What's behind the anti-immigrant attacks in South Africa?
This week, at least four immigrants were killed in riots in Durban, South Africa, amid growing fears that violence could spill over to Johannesburg and other major cities.
For South Africa, as it continues to come to grips with its racially-charged past,聽. And although strides have been made, the events which transpired in the last few days are a reminder that there is still far to go.聽
The has reported on immigrants' concern about the spreading violence. This week, an Ethiopian street vendor in Johannesburg received WhatsApp and SMS messages that warned of possible attacks against him and his fellow countrymen. Foreign-owned shops opened their doors on Wednesday morning, but closed soon after groups of people began running up and down the streets.聽
"Wednesday, Zulu people are coming to town starting from Market [Street] their mission is to kill every foreigner on the road please pass this to all your contacts in case they come people should be on alert [sic],鈥� the chain message read in part.聽
On Tuesday, there were trying to attack foreign owned shops, the International Business Times reported. Some attribute the outburst in violence to Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini's聽 and said immigrants "should聽take their bags and go," when asked about crime and poverty, according to a separate story from News 24.聽
In response, Human Rights Watch issued a statement condemning the King's comments, which read,聽"Reckless and inflammatory public statements, such as those made by Zwelithini prior to the Durban violence, should be unambiguously condemned. And those who cross the line into direct incitement to violence against migrants should be prosecuted."聽
South Africans are now calling on the government to聽quell the violence and restore calm to the situation.聽
"The president isn't saying anything," a Nigerian street vendor told News 24. "This xenophobia thing is coming back again because the government did not do what it was supposed to do in 2008. There is no security here. If anything were to happen, what will they do?"聽
Signs were visible of the聽unrest back in January when, according to Al Jazeera, for looting聽foreign-owned businesses in Johannesburg's Soweto township. For now, the country waits, reminded of the deadly 2008聽xenophobic riots聽that left at least 62 people dead, the 海角大神 Science Monitor reported.
Few predicted the anti-immigrant attacks, the warning signs have been present for years. Attacks against Somali shopkeepers alone have led to hundreds of deaths in sporadic violence since 1994, say Somali groups. The government doesn't track attacks based on national origin.
Anger about the government's inability to create jobs or to deliver electricity or drinking water to burgeoning townships has spilled over into open protests, complete with roadblocks, burning tires, and residents wielding clubs. Now, angry citizens have taken their frustrations out those who arrived in South Africa to make a little money, and succeeded.
"We're talking about the poorest of the [South African] poor, and there was no pressure valve, and so when the pressure grew, and you lit a match, the whole thing blew," says聽Adrian Hadland, director of democracy and governance programs at the聽Human Sciences Research Council. Dr. Hadland recently conducted focus groups in townships for a report for the government on the causes of and solutions for xenophobic attacks.
South Africa is a travel destination for many wealthy people from other African nations because of its developed infrastructure and top-flight amenities. Many elites from various other countries own property in South Africa, according to the Monitor.
The at the University of聽Witwatersrand estimated that聽the overall foreign population in South Africa ranges from 1.6 to 2 million, which is 3 to 4 percent of the total population. As the violence continues, President Jacob Zuma has denounced the聽attacks on foreign nationals, adding the government was taking steps to limits illegal migration 鈥� arresting foreigners engaging in criminal activity, and shutting down unlicensed businesses.
According to Statistics South Africa, at the end of 2014, which is up from an unemployment figure of in 1995. Mkululi White, spokesman for the , which represents foreigners in South Africa, is 聽identifying聽unemployment as a root cause of the unrest.聽
鈥淲e think the perpetrators of this violence are some businesspeople from our own country who don鈥檛 like to compete with businesses run by people from other countries,鈥� he said in a press聽conference. 鈥淥ur research has also shown that unemployment plays a big role, because the majority of the people who are attacking foreign businesses are unemployed.鈥�
