Witness: Rising xenophobia

http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=25477

Rising xenophobia
23 July 2009

THIS country is awash with strikes or threatened strikes for higher wages, and with township protests about government failures in service delivery. It seems that the gloves are off in spite of, or perhaps because of, the exigencies of recessionary times.

A disturbing feature in some of the current protest has been the resurgence of xenophobia. This has been particularly noticeable on the Reef where last year’s xenophobic attacks first broke out. It is unfortunately to be expected that, in straitened times, people will turn on one another where there is perceived competition or threat. This can affect anyone deemed to be “the other”, whether the person concerned is a foreign national from elsewhere in Africa or a fellow South African of a different culture or background. 

An example of this trend has surfaced in Durban recently after the eThekwini municipality’s decision to remove traders from the well-known open market in favour of creating space for a new shopping mall. The affected traders, many of whom are relatively poor, are almost entirely South Africans of Indian descent and their protests have been met by a good deal of anti-Indian sentiment, even in comments by some senior officials. Such comment leaves an impression of sanctified prejudice. Yet it is a form of internal xenophobia which threatens to reawaken the painful memory of grievous conflicts in the past between Africans and Indians.

Everything must be done to counter this trend. Great care needs to be taken about the use of language which diminishes or abuses the value or standing of other people. Officials, in particular, must take the in showing even-handedness and tolerance in their attitude and pronouncements, let alone their public policy.