Police step in to curb xenophobic attacks in SA

The police in Durban has stepped in to curb xenophobic attacks that had displaced and disturbed foreign residents, reports Levie Tsongo.

The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni condemned the attack directed towards the national foreigners around Isipingo area.

She discouraged people from taking the law into their own hands and warned that those found to be breaking the law will be prosecuted.

"Community needs to resolve their dissatisfaction through right channels and peacefully rather than to embark on illegal and violent protests," she said in a statement issued on the KwaZulu-Natal province website,"We urge members of the community to bring peace in their areas and not to fight among themselves. We will not tolerate such attacks and damaging of property belonging to foreigners and this must stop. Our police officers in blue will continue to monitor the situation in the province and will investigate those cases already opened. Cases of public violence were also opened after the community members barricaded the roads around Isipingo and Umlazi area."

Police were seen in Isipingo and Umlazi dispersing rowdy crowds who were attacking foreigners. Peace and calm have been restored in the area and women and children who had taken refuge at Isipingo Police Station have since gone back to their homes, some fearful that the locals may attack them again.

The small town of Isipingo erupted on Monday when residents attacked foreign nationals living in the town.

According to local media, cars, minibus taxis, a home and foreign-owned businesses were stoned as groups of young South Africans targeted foreign nationals. The attack on Monday comes three weeks after a Congolese national living in Durban was reportedly burnt alive.

Democratic Alliance for Restoration and Assembly (DARE) Cape Town Chairperson, Mr. Gerald Mbukuro condemned the violent attacks on innocent foreigners and urged fellow Zimbabweans in South Africa to actively play a part to change their destinies. He supported claims that foreigners are taking away South African locals' jobs.

"It is true that we are taking away their jobs, not because they are lazy, but we as Zimbabweans come here desperate for a job I did not have in Zimbabwe, and the reason why I came to South Africa, so we end up accepting lower salaries and wages to support the family back in Zimbabwe," he said, "I now urge all fellow Zimbabweans to rally behind us, to go back to Zimbabwe in 2018 in our numbers and secure our children's future. South Africa is not our country, we are only here for a short period of time, the fact that we are flooding this country really makes them edgy and they end up acting foolishly thereby attacking us. Let us go back to Zimbabwe when our Special Permits expire in 2017, there is no other way, except to go back to Zimbabwe and secure our future."

South Africa has seen a spate of attacks on foreigners over the past decade. In 2008, 62 people were killed in spectacular violence meted out on foreign nationals in the townships.

In January, foreign nationals were attacked after a 14-year-old South African was killed during an alleged robbery. In response to the teenager's death, foreigners' businesses were looted and damaged. Hundreds were forced to evacuate, finding themselves in tents in other parts of Johannesburg. In February, shops in Philipi, outside Cape Town were trashed.

The South African government, while condemning the violence, says the violence is motivated by criminality rather than xenophobia, though experts say the country has a xenophobia problem and government denial only exacerbated it.

Levie Tsongo is a journalism student with UNISA. He is also a politician based in South Africa and is DARE's Spokesperson in South Africa as well as DARE Youth Movement's International Relations Secretary.