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| Ethiopian business owners from Diepsloot gather at Diepsloot s joint operations centre to discuss the aftermath of xenophobic clashes in the area. File photo: Phill Magakoe |
Johannesburg - The UN High Commissioner for
Refugees on Sunday raised concern over the recent attacks on foreigners,
and encouraged the government to continue to speak out.
“UNHCR is extremely concerned over
the recent spate of violence in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape affecting
foreigners, including refugees and asylum-seekers,” said the UNHCR
spokeswoman in Pretoria, Tina Ghelli.
The UNHCR welcomed recent
statements condemning the violence from Minister of Home Affairs Naledi
Pandor, the ANC and Cosatu. Ghelli said it helped when the government
said clearly that such violence would not be tolerated.
UNHCR’s regional representative
for southern Africa, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said: “While we
appreciate the efforts made so far, UNHCR is calling on the government
to do all it can to prevent any future incidents.”
There was violence and looting aimed at foreigners in Diepsloot in Gauteng and Booysen Park in Port Elizabeth last week.
“Since last week, in Gauteng,
foreign-owned shops were attacked in several locations in Sebokeng,
Evaton, Orange Farm and Lakeside townships. According to the information
received, the attacks started off as service delivery protests that
changed into attacks on foreign-owned shops,” said Ghelli.
The protests were more frequently targeting “business competition”.
She said Somalis, Ethiopians,
Bangladeshis and Pakistanis were frequently targets as they were more
easily identifiable as foreigners.
UNHCR called on the government to
do more work in communities to promote social cohesion, and welcomed
efforts by the cities of Tshwane, Joburg and Cape Town.
While condemning violence,
government officials have often avoided calling it xenophobia and
instead emphasised its criminal nature.
“There might be some criminal
elements involved, but clearly the people were targeted because they
were foreigners,” said Ghelli.
“If there are criminal elements
involved, they are taking advantage of the way people target foreigners
to advance their own motives.”
Last week, Pandor said interventions supporting unity needed strengthening.
“I think we need to strengthen our
interventions and move with speed to reach out to communities,” Pandor
told Parliament in her budget speech. “The violence against vulnerable
African foreigners is totally unacceptable and must be rejected by all
peace-loving South Africans.”
She called for sustained campaigns to promote peaceful and diverse communities.
“In addition, we have in place
stakeholder forums across the country, primarily to promote issues to do
with citizenship. These forums can play a role in promoting harmony
between citizen and foreigner and in shaping a more tolerant climate in
our communities,” she said.
Cosatu and the ANC have also spoken out strongly against the violence.
On Friday, the ANC Youth League
condemned the “disgusting xenophobic attacks” after the killing of a
Somali shopkeeper in Port Elizabeth.
“This
brutal act is nothing but an act of criminality and represents a
regressive and backward mentality that perpetuates disunity, hatred and
tribalism among Africans,” said the ANCYL.
On Thursday, the ANC condemned the
violence “in the harshest possible terms, “regardless of what the cause
of these violent protests may be” and said the party remained committed
to unity and cohesion.
Cosatu more bluntly linked xenophobia to the attacks, but also called for better service delivery to calm frustrations.
“Cosatu is totally opposed to
xenophobia… It sets worker against worker and the poor against the
poor,” said the union federation.
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