Killing our neighbours

Its World Refugee Day today and so its serendipitous but also unfortunate that Xenophobia is once again the hottest topic in sunny South Africa. Actually it’s not which is on its own a pretty damning indictment of things.

Almost two years removed from a wave of killings and attacks aimed at foreigners it seems as if the monster has awakened from its uneasy sleep and is ready to wreak havoc. Most recently a Zimbabwean man was stoned to death in the northern province of Limpopo, while worldwide attention has been captured by cell phone footage of a mob murdering a man in Johannesburg’s Diepsloot township. The accusations leveled against these men were that they were criminals. Proof, they weren’t from South Africa. Here are some of the stereotypes I have heard since being home – Zimbabweans are the hijackers, Malawians are the burglars, Somali shopkeepers steal business away from South Africans and Tanzanians deal drugs. I am not even going to touch the Nigerian and Congolese stereotypes except to wonder if they are left alone as they are generally big burly fellows who stick together (oh look I just did it). I will go out on a limb here and suggest that we can all agree that the attacks are barbaric and shameful but at the same time maybe we can take a step back and try to understand the reasons South Africans are turning on their neighbours.

In Diepsloot and other townships around South Africa crime is rampant, while the Police are under-staffed, ill-equipped and unfortunately in many cases uninterested. This has led to members of the community forming what are known as Community Policing Forums (CPF), in my understanding a fancy name for a neighbourhood watch. At their best these forums can be useful and positive additions to the area and at their worst vigilantes. Problem two is the unemployment issue. With so many ‘locals’ out of work there is bound to be resentment towards outsiders who are employed or seemingly better-off.

The fact is that an illegal or even legal immigrant to South Africa who is providing for a family back home will often times work for less than the average wage and longer hours which undercuts South African workers. Not the bloke from Malawi’s fault but instead just how the market works.Employers are unfortunately always going to exploit the market and cutting wages while getting the same, if not more output amounts, to increased profits.

On the African continent I have met Ethiopians, Tanzanians, Ugandans, Kenyans and Zimbabweans who all harbour dreams of coming to South Africa in search of success, fortune and a ‘better life’. I do my best to dissuade or at least educate them as to what they may be in for but the lure can be just too strong.

Refugees, be they political or economic, are a reality and we as South Africans need to figure a way to understand and embrace them while dealing with our own issues before things get completely out of hand and a fire starts that cannot be put out.