All news items
29 April 2015
The recent surge of violence against foreign nationals in South Africa has raised fears that South Africans abroad may be at risk of similar violence. These fears have some basis as the media has reported incidents in Mozambique of the stoning of South African trucks and expressions of concern raised by foreign governments and international institutions such as the African Union.
These reactions...
29 April 2015
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe suggested that refugee camps are the solution, despite South Africa having signed a UN agreement to protect foreign nationals. Judge Dennis Davis is joined by Patricia Erasmus, Dr Imtiaaz Sooliman and Dr Zweli Mkhize.
25 April 2015
Reymond Mapakata was on his bicycle earlier this week, pedaling his way toward this city’s central business district. A few days before he’d received a phone call about a Zimbabwean furniture maker who’d been attacked by a South African mob, and Mapakata was on his way to investigate.
It was not a straightforward mission. First there was a detour via Park Station, where police...
22 April 2015
Lawyers for Human Rights and the International Federation for Human Rights are calling on the government to reinforce their human rights-based legal framework in order to prevent and redress human rights violations against migrants.
Last week, in scenes reminiscent of 2008, xenophobic violence sparked off in Durban before spreading to other parts of the country.
Foreign nationals were attacked...
21 April 2015
Luc, a Congolese hairdresser, says that while he fears the wave of anti-foreigner attacks gripping South Africa, his main concern is fending off harassment from the people who are supposed to protect him: the police.
Luc, a wiry 38-year-old, said that every few weeks the police stop him on the street, ask for proof he’s in the country legally, and often demand a 50 rand ($4) bribe if he...
21 April 2015
Xenophobia doesn’t exist in isolation. It needs social problems and economic hardship to flourish. After an upsurge in violence in Durban and Johannesburg that has claimed seven lives and forced more than 5,000 people to flee their homes, here’s a look at South Africa’s long history of xenophobia and some of the misconceptions that have been allowed to take root.
All about the...
21 April 2015
My President confuses me.
On the 14th of April 2015, President Jacob Zuma of the Republic of South Africa said during his speech at the inaugural ceremony of the new Sefako Magatho Health Sciences University, previously the Medical University of South Africa: “If you serve the country and you are patriotic‚ you will do a lot. Patriotic South Africans will stand up and do what he or...
20 April 2015
Head of LHR's Strategic Litigation Programme, David Cote, discusses the outbreak of xenophobic violence across South Africa on SABC Question Time.
20 April 2015
An outbreak of xenophobic violence and looting in the South African city of Durban has left at least five people dead, including a teenage boy.
The government has condemned the attacks, saying South Africans should "hang our heads in shame in the face of these misguided and misplaced assaults".
The country has a long and bloody history of xenophobia, with the recent violence reminiscent...
17 April 2015
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has expressed grave concern about calls for the establishment of refugee camps in response to the xenophobic violence which continues to spread across the country.
Patricia Erasmus, head of LHR’s Refugee and Migrant Rights programme, said refugee camps would only serve to further alienate this already vulnerable population.
“The policy of encampment...