid-2008, it is still explained away by government officials as the work of criminal and antisocial elements.

With the continuing attacks on people, their shops and other property, there is an urgent need for a concerted effort by citizens and the state to counteract the negative attitudes that exist, which fly in the face of the rights and entitlements that the constitution affords foreigners.

Myths that underlie many xenophobic attitudes need to be dispelled.

Although the census shows that less than 5 percent of South Africa’s residents were born outside the country, more than half believe foreigners constitute a majority of the country’s population.

The same applies to jobs.

While there is evidence that migrants often bring necessary skills into the country and create jobs for locals, South Africans want very few migrants, even when jobs are available for them.

Globally, South Africa is the country most opposed to immigration, with many favouring a complete prohibition on the entry of migrants.

At least 30 percent of South Africans probed in a recent international survey wanted a total ban on all migration to the country for work. This was higher than any other country surveyed.

South Africa also had by far the lowest number of people who wanted a migration policy linked to the availability of jobs.

The fact that the convictions of those willing to use violence to exclude or expel migrants from communities and join others to achieve this end remain fixed is cause for great concern.

Disturbing signals from the local survey include that one in four South Africans is ready to jointly prevent migrants from neighbouring countries operating a business. This is a troubling indicator because of the escalation of attacks on migrant-owned businesses in recent years.

It is unsurprising that the Ministry of Trade and Industry has joined this xenophobic campaign in its proposed Licensing of Businesses Bill, which will give the police and citizens new powers to harass and destroy the operations of migrant-owned small business.

A quarter of South Africans are willing to prevent migrants from moving into their neighbourhood and some 20 percent would take action to prevent the enrolment of children from migrant families in the same schools as theirs.

Despite a fall in support from 2006, one-quarter of South Africans still want all migrants to be deported, irrespective of their status.

Half the population feel that irregular migrants should never receive police protection and only 18 percent want them given legal protection.

Refugees fared marginally better, with 36 percent of respondents wanting to give them protection through the police.

The recognised vulnerability of such migrants to poor treatment, extortion by state officials and to xenophobic violence makes this a disturbing fact.

To change the myopic siege mentality that the survey shows still exists, we need a state-owned and promoted comprehensive education programme that reaches into schools, workplaces, communities and corridors of the public service.

The programme should breed tolerance and spell out the rights foreigners are entitled to when in South Africa, as well as the benefits of interaction with people from other countries.

Interestingly, citizens who have no contact or interaction with migrants are the most opposed to them, suggesting that increased contact between migrants and citizens has a beneficial effect on tolerance and xenophobic views.

There is reason for hope in the decline in intensity of xenophobic sentiment because the growing contact between South Africans and migrants has had a positive effect in softening attitudes.

However, this is a slow process.

South Africans continue to feel threatened by the presence of migrants and want to handle these anxieties by limiting the numbers of migrants and refugees, deterring their entry into South Africa and making conditions difficult for their existence here by restricting the rights and entitlements they can enjoy. The presence of an unyielding cohort ready to deploy violence to manage such anxieties is our most disturbing finding.

Until we make the necessary effort to change these realities, migrants and refugees will continue to be “soft targets” of discrimination and violence.

Xenophobic attitudes that are entrenched, pervasive and negative need to be attacked with the same commitment that the government and civil society show towards the scourge of racism in post-apartheid South Africa.

* Crush is the director of the Southern African Migration Programme and an honorary professor at UCT.

- Pretoria News