State 'failing to address xenophobia' (Cape Argus)
A year after xenophobic violence spread across South Africa like wildfire, refugees continue to face threats of violence and authorities have done little to address the root cause of the attacks, says the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa.
The attacks that began on May 11, 2008, in Alexandra, Gauteng, spread across the country, and resulted in 62 deaths and the displacement of thousands of foreigners. The consortium said little had been done by the authorities to address the root causes of the violence, as threats of violence against foreigners remained common in some communities.
The consortium said the government, civil society and international organisations in South Africa faced numerous challenges if they wanted to prevent further attacks. "Vigilantism remains common in the name of 'fighting crime'. One such incident led to two non-nationals being forced to jump to their deaths from a high-rise building in Durban in January," it said.
"Violent strikes and service delivery protests continue. In the past, these have resulted in attacks on non-nationals. There are currently no mechanisms to deal with community concerns before people resort to protest."
The consortium said that there appeared to be no policing strategies to monitor crimes targeting particular groups at risk. "Seemingly 'isolated attacks' on non-nationals continue in particular areas, and greater monitoring of these trends will allow for the creation of better strategies to prevent vulnerable groups being targeted," the consortium said.
Director of the Forced Migration Studies Programme at Wits University, Dr Loren Landau, criticised the SA Human Rights Commission for "doing nothing" in investigating last year's attacks. To prevent further attacks, he said the government needed to realise that migration is a major issue that needed to be addressed thoroughly. He said that because of Jacob Zuma's presidency, expectations of service delivery were high, yet the ability to deliver would be low due to the global economic crisis.
This, he said, creates a dangerous situation, with locals bound to vent unfulfilled expectations on foreigners.
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, of Lawyers for Human Rights, said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had told them that 1 627 suspects were arrested following the violence, resulting in 469 cases being opened. Expressing disappointment in the progress made by the NPA, Ramjathan-Keogh said that only 70 cases have been finalised with a guilty verdict.
A further 35 cases were finalised with a not-guilty verdict, 280 were withdrawn and 156 remain outstanding.The government issued only statements during the attacks, but no investigations or proactive measures were taken to prevent such violence from happening in future, she said. She added that the National Intelligence Agency attributed the violence to a "third force", but no further investigations took place to support that claim.
The NPA has declined to comment.
By Francis Hweshe - This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Argus on May 12, 2009
The attacks that began on May 11, 2008, in Alexandra, Gauteng, spread across the country, and resulted in 62 deaths and the displacement of thousands of foreigners. The consortium said little had been done by the authorities to address the root causes of the violence, as threats of violence against foreigners remained common in some communities.
The consortium said the government, civil society and international organisations in South Africa faced numerous challenges if they wanted to prevent further attacks. "Vigilantism remains common in the name of 'fighting crime'. One such incident led to two non-nationals being forced to jump to their deaths from a high-rise building in Durban in January," it said.
"Violent strikes and service delivery protests continue. In the past, these have resulted in attacks on non-nationals. There are currently no mechanisms to deal with community concerns before people resort to protest."
The consortium said that there appeared to be no policing strategies to monitor crimes targeting particular groups at risk. "Seemingly 'isolated attacks' on non-nationals continue in particular areas, and greater monitoring of these trends will allow for the creation of better strategies to prevent vulnerable groups being targeted," the consortium said.
Director of the Forced Migration Studies Programme at Wits University, Dr Loren Landau, criticised the SA Human Rights Commission for "doing nothing" in investigating last year's attacks. To prevent further attacks, he said the government needed to realise that migration is a major issue that needed to be addressed thoroughly. He said that because of Jacob Zuma's presidency, expectations of service delivery were high, yet the ability to deliver would be low due to the global economic crisis.
This, he said, creates a dangerous situation, with locals bound to vent unfulfilled expectations on foreigners.
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, of Lawyers for Human Rights, said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had told them that 1 627 suspects were arrested following the violence, resulting in 469 cases being opened. Expressing disappointment in the progress made by the NPA, Ramjathan-Keogh said that only 70 cases have been finalised with a guilty verdict.
A further 35 cases were finalised with a not-guilty verdict, 280 were withdrawn and 156 remain outstanding.The government issued only statements during the attacks, but no investigations or proactive measures were taken to prevent such violence from happening in future, she said. She added that the National Intelligence Agency attributed the violence to a "third force", but no further investigations took place to support that claim.
The NPA has declined to comment.
By Francis Hweshe - This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Argus on May 12, 2009