Gugulethu Anti-Eviction Campaign invitation to urgent public meeting to discuss renewed xenophobic threats
29 05 2009
Gugulethu Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release
When: Sunday 31 May at 16h30
Venue: Qababazi Church in Gugulethu (behind Social Services)
Directions and comment: Call Mncedisi at 078 580 8646
The Anti-Eviction Campaign will host a public meeting to deal with the frightening second wave of xenophobic pogroms that is beginning to surface Cape Town.
The meeting is to be held at Qababazi Church in Gugulethu this coming Sunday at 16h30.
All concerned and/or angry organisations and residents are invited to attend. The meeting is being called by the AEC in order to help local businesses vent their frustration, unhappiness and anger.
Currently, closed-door meetings are being held by various business groups in Gugulethu. They claim that their businesses are collapsing because “white people and Moslem people are using poor Africans [foreign nationals] to run them out of business”.
What happened last year was painful for the large majority of poor South Africans who were not supportive of the pogroms. This is why we, as a community, feel that it is important to discuss these issues, air out grievances, and acknowledge the root causes of xenophobia.
The huge levels of unemployment in our townships are not caused by foreigners but by this government’s anti-poor economic policies.
The destruction of local businesses is not caused by foreigner’s spaza shops but by big corporations such as Shoprite and their friends in government who subsidise huge malls like Gugulethu Square.
As Abahlali baseMjondolo Says: An action can be illegal. A person cannot be illegal. A person is a person where ever they may find themselves.
We call on everyone in Gugulethu not to direct their anger at other poor humans.
We struggle and are poor, not because of our poor African brothers. We struggle and are poor because we are oppressed by the rich and their government.
We will release a follow-up statement after Sunday about what we have learned from speaking to one another as brothers and sisters.
For more information, contact Mncedisi at 078 580 8646