All news items
16 April 2015
With millions of legal and illegal immigrants living in South Africa - the fervor behind the latest xenophobic attacks cannot be ignored. Tonight, Bruce Whitfield is joined by Wayne Ncube from Lawyers for Human Rights to discuss what is behind the latest attacks.
16 April 2015
South Africa has one of the world’s best refugee policies but it is not being implemented and the system is tainted by “corruption”, experts say.
They were responding to claims that it was the thousands of undocumented immigrants in Durban who have ignited the xenophobic hatred.
Despite the law and policy ANC secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, on Wednesday said South Africa...
16 April 2015
Parliament’s portfolio committee on home affairs released a statement last week — titled, Flouting of immigration regulations a concern — in which it warned foreign nationals in SA not to commit crimes and put "in jeopardy the basis on which they are in SA".
The committee quoted instances from the recent mugging of South African Broadcasting Corporation journalists to...
16 April 2015
South African President Jacob Zuma condemned a wave of attacks against foreigners that has claimed five lives in the past week and said the government would seek to better control immigration.
“No amount of frustration or anger can ever justify attacks on foreign nationals and looting of their shops,” Zuma said Thursday in Parliament in Cape Town. “We condemn the violence in the...
16 April 2015
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress called on the government to set up refugee camps as a way of stemming a surge of attacks against immigrants, a proposal criticized by human rights groups.
“One of the things the government must look at is the tightening of the management of immigration laws,” Gwede Mantashe, secretary-general of the ANC, said in an interview on...
15 April 2015
Head of LHR's Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme, Patricia Erasmus, discusses xenophobic violence that has erupted across South Africa.
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15 April 2015
At least five people have been killed and dozens arrested in South Africa in recent days as residents of the coastal city of Durban began attacking foreigners, their homes and places of business.
The anti-foreigner violence in the busy port city, which continued on Tuesday, is reminiscent of the 2008 attacks in Johannesburg that killed more than 60 people and displaced thousands. Since Friday,...
15 April 2015
The Durban city centre was a battlefield yesterday with mobs of South Africans attacking foreign-owned shops, and foreigners taking up arms to fight back.
About 200 people stoned foreign-owned shops on Dr Pixley KaSeme Street (West Street), prompting riot police to shut down the area.
The battles broke out within an hour of Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba assuring diplomats from Nigeria,...
14 April 2015
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is deeply concerned by the continued outbreaks of xenophobia that have been occurring around the country, particularly in Durban where many foreign families, including refugees and asylum seekers, have been displaced, the agency said on Tuesday.
However, the agency said it welcomed the increased response from government to address the...
14 April 2015
Malawi and Somalia are preparing to repatriate their countrymen after weeks of xenophobic violence in KwaZulu-Natal.
Last night, the Somali embassy said it was trying to trace its citizens and help them escape the violence. It has demanded urgent assistance from the Department of International Relations and Co-operation.
The Malawian government said it would be helping citizens living in South...