Just as South Africans act collectively against racism, they should do likewise when it comes to speaking out against xenophobia.
This was the sentiment shared by Marc Gbaffou, chairman of the African Diaspora Forum, yesterday.
Gbaffou was speaking at the inaugural launch of the Voices 360 Dialogue hosted by Independent Media at the Market Theatre Square in Newtown, Johannesburg.
He joined representatives within the Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Malawi, Congo and Somalia diaspora, who met academics and community members to engage in a robust discussion on their experiences of xenophobia, its causes and how it can be mitigated.
“Why is it that South Africans spend so much time defining the violence?” Gbaffou asked.
He said KwaZulu-Natal estate agent Penny Sparrow was taken to task over her racist comments about black people, adding that the same needed to happen when people were maimed and killed just for being from another country.
Attacks on foreign nationals in 2008 in Alexandra township stoked what many now to refer as “black-on-black hatred”.
These attacks have not stopped and have been attributed to socio-economic issues, among other things.
It’s also been said that controversial statements by some of the country’s leaders have fuelled the violence associated with xenophobia.
Anele Ndlovu, president of the Zimbabwe-SA Forum, said it was time South Africans understood that the world had become a global village.
He said no one benefited from South Africa, her people and those from the region fighting one another.
“South Africa is a signatory to a lot of international laws about human rights that are enshrined in the constitution.
“But we see from top leadership people making derogatory statements that are un-African.
“We need to look at those things because xenophobia is real.
“We could be so much better if we worked together and united as a continent,” he said.
Ndlovu said there needed to be a “distinguishing factor” of whether the attacks ought to be labelled xenophobic or Afrophobic, as it appeared that those from Europe were never targeted for being foreigners, but those from the continent were assaulted daily.
Emeka Johnson, chairperson of the South African chapter of the All Nigerian Nationals in the Diaspora, said his home country was the most vilified migrant nation in South Africa.
“Nigerians are being given the picture of being the most notorious... in SA but this is a fallacy. Nigerians are found in every nook and cranny of the continent and contribute immensely,” he said.
He said over 500 000 Nigerians had recorded xenophobic attacks in some form, adding that South Africa had forgotten the role Nigeria played in its emancipation from apartheid.
Malawian national Moses Chume explained that members of their community were constantly hounded by the police and intervention was needed.
Speaking on root causes, Richard Melville-Smith from the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies said cases of violence associated with xenophobia were different from province to province.
He said it was important to look into the xenophobic racist identity-based “ranking system” South Africa has – a divide-and-rule policy which he said seeks to highlight which group of migrants are better than the others.
“We all latch on to that as South Africans, because we use it to legitimise our demand for rights and services, but it would be well to acknowledge that our constitution is inclusive and protects everyone’s rights,” he said.
Duduzile Ndlovu from the African Centre for Migration said the discourse of the claim to nationalism had to be looked at.
Ncumisa Willie, SA Human Rights Commission research adviser, said once issues of socio-economic rights were discussed, the country would go a step further in addressing xenophobia.
“There are communities where non-nationals and South Africans live peacefully.
“In instances where attacks have happened, there have been South Africans who have gone out of their way in assisting foreign nationals.
“These are instances we can look at and learn from and ask ourselves what are the conditions for peaceful coexistence between South Africa and non-nationals,” she said.