Schwartzerwitz: SA ‘desensitised’ to xenophobia

Friday, June 7, 2013

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

No comments:

Post a Comment

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.