STOP XENOPHOBIC VIOLENCE

PROTEST VIGIL AGAINST XENOPHOBIC VIOLENCE.

Please attend a protest vigil outside Parliament, Plein Street corner of Roeland Street on Friday 23 May 2008 from 5pm to 6pm.

We need to make the biggest statement that we can. We need to get the message out that we are against xenophobic violence.

Please bring your partner, child, work-mate, friend, whomever you can think of bringing along. We need to lift the atmosphere of fear! We need to persuade ourselves that poor turning against poor is not the answer. The poor need to be united to collectively solve their porblems.

Please print out this e-mail and make posters to place up where you work, learn or live for the benefit of those without e-mail. Place this advert on or in any forums you are aware of. A copy of this is up on capetown.gumtree.co.za (go to community, then activities and hobbies).

AbaForeigners AbaRefugees Sawubona iSouth Africa ! Foreigners and Refugees are Welcome in South Africa !

Called by Cape Town Action Forum
Affiliates: - COSATU, SA Municipal Workers Union, National Mineworkers SA, Walmer Estate Civic, Delft Anti-Eviction Campaign, Right to Food Campaign, Keep Left, APDUSA and others

Alexandra is up in flames
Black flesh is the fuel
Voices celebrating
The cheapness of black life
Belt out not the erstwhile notorious die stem
But the now in\famous mshini wam
Hands baying for Kaffir blood
Raise not the swastika & the fier kleur
But the clenched fist & the rainbow flag
This time the K word is not
An Afrikaans version
Of the Arabic heathen
But our own African
Fervent articulation
Of negrophobia
A raging hatred
Of any reminder
Of how Black our continent is
Not to mention our deliberate choice
To forget to remember
How our ancestors hailed
From the Centre of Africa
And found the First People of Azania
The men among men
Moving rocks to speak the language of art

It was only yesterday
When the whole world
The greens and the reds and the pink
All shades of convictions and ethics
In a literal and symbolic exposition
Of the existence of three worlds in one nation
And the yawning chasm in the quality of life
Of the poors and the rich in this great country
Distinguished for its penchant for mix-masala
Marched to opulent Sandton
Via muddy terraces & falling shacks
Academic lenses, activist eyes
Tourist cameras and researchers videos
Zooming on children licking dry fingers for lollipop
& Yuskei River humming a distressed
Elegy to people who
Fear summer for torrents
Of rain filtering in
Like water through a sieve
And cringe at the approach
Of the winter that adds coldness to the long list
Of the natural and nurtured
Hostilities against the poorest of the poor
But now the poors of Alexandra
Bay for the blood of the poors of Zimbabwe\ Nigeria\ Congo \ Somalia
Little urchins are verbal assassins
The target of their obnoxious vitriol is not the system
As we tremble in worship of the establishment
That forever quarantines us on the periphery
And shudder to confront the demons within us
We scrape our mother's wombs for new soft targets
To turn our rage against our newly found national scapegoat
.......AMAKWEREKWERE

Comrades and Friends,

There are many initiatives that are being proposed to try and rally support across the country to stem the xenophobic violence that is gripping our nation, There is now a facebook group that has been set up, which has over the last few days become a space for people to share ideas and organise around this issue. While it is just 1 attempt amongst many others, it may become a useful tool to bring people together online (despite the recent concerns about privacy issues on facebook). The link is below.

South Africans United Against Xenophobia

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13340729443

Fear & Loathing in Jozi

This past week’s violence in Johannesburg is very un-African behaviour; it is contrary to Ubuntu and the inclusiveness we agreed to follow in building our rainbow nation. It reeks of the kind of madness that the apartheid government was fond of and undermines Mzansi’s status as a leading democracy in the world.

Unemployment is not a reason, it is an excuse. Our racial or ethnic group is not a reason, it is an excuse and our nationality is not a reason to behave like this. In fact our nationality should be a reason NOT to behave like this against other people, African or not. We have the privilege of being part of the most credible transition to democracy on this continent and in the world. We shame ourselves and tarnish our reputation when we take up arms against other Africans. We show disrespect for the people who gave their lives for our freedom. Is this how we celebrate our freedom, by taking away the freedoms of our neighbours?

This is this not how we honour the legacy of Madiba, Tutu, Biko and countless others. There is no point to saying we honour Madiba then acting in a way that shames all of us. We must honour those who made our freedoms a reality by our actions. Actions that keep the flames of freedom, respect and dignity burning, not actions that snuff it out. It is our recent legacy of being a (relatively) peaceful democracy that attracts immigrants from all over the world to this city and the rest of the country. It is our duty as citizens of Mzansi to welcome immigrants to our home and to lead by example in the way we live. Has apartheid done such a good job that we have forgotten the practice of ubuntu? And since when is ubuntu only for “us?”

When he delivered the Steve Biko memorial lecture at University of Cape Town, last year, Nobel Laureate, Desmond Tutu, lamented our lack of basic respect for each other, "The fact of the matter is we still depressingly do not respect one another. I have often said black consciousness did not finish the work it set out to do," he said.

When we choose to differentiate ourselves from the “other” because of class, race, nationality or various other imposed labels, we choose to differentiate ourselves from our common humanity. History is replete with this differentiation from the “other” in most parts of the world, with the Holocaust and Rwanda showing the effects most drastically. Are we going to soil the entire struggle for liberation with this unholy practice of taking up arms against the “other”? In this case the “other African”?

Unemployment is not a reason, it is an excuse. An excuse that is all too real for too many people. We need to use this opportunity to properly examine where our priorities lie and if we need to, we must shift them to address the needs of millions of poor and marginalised people in Mzansi, citizens or not.

It has been suggested that Einstein said, “The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them”. Maybe the time has come for fresh thinking on ways to make freedom a reality for the majority of people in Mzansi. Our current approach is not sustainable. We need to develop a model that will work for us.

For millions of people in Mzansi, the daily struggle to survive is not over, nor is it likely to be over for the foreseeable future. We lack a comprehensive social programme for skilling and employing people. We lack the political will to create and implement such a programme possibly because it flies in the face of established practice, vested interests and the rules set down by the IMF, World Bank and large foreign donors. Yet, this is what we need more than anything if we are to truly enjoy our freedom from apartheid.

Rajesh Latchman

Rajesh Latchman is the National Coordinator of The Forum.
He writes in his personal capacity. The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of The Forum; it’s members, staff, management and partners.

TransAfrica Forum

Statement on violence in South Africa

Media contact: Joia Jefferson Nuri

Cell 240-603-7905/ inthepubliceye@rcn.com

Thursday, May 22, 2008

TransAfrica Policy Experts available for interviews

TransAfrica Forum Condemns Xenophobic Violence in South Africa

TransAfrica Forum condemns the xenophobic violence that has erupted in South Africa, which so far has claimed the lives of at least 40 people and displaced an estimated 16,000 immigrants and nationals.

Nicole Lee, TransAfrica Forum’s Executive Director provides the following assessment: “The violence represents the intersection of two major unresolved issues. First, there is the case of Zimbabwe’s economic and political crises, which has resulted in the creation of millions of economic refugees, many of whom have fled to South Africa. Secondly, despite the early promise of South Africa’s majority government, it has been unable to adequately resolve the economic legacy of apartheid. Millions of South Africans are unemployed, impoverished, and live without access to clean water, electricity, or health care. Migrants are seen as further threats to their ability to achieve an adequate standard of living.”

“This violence, in many ways was just waiting to erupt given the tense conditions that all poor South Africans face whether they are indigenous, naturalized or undocumented,” states Roxanne Lawson, TransAfrica Forum’s Africa Policy Director.

The violence, which began as mob attacks against immigrants in the Alexandra Township, north of Johannesburg in the Gauteng Province, has shocked most South Africans. The African National Congress identified the attacks as “not only [on] foreigners,” but also as “an assault on the values of our democratic society.” The Congress of South African Trade Unions has condemned the violence and is working with the NGO Doctors without Borders to identify hotspots and to provide staff to accompany doctors.

The violence quickly spread throughout Gauteng to the provinces of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal. At the request of the South African Police Service (SAPS) President Thabo Mbeki has approved the engagement of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to help quell the violence. The fighting is the worst unrest since the end of the apartheid era.

TransAfrica Forum’s contacts in South Africa report a ‘surreal’ and frightening scenario: ‘Four million Zimbabweans are here not to mention the Mozambicans, Nigerians, Somalians…essentially we have poor people fighting other poor people’. Analysts also point out that in addition to spontaneous episodes of mob violence, and coordinated criminal gang activity, that some attacks have been systematic and well organized. Deputy Foreign Affairs minister Aziz Pahad, speaking to AFP reporters likened the violence “… to the third forced of the apartheid government operatives which he said was found to be responsible for much of the apparently black-on-black violence before the first democratic elections in 1994.” A government inter-departmental task team has been established to determine the genesis of the violence. According to Pahad the team will report its findings to President Mbeki. Pahad also noted that: “The only time that South Africa has experienced this form of violence was pre-1994 and we all know this was politically motivated…Since then all reports have indicated that the black-on-black violence was not a spontaneous occurrence but was politically motivated. The symptoms are very much the same.”

Zimbabweans, the largest immigrant group, have born the brunt of the recent violence. Horrific attacks have seen victims burnt, hacked, and stoned. Many victims have been injured and there are widespread reports of rape. Migrants from other African countries as well as some South African nationals have been caught up in the violence. Thousands have now fled their homes and sought sanctuary in police stations, churches and premises used by aid groups.

In Durban a Nigerian-owned tavern was attacked by a mob of 150 men who in addition to beating patrons also ransacked the tavern and stole cash, liquor, cell phones and jewelry, pointing to the criminal element engaged in the riots as well.

To date, at least four “community leaders” have been arrested for inciting the xenophobic attacks. A total of 400 people have been arrested country-wide for participating in the attacks.

TransAfrica Forum applauds South Africa’s leading organizations, including the African National Congress, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and its affiliates, the social movements, and faith-based organizations that have quickly mobilized to condemn the violence and to offer shelter to the victims.

Background

Migrant workers from the countries surrounding South Africa were actively imported into the country to work in the minefields. This was a convenient relationship of the business community, the British government—who had colonies in countries such as Bechuanaland (Botswana), Basutoland (Lesotho), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (Malawi)—and the South African government. The workers were processed through what was called the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (popularly known as WENELA). Workers were given one year (or 11 months) contracts to work in the mines.

This system ensured that the labor was cheap and controlled, and indirectly served as a divide and rule mechanism of apartheid South Africa. And this served the segregated system well.

Migration and the impact of undocumented workers in South Africa continue to be an issue in the post-apartheid period. In 1997 a report coauthored by the Human Sciences Research Council and the Institute for Security Studies reported that 65 percent of South Africans supported forced repatriation of undocumented migrants. South Africa civil society and religious leaders have called for an end to the violence and have maintained that the root of the conflict is neither xenophobia nor criminality rather a growing sense of dissatisfaction among the poor. Some prominent clergy have called for a national dialogue in South Africa to discuss the issue as violence spreads to other regions of South Africa in the Zulu heartland of KwaZulu Natal.

TransAfrica Forum is the leading U.S. advocacy organization for Africa and the African Diaspora in U.S. foreign policy. TransAfrica Forum helped lead the world protest against apartheid in South Africa. In March of this year, TransAfrica sent two policy analysts to observe the election in Zimbabwe.

23 May 2008
11pm

CAPE TOWN - Some very disturbing events have unfolded in Central Cape Town this evening. A peaceful vigil was held in front of Parliament from 5pm onwards. The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition, Zille Raine Heights community, Cape Town Action Forum against High Prices, ILRIG, student groups and refugee organisations participated in relatively small numbers. We were shocked to see six police cars and vans at our protest. We would have thought that the police would have been very busy clamping down on xenophobic attacks around the city. It was also disturbing to see a number of what appeared to be National Intelligence Agency personnel at the march, monitoring the speeches closely.

Several speakers spoke out against xenophobia. Immediately after the speeches finished, at about 7pm, protestors started dispersing. The police moved in on Shaheed Mahomed of the Cape Town Anti-War Coalition, arresting him alone. The rest of the protestors then went to Cape Town police station. The police denied for about 2 hours that Mahomed had been detained. It was only after PASSOP refugee organisation located an advocate to assist that the police admitted that Mahomed was in custody.

It is very strange that activists connected to the anti-xenophobia or refugee rights issues, face regular arrest. Braam Hanekom from PASSOP has been arrested about 4 times in the last few months and has also been the only person targetted each time. It seems that the state has a very low tolerance level for any critique that links xenopobia with capitalist oppression, and that blames the state for the problems refugees find themselves in.

It was also disturbing to see that a few hundred refugees had also made their way to the police station, seeking refuge, but being left to sleep outside on the pavement. They are in urgent need of blankets, food and nappies and baby formula. The refugees say they have either been attacked or threatened today. The TAC was there trying to arrange alternative accommodation.

Youth League Warns Members

Business Day (Johannesburg)

NEWS
22 May 2008
Posted to the web 22 May 2008

By Hajra Omarjee
Johannesburg

AS THE xenophobia-related violence spread to other parts of the country yesterday, the African National Congress Youth League came out strongly against the attacks warning that action would be taken if any of its members were involved.

The youth league also condemned using the ANC's name or singing "revolutionary songs" while perpetrating attacks against foreign nationals.

"These incidents must be condemned in the strongest possible manner and no effort must be spared to bring the perpetrators to book," it said.

"We are under no illusion that opportunist criminal elements and agent provocateurs have found fertile ground to advance their criminal and counterrevolutionary agendas."

At least 42 people have been killed and thousands of others have been displaced in more than a week of violence by armed mobs in townships throughout Gauteng.

The youth league statement is of particular significance as the violence in the townships is seemingly being driven by scores of young men singing Awuleth' Umshini Wami -- the anthem sung by ANC president Jacob Zuma.

The Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association also said attacks were politically motivated.

"Some parties do not have methods, because historically they have campaigned on a tribal basis ... (so the) only way to maintain some basis is to wage tensions in society," secretary Peter Ngubeni said.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) said yesterday that it was not enough to "merely express" their strongest possible condemnations but the party also outlined short- and medium-term measures to solve the crisis.

"One of the immediate short-term measures must be strong law enforcement as well as preventative legal measures in order to urgently contain the situation.

"However, safety and security measures on their own are not adequate," the SACP said in its online newsletter.

"Our organisations, especially alliance and progressive community formations, need to engage communities in affected areas and beyond in order to isolate and deal with those behind these barbaric actions."

The party called for political and intelligence structures in the country to account for the mayhem.

The capitalists have long used ‘divide and rule’ tactics against the working class. If they have workers fighting one another then they lose sight of the main struggle against the enemy, the capitalist class. The groundwork for the Nakba (the mass expulsion of over 750 000 Palestinians from their homes in 1948), was laid over a period of many years before this. The British imperialists deliberately instigated attacks between Jewish villages and Muslim and Christian Palestinians. The media spread rumours of supposed imminent attacks on Jews by Muslims and vice versa. The result of such divisions is that monopoly capital dominate and exploit both Jewish and Arab workers (with the one section having significant privileges, but exploited nonetheless).

The giant companies and banks, and the imperialist states that represent them, have similarly promoted divisions between Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda so that they can exploit them both; in Iraq, artificial divisions have been created between Sunni and Shia. Similar divisions have been created and instigated by imperialism, the world over, as a tool of control. In South Africa, big capital has financially backed the fighting of the IFP against the UDF during the period of the uprising that started in the mid-1980’s. The aim was to weaken the resistance so that imperialism would continue to control- indeed this meant still exploiting the working class, including those who were from IFP or UDF. The post-1994 Constitution not only guarantees property rights to who monopolies who were in control, but also entrenched tribalism (through provisions through tribal councils, etc). The country was even divided up along the lines similar to the previous Bantustans, now called provinces. The TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) took no steps against big capital for their role in the violence against the masses. The thousands of apartheid-era operatives, who were involved in promoting xenophobic/tribal violence either received large packages (many are now mercenaries in Iraq), or are still part of the new security apparatus. They have been on standby for big capital, when the need arises.

World capitalism is in deep crisis; this has driven them to implement measures that carry risks for them, such as massively raising food prices. They do this because of the weakness of the working class opposition in the world. The big companies have seized the major part of the world food resources. They have over the past 2 years, launched a speculative drive to increase their profits from food. They know that their policies will mean more starvation and that many more will die from hunger. But they also know that there will be greater working class resistance, even possible revolutionary uprisings. At the very time that they are accelerating higher prices of energy, food, of public services, the big capitalists have various ways to divert people’s attention from the enemy. One of the mechanisms that has reared its ugly head in South Africa is to fan the flames of xenophobic violence. The capitalist media has launched a campaign of directly and indirectly promoting xenophobic violence (through photographs of smiling policemen while people are killed, to ‘analyses’ that invent tribal or ethnic tensions where none exist). Several of the early reports show that initial attacks started from meetings of the IFP. But there are also reports of community meetings where the local, small middle class, some of them ANC, (local shopkeepers, etc) have opportunistically agitated for action against their local petty competitor (such as Somali traders). Is it coincidental that the xenophobic attacks have occurred just before the Eskom price hikes are made public, and that the masses are gearing up to fight high prices (Cosatu leaders had threatened a general strike but has since gone silent)?

The state’s ill-treatment of refugees, as well as the mass drive against ‘illegal immigrants’, spearheaded by SACP leader Nqakula, in his capacity of the Minister of the Police, have contributed over time to a climate conducive for xenophobia to thrive.

Big capital promotes the use of ‘illegal immigrants’ as they can pay much less than the going rate (won by workers over long struggles). At the same time the capitalists and their parties stoke up the local working class against fellow worker immigrants. The capitalists win both ways: lower wages to workers and diversion of worker resistance away from the capitalist to xenophobic/tribal/ethnic violence. The experience of the working class in Turkey, France, the USA etc shows exactly this trend.

We condemn the opportunism of Tshivangerai (the MDC leader from Zimbabwe), who openly called for the millions of Zimbabweans to go home to support him in the elections. Tshivangerai and the MDC have already given assurances to the IMF, World Bank and other imperialist representatives that ‘nothing will change’. In other words he will merely be the new manager for them in Zimbabwe (better than the current manager for imperialism, Mugabe). Tshivangerai’s statements openly promote xenophobia, as if by implication, all foreign nationals should go back to Mozambique, DRC, Nigeria, etc. If even one Zimbabwean leaves, it does not mean that a job is created here. In any case, the same imperialists that exploit the working class in SA are the same who are exploiting the working class across Africa.

The Way Forward
Mozambicans, Zimbabweans, etc are all affected by the increased burden of higher energy and food prices. We call for the intensification of the struggle against high prices. We call for the further setting up of Action Committees against high prices, which include refugee organizations. We need an end to tokenism. Let us carry forward the fight for immediate price controls; for an immediate general increase of 30%+ in wages (more if there are further increases) and for shorter working hours so that all unemployed, irrespective of origin, have work. By uniting for our common demands, against the real enemy, the capitalist class and its state, we will be making a real step forward against xenophobia. Workers of the world unite! We have nothing to lose, but our chains!

Workers International Vanguard League, 1st Floor, Community House, 41 Salt River rd, Salt River, 7925, ph 021 4476777 or 0822020617 or 0781297797 (Gauteng) email: wivl@sn.apc.org or workersinternational@gmail.com website www.workersinternational.org.za issued 24.05.08

http://united-filmmakers.blogspot.com/

In May 2008, a group of South African filmmakers and producers joined forces to create documentaries and Public Service Announcements to address the recent xenophobic violence in our country. This organisation is called Filmmakers Against Racism (FAR).

We proudly declare ourselves as Africans first, and South Africans second. This campaign is a statement of solidarity towards a more tolerant and unified continent.

* * *

6 x 24 MINUTE DOCUMENTARIES SO FAR:

As the events and stories are unfolding, we have not yet locked off the narratives of form for all six films, however underway at this stage are the following films:

1) The Cleveland/Jeppestown temp refugee camp – the story of 3 men (Uhuru Films)
2) The story of 3 women (Born Free Media & Xoliswa Sithole)
3) The burning man "Ernesto Nhamuave" (Bomb & Catherine Muller)
4) The Alex Story (Luna Films)

There will be a film in Cape Province and possibly in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

We also envisage that some of the films may well comprise of 2 x 12 minute stories and are actively seeking out stories of individuals – both stories of South Africans as well as those of refugees – that will be moving and effective.

We have already shot substantial amounts of footage in refugee camps around Johannesburg and have people filming in CPT.

If you would like to participate by offering your time, filmmaking skills or resources, please contact:

unitedfilmmakers@gmail.com
desiree@thebomb.co.za
rehad@icon.co.za

Quarta-feira, 21 de maio de 2008

Abahlali baseMjondolo - Comunicado de imprensa

Unyawo Alunampumulo

Comunicado de Abahlali baseMjondolo sobre os ataques xenofóbicos em Joanesburgo

Há apenas uma raça humana.

Nossa luta - e toda luta verdadeira - consiste em colocar o ser humano no centro da sociedade, começando por aqueles que estão em pior situação.

Uma ação pode ser ilegal; uma pessoa não pode ser ilegal. Uma pessoa é uma pessoa onde quer que ela se encontre.

Se você mora em uma assentamento, você é membro daquele assentamento e é um vizinho e um camarada daquele assentamento.

Nós condenamos os ataques, os espancamentos, os estupros e assassinatos cometidos em Joanesburgo contra pessoas nascidas em outros países. Nós lutaremos à esquerda e à direita para garantir que isso não aconteça aqui em KwaZulu-Natal.

Estamos alertando há muitos anos que a raiva dos pobres pode tomar vários rumos. Esse alerta, assim como outros, foi negligenciado: por exemplo, aqueles sobre as ratazanas, os incêndios e a falta de sanitários, sobre os pardieiros chamados de “relocation sites”, sobre os novos campos de concentração chamados de “campos de triagem” e sobre a polícia corrupta, cruel, violenta e racista.

Falemos claramente. Nem a pobreza nem a opressão justificam que uma pessoa pobre ataque outra. Um homem pobre que ataca a sua esposa ou uma família pobre que ataca seus vizinhos precisa ser abordado(a), detido(a) e levado(a) à justiça. Mas a razão pela qual isso ocorre em Alex e não em Sandton se deve ao fato de que as pessoas em Alex sofrem e temem pelo futuro de suas vidas. Elas estão vivendo sob o tipo de estresse que pode afetar seriamente um indivíduo. Os perpetradores desses ataques precisam ser responsabilizados, mas aqueles que amontoaram os pobres em minúsculas parcelas de terra, trataram seus possuidores na base dos despejos e das remoções forçadas, trataram-nos a todos como criminosos, exploraram-nos, reprimiram suas lutas, elevaram os preços dos alimentos e construíram pouquíssimas casas (que ainda por cima são tão pequenas e tão distantes) e, então, de maneira corrupta, as venderam - esses também precisam ser responsabilizados!

Há outras verdades que precisam igualmente ser encaradas.

Nós precisamos ter clareza de que o Department of Home Affairs (Ministério de Assuntos Internos) não trata os refugiados ou os migrantes como seres humanos. Nossos irmãos que nasceram em outros países contam-nos histórias terríveis sobre longuíssimas filas que levaram apenas a mais filas e a partir daí ao desrespeito, à crueldade e à corrupção. Eles nos contam histórias horríveis sobre policiais que cobram suborno, confiscam seus documentos, roubam seu dinheiro e enviam-nos a Lindela – um local que é ainda pior que um campo de triagem. Um local que não é feito para um ser humano. Nós sabemos que você pode até ser enviado a Lindela se você é nascido na África do Sul ou se você parece “escuro demais” aos olhos da polícia; ou, então, se você vem de Givani e não conhece a palavra para “cotovelo” em isiZulu.

Nós precisamos ter clareza de que em todas as relocalizações as pessoas sem passe são deixadas desabrigadas. Isto afeta algumas pessoas nascidas na África do Sul, mas afeta principalmente as pessoas nascidas em outros países.

Nós precisamos ter clareza de que muitos políticos, a polícia e a mídia falam sobre “imigrantes ilegais” como se eles fossem todos criminosos. Sabemos o mal que isto causa e a dor que acarreta. Também falam sobre nós como se fôssemos todos criminosos quando, na verdade, nós é que sofremos a maior parte dos crimes por não termos portões ou guardas para proteger as nossas casas.

Nós precisamos ter clareza sobre o papel do governo da África do Sul e das empresas sul-africanas em outros países. Precisamos ter clareza sobre o NEPAD. Todos sabemos o que os anglo-americanos estão fazendo no Congo e o que o nosso governo está fazendo no Zimbábue. Eles também precisam ser responsabilizados.

Nós todos sabemos que os sul-africanos foram bem recebidos no Zimbábue e na Zâmbia, bem como em um país tão distante quanto a Inglaterra, quando eles estavam fugindo da opressão do Apartheid. No nosso próprio movimento tivemos pessoas que estiveram no exílio. Precisamos receber bem os que estão fugindo da opressão agora. Essa obrigação é amplificada pelo fato de o nosso governo e grandes companhias daqui estarem apoiando a opressão em outros países.

As pessoas dizem que aqueles nascidos em outros países estão vendendo mandrax. Oponham-se, sim, ao mandrax e aos seus vendedores, mas não mintam para vocês mesmos dizendo que as pessoas nascidas na África do Sul também não vendem mandrax, ou que a nossa polícia não toma dinheiro de vendedores de mandrax. Lutem por uma polícia que atenda à população. Não transformem os seus vizinhos sofredores em seus inimigos!

As pessoas dizem que aqueles nascidos em outros países são amagundane (“ratazanas”, ou seja, indivíduos desprezíveis). Oponham-se, sim, aos amagundane, mas não mintam para vocês mesmos dizendo que não há sul-africanos que sejam amagundane. As pessoas também dizem que aqueles nascidos em outros países aceitam trabalhar por muito pouco dinheiro, com isso rebaixando os salários de todos. Mas nós sabemos que as pessoas estão desesperadas e lutando para sobreviver em toda parte. Lutem por sindicatos fortes e que cubram todos os setores, inclusive o trabalho informal. Não transformem os seus vizinhos sofredores em seus inimigos!

As pessoas dizem que os nascidos em outros países não se levantam para lutar e sempre correm da polícia. Oponham-se, sim, à covardia, mas não mintam para vocês mesmos dizendo que não há pessoas nascidas na África do Sul que não sejam também covardes. Não mintam para vocês mesmos fingindo que levantar-se contra a corrupção, a violência e a polícia racista é um desafio de mesma intensidade para quem nasceu e para quem não nasceu aqui. Lutem por passes para os seus vizinhos para que possamos todos nos levantar juntos pelos direitos dos pobres. Não transformem os seus vizinhos sofredores em seus inimigos!

As pessoas dizem que os nascidos em outros países estão recebendo casas por meios corruptos. Oponham-se, sim, à corrupção, mas não mintam para vocês mesmos dizendo que não há pessoas nascidas na África do Sul que não estejam comprando casas dos funcionários do Housing Department (Ministério da Habitação). Lutem contra a corrupção. Não transformem os seus vizinhos sofredores em seus inimigos!

As pessoas dizem que aqueles nascidos em outros países são mais bem sucedidos no amor porque eles não precisam enviar dinheiro para casa, nas áreas rurais. Pois bem: oponham-se àquela terrível pobreza que, de tão ruim, até mesmo asfixia o amor! Vivam por uma vida sem obsessão pelo dinheiro, lutando, isso sim, por um rendimento para todos. Não transformem os seus vizinhos sofredores em seus inimigos!

As pessoas dizem haver muitíssimos vendedores nas ruas e que aqueles de fora precisam partir. Nós precisamos perguntar a nós mesmos: por que apenas algumas poucas empresas podem possuir estabelecimentos comerciais tão grandes, por que a polícia assedia e rouba os comerciantes de rua, e por que os comerciantes estão sendo empurrados para fora das cidades? Os homens pobres que cortam cabelo e as mulheres pobres que vendem frutas não são nossos inimigos. Não transformem os seus vizinhos sofredores em seus inimigos!

Nós todos sabemos que, se essa coisa não for detida, uma guerra contra os moçambicanos irá se tornar uma guerra contra todos os amaShangaan. Uma guerra contra os zimbabuenses irá se tornar uma guerra contra os amaShona, a qual, por sua vez, irá se tornar uma guerra contra os amaVenda. As pessoas então perguntarão: por que os amaXhosa estão em Durban? Por que os chineses e paquistaneses estão aqui? Se essa coisa não for detida, o que irá acontecer com um local como Clare Estate, onde as pessoas são amaXhosa, amaMpondo, amaZulu e abeSuthu, indianos e africanos, muçulmanos, hindus e cristãos, nascidos na África do Sul, em Moçambique, no Zimbábue, na Malásia, no Paquistão, na Namíbia, no Congo e na Índia?...

Ontem nós escutamos que essa coisa começou em Warwick e no Centro da cidade. Nós escutamos que os comerciantes tiveram seus bens roubados e que as pessoas estavam sendo paradas e examinadas por causa de sua aparência; um homem de Ntuzuma foi detido e agredido por ser “muito escuro”. As tensões são grandes no Centro da cidade. Na noite passada havia gente correndo nas ruas de Umbilo procurando por “amakwerkwere”. As pessoas nos edifícios dirigiam-se a eles lá embaixo, dizendo “há congoleses aqui, venham pegá-los!” Essa coisa começou em Durban. Nós não sabemos o que acontecerá esta noite.

Nós faremos tudo o que pudermos para ter certeza de que isso não irá adiante e que não se alastrará até os assentamentos.

Já decidimos realizar as seguintes ações:

1. Nós iremos reavivar as nossas relações com as organizações dos comerciantes de rua e nos encontrar com eles para discutir os incidentes e permanecer em contato diariamente com eles.

2. Temos estabelecido contato com organizações de refugiados e ficaremos em contato diariamente com eles. Iremos convidá-los para todos os nossos encontros e eventos.

3. Temos feito contato com experientes oficiais de polícia, nos quais nós podemos confiar, que não são corruptos e que desejam atender à população. Eles nos deram seus números de telefone celular e prometeram trabalhar conosco com a finalidade de parar essa coisa imediatamente, caso isso comece em Durban. Pediremos a toda a nossa gente para que se mantenham atentos, de modo que, se problemas ocorrerem, seremos então capazes de contatar imediatamente os policiais nos quais confiamos. Eles prometeram atender prontamente o nosso chamado.

4. Colocaremos esta ameaça na agenda de todos os nossos encontros e eventos.

5. Discutiremos isso em todo segmento e em todo assentamento do nosso movimento.

6. Discutiremos isso com os nossos movimentos aliados, como o Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign (Campanha Anti-remoções do Cabo Ocidental) e o Landless People’s Movement (Movimento das Pessoas Sem Terra), para que possamos desenvolver uma estratégia nacional.

7. Nos próximos dias nossos membros viajarão para a região do Norte do Cabo, para o Noroeste, para Joanesburgo e para a Cidade do Cabo, a fim de se encontrar com os moradores de “favelas”/ “bairros da lata” que estão em luta contra as remoções forçadas, a corrupção e a falta de serviços públicos. Em cada um desses encontros debateremos os incidentes.

8. Estamos pedindo a todas as estações de rádio que abram espaço para nós e para outros com o objetivo de discutir este assunto.

9. No passado nós não pusemos os nossos membros nascidos em outros países no front porque receávamos que a polícia os enviasse a Lindela. A partir de agora colocaremos nossos membros nascidos em outros países no front, mas não com os seus nomes completos, porque ainda não podemos confiar em toda a polícia.

10. Se houver necessidade aqui, pediremos a todos os nossos membros para defenderem e abrigarem os seus camaradas de outros países.

Ouvimos que os analistas políticos estão dizendo que os pobres devem ser educados sobre a xenofobia. Sempre a solução é “educar os pobres”. Quando pegamos cólera, devemos ser educados a lavar as mãos quando, na verdade, precisamos é de água limpa. Quando nos queimamos, devemos ser educados a respeito do fogo, quando, na verdade, precisamos é de eletricidade. Isso é apenas uma maneira de culpar os pobres pelos nossos sofrimentos. Queremos terra e moradias nas nossas cidades, queremos ir à universidade, queremos água e eletricidade – não queremos ser educados para sermos bons em sobreviver na pobreza por nossa própria conta. A solução não é educar os pobres sobre xenofobia. A solução é dar aos pobres o que eles precisam para sobreviver, de maneira a tornar mais fácil ser receptivo e generoso. A solução é parar com a xenofobia em todos os níveis da nossa sociedade. Prendam, sim, o homem pobre que se tornou um assassino. Mas também prendam os policiais e os funcionários corruptos do Home Affairs! Interditem Lindela e peçam desculpas pelos sofrimentos que ela causou! Dêem documentos para todas as pessoas abrigadas nas delegacias de polícia em Joanesburgo!

É tempo de levantar sérias questões sobre o porquê de o dinheiro e as pessoas ricas poderem se movimentar livremente pelo mundo, enquanto por toda parte os pobres precisam se ver confrontados com cercas de arame farpado, com a corrupção e com policiais violentos, com filas e realocações ou deportações. Na África do Sul, alguns de nós são removidos das cidades para pardieiros rurais chamados “relocation sites”, enquanto outros são expelidos para fora do país. Alguns de nós são levados para campos de triagem e outros de nós são levados para Lindela. As destinações podem ser diferentes, mas trata-se do mesmo tipo de opressão. Eduquemo-nos todos nessas questões de modo a podermos todos agir.

Queremos, humildemente, sugerir que as pessoas em Joanesburgo vão além de condenações verbais contra esses ataques. Sugerimos, humildemente, que agora que nos encontramos nesta terrível crise, precisamos de uma vívida solidariedade, de uma solidariedade na ação. É tempo para cada comunidade e cada família abrigar os refugiados dessa violência. Eles não podem ser deixados nas delegacias de polícia, onde correm o risco de deportação. É tempo de os líderes das igrejas, os líderes políticos e os líderes dos sindicatos se fazerem presentes e viverem todos os dias com os camaradas nascidos em outros países, até cessarem os perigos. Aqui em Durban os nossos camaradas ficam ao nosso lado quando a Land Invasions Unit (Unidade Anti-Invasão de Terras) chega com o objetivo de nos despejar ou quando a polícia vem nos agredir. Até os sacerdotes são agredidos. Agora precisamos todos resistir com os nossos camaradas quando os seus vizinhos vierem atacá-los. Se isto acontecer nos assentamentos daqui de Durban, é o que devemos e iremos fazer.

Fazemos as seguintes exigências ao governo da África do Sul:

1. Interditar Lindela hoje. Libertar as pessoas!

2. Anunciar, hoje, que haverá documentos para todas as pessoas abrigadas nas delegacias de polícia.

3. Proibir a venda de terras na cidade até que todas as pessoas tenham moradia.

4. Parar com todos os despejos e remoções forçadas imediatamente.

5. Não construir nem mais um campo de golfe sequer, até que todos tenham uma casa.

6. Apoiar o povo do Zimbábue, não um governo opressivo que destrói as casas dos pobres e se vale do estupro e da tortura para controlar a oposição.

7. Prender todas as pessoas corruptas que trabalham na polícia e no Home Affairs.

8. Anunciar, hoje, uma cimeira com todas as organizações de refugiados e a polícia e o Home Affairs, para planejar como estes podem ser radicalmente transformados para que comecem a servir a todas as pessoas que vivem na África do Sul.

Para mais informações ou comentários, favor contatar:

S’bu Zikode: 0835470474
Zodwa Nsibande: 0828302707
Mnikelo Ndabankulu: 0797450653
Mashumi Figlan: 0795843995
Senzo (o sobrenome não foi informado, ele não tem documentos): 031 2691822

***

**Ukuhlasela abezizwe ngenxa yenzondo.**

There is only one human race.

Umuntu ngumuntu noma ngabe izithola ekuyiphi indawo. Uma ngabe uhlala endaweni, ungowalapho endaweni futhi ungumakhelwane nomngani kuleyo ndawo. Simelana nokuhlaselwa, ukushaywa, ukudlwengula kanye nokubulawa kwabantu eGoli kwabantu abaqhamuka kwamanye amazwe. Sizokwenza isiqiniseko sokuthi lokhu akwenzeki lapha Kwa-Zulu Natali.

Asikucacise lokhu. Akukho nokukodwa phakathi kobumpofu noma ucindezelo okunika umuntu ohluphekayo ilungelo lophendukela omunye. Indoda ophendukela umkayo noma umndeni ompofu ophendukela umakhelwane udinga ukuvinjwa nokulethwa emthethweni.

Kodwa isizathu sokuthi lokhu kwenzeke e-Alexander hayi e-Santoni ukuthi abantu base Alex bayahlupheka, banokwesaba ngekusasa labo. Baphila ngaphansi kocindezelo olungalimaza impilo yomuntu. Abaphehli baloludlame kumele bajeziswe. Kodwa nalobo abagxishele abantu abampofu ezindaweni, babuye babasongele ngokubasusa ezindaweni ngendluzula, babaphathe njengezigelekeqe, babahlukumeze, babuye benyuse amanani okudla babakhele nezindlu ezinganele, ezincane, ezikude babuye babadayisele zona ngokungemthetho kumele bajeziswe.

Siyazi sonke ukuthi amaqabane akuleli amukeleka kahle koZimbabwe, Zambia nakoNgilandi ngezikhathi zempi yobandlululo. Nathi isikhathi sokuthi samukele labo ababalekela ucindezelo manje. Abantu bathi abantu abasuka kwamanye amazwe badayisa (ama-mandrax) izidakamizwa. Melana nezidakamizwa nabadayisi bazo kodwa ungazikhohlisi ngokuthi abantu abazalwa kuleli abawadayisi ama-mandrax.

Abantu bathi abantu abavela kwamanye abazwe bangamagundane. Melana namagundane kodwa ungazikhohlisi ngokuthi abantu abazalwa kuleli abawona amagundane. Abantu babuye bathi abantu abazalwa kwamanye amazwe bamukela amaholo amancane, behlise amaholo awo wonke umuntu. Kodwa siyazi sonke ukuthi abantu bahluphekile nokuthi bazama ukuziphilisa. Owesilisa ohluphekile ogunda amakhanda abantu noma owesifazane odayisa izithelo akasona isitha. Ungaguquli umakhelwane wakho ohluphekile umenze isitha.

Siyazi sonke ukuthi uma loludlame olwenziwa kwaqhamuka eMozambiki lungavinjwa luzobhebhetheka luye kuMashangane. Udlame kwabase Zimbabwe lube yimpi ebhebhethekela amaShona kulandele amaVenda. Bese abantu bebuza ukuthi afunani amaXhosa eThekwini. Babuze ukuthi afunani amChayina nama Pakistanis kuleli. Uma lokhu kungapheliswa kuzokwenzekani endaweni enjenge Clare Estate lapho abantu abangamaXhosa, amaMpondo, amaZulu and abeSuthu; amaNdiya and ama-Afrika; amaMuslim, amaHindu kanye nama kholwa; azalelwe kuleli, eMozambique, eZimbabwe, eMalawai, ePakistan, eNamibia, eCongo nakwelaseNdia.

Khumbula! ungaguquli umakhelwane wakho ohluphekile umenze isitha.

Lombhalo uthathelwe embhalweni Wabahlali BaseMjondolo.

_____________________________________________________

Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

**/Unyawo Alunampumulo/**

**Abahlali baseMjondolo Statement on the Xenophobic Attacks in Johannesburg**

There is only one human race.

Our struggle and every real struggle is to put the human being at the centre of society, starting with the worst off.

An action can be illegal. A person cannot be illegal. A person is a person where ever they may find themselves.

If you live in a settlement you are from that settlement and you are a neighbour and a comrade in that settlement.

We condemn the attacks, the beatings, rape and murder, in Johannesburg on people born in other countries. We will fight left and right to ensure that this does not happen here in KwaZulu-Natal.

We have been warning for years that the anger of the poor can go in many directions. That warning, like our warnings about the rats and the fires and the lack of toilets, the human dumping grounds called relocation sites, the new concentration camps called transit camps and corrupt, cruel, violent and racist police, has gone unheeded.

Let us be clear. Neither poverty nor oppression justify one poor person turning on another. A poor man who turns on his wife or a poor family that turn on their neighbours must be opposed, stopped and brought to justice. But the reason why this happens in Alex and not Sandton is because people in Alex are suffering and scared for the future of their lives. They are living under the kind of stress that can damage a person. The perpetrators of these attacks must be held responsible but the people who have crowded the poor onto tiny bits of land, threatened their hold on that land with evictions and forced removals, treated them all like criminals, exploited them, repressed their struggles, pushed up the price of food and built too few houses, that are too small and too far away and then corruptly sold them must also be held responsible.

There are other truths that also need to be faced up to.

We need to be clear that the Department of Home Affairs does not treat refugees or migrants as human beings. Our members who were born in other countries tell us terrible stories about very long queues that lead only to more queues and then to disrespect, cruelty and corruption. They tell us terrible stories about police who demand bribes, tear up their papers, steal their money and send them to Lindela – a place that is even worse than a transit camp. A place that is not fit for a human being. We know that you can even be sent to Lindela if you were born in South Africa but you look 'too dark' to the police or you come from Giyani and so you don't know the word for elbow in isiZulu.

We need to be clear that in every relocation all the people without ID books are left homeless. This affects some people born in South Africa but it mostly affects people born in other countries.

We need to be clear that many politicians, and the police and the media, talk about 'illegal immigrants' as if they are all criminals. We know the damage that this does and the pain that this causes. We are also spoken about as if we are all criminals when in fact we suffer the most from crime because we have no gates or guards to protect our homes.

We need to be clear about the role of the South African government and South African companies in other countries. We need to be clear about NEPAD. We all know what Anglo-American is doing in the Congo and what our government is doing in Zimbabwe. They must also be held responsible.

We all know that South Africans were welcomed in Zimbabwe and in Zambia, even as far away as England, when they were fleeing the oppression of apartheid. In our own movement we have people who were in exile. We must welcome those who are fleeing oppression now. This obligation is doubled by the fact that our government and big companies here are supporting oppression in other countries.

People say that people born in other countries are selling mandrax. Oppose mandrax and its sellers but don't lie to yourself and say that people born in South African do not also sell mandrax or that our police do not take money from mandrax sellers. Fight for a police service that serves the people. Don't turn your suffering neighbours into enemies.

People say that people born in other countries are amagundane (rats, meaning scabs). Oppose amagundane but don't lie to yourself and say that people born in South Africa are not also amagundane. People also say that people born in other countries are willing to work for very little money bringing everyone's wages down. But we know that people are desperate and struggling to survive everywhere. Fight for strong unions that cover all sectors, even informal work. Don't turn your suffering neighbours into enemies.

People say that people born in other countries don't stand up to struggle and always run away from the police. Oppose cowardice but don't lie to yourself and say that people born in South Africa are not also cowards. Don't lie to yourself and pretend that it is the same for someone born here and someone not born here to stand up to the corrupt, violent and racist police. Fight for ID books for your neighbours so that we can all stand together for the rights of the poor. Don't turn your suffering neighbours into enemies.

People say that people born in other countries are getting houses by corruption. Oppose corruption but don't lie to yourself and say that people born in South Africa are not also buying houses from the councillors and officials in the housing department. Fight against corruption. Don't turn your suffering neighbours into enemies.

People say that people born in other countries are more successful in love because they don't have to send money home to rural areas. Oppose a poverty so bad that it even strangles love. Live for a life outside of money by fighting for an income for everyone. Don't turn your suffering neighbours into enemies.

People say that there are too many sellers on the streets and that the ones from outside must go. We need to ask ourselves why only a few companies can own so many big shops, why the police harass and steal from street traders and why the traders are being driven out of the cities. The poor man cutting hair and the poor woman selling fruit are not our enemies. Don't turn your suffering neighbours into enemies.

We all know that if this thing is not stopped a war against the Mozambicans will become a war against all the amaShangaan. A war against the Zimbabweans will become a war against the amaShona that will become a war against the amaVenda. Then people will be asking why the amaXhosa are in Durban, why the Chinese and Pakistanis are here. If this thing is not stopped what will happen to a place like Clare Estate where the people are amaXhosa, amaMpondo, amaZulu and abeSuthu; Indian and African; Muslim, Hindu and Christian; born in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawai, Pakistan, Namibia, the Congo and India?

Yesterday we heard that this thing started in Warwick and in the City centre. We heard that traders had their goods stolen and that people were being checked for their complexion, a man from Ntuzuma was stopped and assaulted or being 'too black'. Tensions are high in the City centre. Last night people were running in the streets in Umbilo looking for 'amakwerkwere'. People in the tall flats were shouting down to them saying 'There are Congolese here, come up!" This thing has started in Durban. We don't know what will happen tonight.

We will do everything that we can to make sure that it goes no further and that it does not come to the settlements. We have already decided on the following actions:

1. We will resuscitate our relations with the street traders' organisations and meet to discuss this thing with them and stay in day to day contact with them.
2. We have made contact with refugee organisations and will stay in day to day contact with them. We will invite them to all our meetings and events.
3. We have made contact with senior police officers who we can trust, who are not corrupt and who wish to serve the people. They have given us their cell numbers and have promised to work with us to stop this thing immediately if it starts in Durban. We will ask all our people to watch for this thing and if it happens we'll be able to contact the police that we can trust immediately. They have promised to come straight away.
4. We will put this threat on the agenda of all of our meetings and events.
5. We will discuss this in every branch and in every settlement in our movement.
6. We will discuss this with our allied movements like the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign and the Landless People's Movement so that we can develop a national strategy.
7. In the coming days our members are travelling to the Northern Cape, the North West, Johannesburg and Cape Town to meet shack dwellers struggling against forced removal, corruption and lack of services. In each of these meetings we will discuss this issue.
8. We are asking all radio stations to make space for us and others to discuss this issue.
9. In the past we have not put our members born in other countries to the front because we were scared that the police would send them to Lindela. From now on we will put our members born in other countries in the front, but not with their full names because we still cannot trust all the police.
10. If the need arises here we will ask all our members to defend and shelter their comrades from other countries.

We hear that the political analysts are saying that the poor must be educated about xenophobia. Always the solution is to 'educate the poor'. When we get cholera we must be educated about washing our hands when in fact we need clear water. When we get burnt we must be educated about fire when in fact we need electricity. This is just a way of blaming the poor for our suffering. We want land and housing in the cities, we want to go to university, we want water and electricity – we don't want to be educated to be good at surviving poverty on our own. The solution is not to educate the poor about xenophobia. The solution is to give the poor what they need to survive so that it becomes easier to be welcoming and generous. The solution is to stop the xenophobia at all levels of our society. Arrest the poor man who has become a murderer. But also arrest the corrupt policeman and the corrupt officials in Home Affairs. Close down Lindela and apologise for the suffering it has caused. Give papers to all the people sheltering in the police stations in Johannesburg.

It is time to ask serious questions about why it is that money and rich people can move freely around the world while everywhere the poor must confront razor wire, corrupt and violent police, queues and relocation or deportation. In South Africa some of us are moved out of the cities to rural human dumping grounds called relocation sites while others are moved all the way out of the country. Some of us are taken to transit camps and some of us are taken to Lindela. The destinations might be different but it is the same kind of oppression. Let us all educate ourselves on these questions so that we can all take action.

We want, with humility, to suggest that the people in Jo'burg move beyond making statements condemning these attacks. We suggest, with humility, that now that we are in this terrible crisis we need a living solidarity, a solidarity in action. It is time for each community and family to take in the refugees from this violence. They cannot be left in the police stations where they risk deportation. It is time for the church leaders and the political leaders and the trade union leaders to be with and live with the comrades born in other countries every day until this danger passes. Here in Durban our comrades stand with us when the Land Invasions Unit comes to evict us or the police come to beat us. Even the priests are beaten. Now we must all stand with our comrades when their neighbours come to attack them. If this happens in the settlements here in Durban this is what we must do and what we will do.

We make the following demands to the government of South Africa:

1. Close down Lindela today. Set the people free.
2. Announce, today, that there will be papers for every person sheltering in your police stations.
3. Ban the sale of land in the cities until all the people are housed.
4. Stop all evictions and forced removals immediately.
5. Do not build one more golf course estate until everyone has a house.
6. Support the people of Zimbabwe, not an oppressive government that destroys the homes of the poor and uses rape and torture to control opposition.
7. Arrest all corrupt people working in the police and Home Affairs.
8. Announce, today, a summit between all refugee organisations and the police and Home Affairs to plan how they can be changed radically so that they begin to serve all the people living in South Africa.

For further information or comment please contact:

S'bu Zikode: 0835470474
Zodwa Nsibande: 0828302707
Mnikelo Ndabankulu: 0797450653
Mashumi Figlan: 0795843995
Senzo (surname not given, he has no papers): 031 2691822

SACP Press Statement, 1 June 2008

SACP Central Committee, 30-31 May 2008

The Central Committee of the SACP met in Johannesburg on the 30th and
31st May. A key focus of the meeting was the wave of criminal violence
and looting in parts of our country, much of it directed against
foreign nationals. The CC received detailed reports on how SACP
national, provincial and local structures in the affected areas
responded immediately to the crisis and, together with alliance
partners and many other structures, provided leadership and
assistance.

The SACP agrees with the analysis that there are multiple causes
underlying this wave of violence and criminality that has seen the
poor pitted against the poor in communities locked into grinding
poverty. South Africa is not alone in confronting the challenges of
mass immigration. However, the relative wealth in pockets of our
country in the midst of a deepening crisis in our own rural areas, and
in a wider sub-Saharan region devastated by two decades of neo-liberal
globalization, has meant that we have had one of the highest absolute
and relative levels in the world of internal and cross-border
migration into inner city slums and peri-urban informal settlements.

The crisis of the past two weeks has highlighted all the weaknesses in
regional, economic, urban settlement and migration policies that the
SACP has been raising for over a decade. The solution is not to build
a fortress South Africa, as is implied by some right-wing suburban
xenophobes in the DA and elsewhere. It is a solution that is neither
humanly nor humanely possible. We must engage with our own rural areas
and with the countries of origin with comprehensive and integrated
development strategies – at the heart of which must be the question of
food security and food sovereignty for our country, region and
continent.

We must greatly improve the capacity and willingness of Home Affairs
to effectively document immigrants, hundreds of thousands of whom are
left in a limbo of non-legality, making them vulnerable to the
predatory behaviour of corrupt officials and super-exploiting
employers particularly in the security, retail and farming sectors.
Working together with government we must expose employers who pay
wages under the legal minimum. These super-exploiters are the real
criminals, not the economic refugees. The SACP, COSATU and other
progressive formations need to intensify our efforts to organize all
workers in the informal sector, and our public development finance
institutions need to be much more active in support of self-employed
workers and coops.

As an immediate challenge, the welfare and safety of refugees in
places of shelter must be addressed. But foreign nationals must be
integrated as soon as possible back into communities and these
communities must themselves be assisted and resourced to make this
possible. The CC of the SACP has resolved to focus on building street
and village committees, together with our allies and civic
organizations, to empower communities to restore dignity and security
to their lives.

The past weeks have seen many ugly acts for which, as South Africans,
we should feel ashamed. But we have also witnessed very many acts of
human solidarity, compassion and selfless bravery. Workers in the
public sector and emergency services, including the police, Alliance
branch members, faith-based organizations, NGOs, social movements and
others have all worked to marginalize criminals and restore peace to
their communities. The role of numbers of journalists, often
relatively junior journalists, not least from the SABC, should also be
commended. Some went into dangerous situations in order to tell the
story of what was happening and, in the case of some reporting, the
story of solidarity and of selfless work was also told. This has been
in stark contrast to some of the media that have used the crisis
simply to wallow in negative finger-pointing – "Mob Nation" was the
banner headline of one newspaper.

Comrades, please find our take on the xenophobia as the Socialist Group:

XENOPHOBIA IN SOUTH AFRICA:
WHO ARE THE REAL CULPRITS? HOW TO FIGHT IT?

Capitalism survives because the struggle of working class people for what they need is turned into a struggle of working class people against each other. We have seen it in many different forms. Very often, it is violence against people who come from another place. So it can be a struggle in the Western Cape of the born-ers against the migrants. It becomes a struggle about who was somewhere first, instead of the struggle of all together. Xenophobia is a particularly vicious form of that. It is a cancer in the workers movement that has to be destroyed. This means organized mobilized mass action against it – and a politics of building working class unity against the class enemy

Governments and bosses do not fight their own wars against each other. They use working class people to do it. When they send those working class people to kill each other, they sometimes give the ones who survive a medal. They can even call them heroes – even if they return them to unemployment after the war.

Every day there are bosses who employ some working class people to violently evict other working class people. They put uniforms on some working class people, call them police and mobilize them against other working class people who might be on strike, or occupying, or marching.

Bosses run a capitalist system that says that workers must queue up outside their gates to beg for a job. Ten thousand can stand in the queue and maybe one thousand will get a job. The bosses are quite happy for those workers to trample each other to get a job. Afterwards, the same bosses will tell the other nine thousand that they are unemployed. They will sometimes even give an explanation: you have not got the skills we want. It is the capitalist system which does this – but afterwards, each worker must hear that they themselves are the problem.

Local governments must provide housing. They provide one thousand houses a year. There are ten thousand who need houses. The politicians tell the other nine thousand: you are not supposed to be here. We can solve this housing problem if you are not here. Sometimes they start to create divisions: Who are the real people of this place where everyone lives and who lives here but must go? Who is supposed to be here and who is a visitor that we do not want?

Ordinary working class people hear this and many similar things day after day. It is not just words. The capitalist system makes it the truth of their lives. The capitalist system turns the words into the truth. No working class person is born with hatred and violence inside them. These things are put there. They are put there because capitalism forces workers to live lives which are filled with violence at every moment. No working class person is born to trample other working class people into the ground. This thing is made to happen. It is made to happen by a capitalist system which forces workers to compete with each other otherwise they will get nothing. And the day comes when working class people turn against each other without orders from the bosses and the politicians.

It is a terrible thing. It is the same terrible thing that is happening when every day, working class people are turned against each other by the bosses and their politicians. It is the same terrible thing for which the bosses sometimes give rewards and the governments sometimes give medals.

And it comes with many voices. It comes with hard words but it can come with soft words. It can come clearly and it can come in the darkness. But always, it is the same: We belong to this company – workers and bosses together. We must defeat every other company. We belong to this team, we are better than any other team. We must defeat them. We belong to this nation. We are better than any other nation. We must defeat them. Our industry must be more competitive than their industry. We must be better than them. We must defeat. We must win. And in this capitalist world, that means that they must lose. Even when the words are soft – the politics turning worker against worker is there. Even when the words are soft, the politics turning workers against each other and holding hands with bosses is there. And afterwards? After the workers have worked harder and got more profits for their boss? The boss is richer and more powerful and in a better position to
control workers. And after the workers have been to the war and tried to kill other workers? Some bosses have made extra profits out of exactly that war. For the workers who survive there might be a medal. And then they can go and starve and their children with them. And for the workers who made the company profitable, there might be a watch. And then they can be retrenched and sit in unemployment and their children with them.

Time and time again, working class people have shown that this is not the only route. There is also the route of reaching out to each other, standing together, sharing and solidarity. This is the route of struggle against the bosses and their system.

Marxists see this violence of working class people against each other, and we are filled with anger and hatred and pain. We say that the violence is evil and a crime and must be stopped. But our anger and hatred are directed against the system which makes it happen like this. Marxism tells us that it does not have to be like this. There is another way. It is the way of sharing and compassion and solidarity – where people are the best they can be, not the worst that capitalism has made them.

But what is happening? Middle class moralizing has taken over. Suddenly there are middle class people who say they are horrified because there are people without food. But there were people without food the day before the attacks. They say they are so sad because people are driven out of their houses. Yes, it is very, very sad. It was sad the day before, when the Red Ants drove people out of their houses. They say there is a big humanitarian crisis because people can’t earn an income. Yes. There were millions of people the day before who were unemployed. Some of them were made unemployed by the same people who now cry when others are destitute. And so desperate working class people who have made themselves guilty of the crime of xenophobia and attacks against other working class people hear all of this. They see that some people get given shelter – when they had no shelter yesterday themselves. They see some people getting food and clothing – when
they were hungry the day before. They hear person after person denouncing them for being criminals. So what is left for them? They are forced into a corner on their own. They lash out at others nearby who seem weak.

We have to take a different approach. We hate xenophobia. It is a crime. But we have to deal with it by trying to build defence – so that no one takes a chance with violence against other working class people. And the politics of working class unity – so that no working class person is isolated from other working class people.

We appeal to the working class people who are perpetrators of this violence: don’t let this system take away your humanity. Understand that violence of working class people against each other will be violence of other working class people against you. Know that violence of working class people against some children will become violence of other working class people against your children. Know that if you allow violence because others are different in some way, there will be violence against you because you are different also in some way. And know that at the end of this, no problem in your life will be solved. Those problems will continue – because they come from the capitalists. And the capitalists can only be stronger when working class people are divided and turn their anger against each other.

But we do not just appeal to the perpetrators. They must know also that if they try to attack working class people with force, those people will be defended with a greater force. We do not mean the force of the state. The force of the state has not been enough to defend working class people. Most days, most of the time, it is being used against working class people. We mean the defence that can only and must come from the workers movement.

In the Western Cape, there are three main formations that could have the capacity to mobilize such defence: COSATU, the AEC , and TAC. Each can bring some strength – but the only likelihood of real success is if they bring their strengths together. And each also brings some problems, because none of them stands consistently and absolutely on the politics of class struggle instead of the politics of class collaboration. It means that they cannot simply expect even their own members to come in their numbers to build working class unity. But that is the only possible way forward. This means the attempt to build massive mobilizations as shows of force; organized defence committees; strike action.

A long time ago, Rosa Luxembourg told us that we face a choice: socialism or barbarism. We are seeing barbarism. She spoke the truth.

This article is very strong.
I don't really know what to say to this article.
Other than that the message here is very strong,
and hopefully one day xenophobia will be stopped.
There IS only one human race,
instead of working against each other,
and forgetting about the poor.

One day we can hope for change.
Great article, it was touching to read.

i was in university at the times of the xenophobic attacks in Alexandra, i have been looking at the images and its a shame and i am ashamed to even call myself a residence of alex, how can a human being do this kind of thing to another? didnt they think of the family of the guy? foreign or not foreign we are all human beings,,,,no no no this is too much, i am ashamed that i come from alex, cause i remember when i was at university everybody will say "so you come from the xenophobic place" and then i had many foreign friends at unirvesity and i was so embarassed and ashamed.

i am glad it is over now, well hopefully.
afain i say God have mercy on the family members of the ones who lost their lives

i bumped into this article searching for blogs on Kanye West don't ask me how that happened.. anyway it got me thinking about how in 2008 there are still plenty of problems going on in South Africa post apartheid for lack of a beter quote I can quote Kanye here "racisms still alive they just be conceiling it" Regardless i"m glad I stubbled upon the article as it deals with issues vastly more important than the rap beats I am trying to promote. just goes to show that once something is out of the nations headlines the problems disapear from peoples minds even though they still exist.