Wednesday 14 July 2010

Xenophobia in the Cape

Quick note by Marc Aupiais

In the Western Cape, foreign nationals, refugees, and legal immigrants as well as unlawful immigrants have had their human rights severely violated. Independent Newspapers quotes one victim as saying that he and his fellow human beings were evicted from one of the informal settlements "they chased us like dogs".

Shops are looted- that is to say these people are robbed, their property and livelihood damaged or destroyed. These weak scapegoats are hurt, or threatened and evicted.

In noting threats by the ANC Youth League that they would shortly make the Western Cape ungovernable, DA leader Helen Zille claimed that the street committees of old had been resurrected, and that her attempts to investigate had been interrupted, her right to freedom of movement restricted.

The last time ANC activists made South Africa ungovernable it was via the witch hunts where old women and their families were burnt to death in the North of the Nation. When "traitors" were necklaced (burnt to death, with a tyre around their neck) in the shack towns of that era. When children were intimidated into marching and when women were threatened to have many children.

The situation in the Western Cape has many of the marks of a conspiracy to make the nation ungovernable, or else one to murder, but by whom? These perpetrators firstly waited for the Football games to end, and foreigners to leave, impressed by our government's success.

The attacks and threats aren't only in the Western Cape, but oddly it is there where they are most focused. It may be claimed it is because the internal refugee dwellings were kept open, or that these were trouble areas. It may be suggested that comments against the opposition government or some lack in that province is the case. Or perhaps, that when it is acceptable to use violence against the opposition, South Africans- as ANC supporters reportedly did last election: if it is legitimate to say "I will kill for Zuma", then it is socially acceptable to murder the weakest of born people in our nation.

Where a person was born is a mere accident. Even the illegal foreigners have as much right to South Africa as any other person here. This is my view. An African Nationalist culture where discrimination against non-blacks and foreigners only leads to violence.

No comments:

Post a Comment

No spam, junk, hate-speech, or anti-religion stuff, thank you. Also no libel, or defamation of character. Keep it clean, keep it honest. No trolling. Keep to the point. We look forward to your comments!

Popular Posts - This Week

Popular Posts This Month

Popular Posts | All TIme