On the annual celebration of Africa Day in 2001, President Thabo Mbeki urged all South Africans to be vigilant against racism and xenophobia, otherwise it would undermine South Africa's young democracy.
He blamed the levels of xenophobia on the lack of knowledge about the continent of Africa, international isolation and the focus on Europe during apartheid, and the mass media for not reporting the continent in a balanced way.
He called for improved teaching about Africa in schools and institutions of higher learning, not only in history and geography but also in subjects about culture, language and current political and socio-economic activity.
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Mbeki's address was fairly consistent with the ANC's public approach towards xenophobia, which ascribed the problem to the effect of globalisation, South Africa's history of international exclusion or relative economic deprivation.
'aliens pouring into South Africa" would hamper economic growth' Seven years later, as we prepare to celebrate Africa Day once again, we witness the disgraceful incidents in Alexandra and Diepsloot.
Clearly South Africa has failed to effectively address the rising tide of xenophobia.
This paper seeks to examine government responses to the problem of xenophobia, to learn from the international experience and to propose concrete measures the government can embark on to deal with a growing hatred towards foreigners.
How has the government responded to the problem of xenophobia?
Although the government has, in recent years, begun to recognise the magnitude of the problem of xenophobia and the need to tackle it in order to prevent it from undermining their young democracy, politicians have frequently expressed xenophobic views and have been allowed to present them as the views of not only their department, but even of the government itself.
'foreigners have a definite potential to contribute to the local economy' Perhaps most notorious in this respect, was the previous Home Affairs Minister, Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who described the influx of "illegal immigrants" as his "biggest headache" and, in his introductory speech to parliament, explicitly stated that "aliens pouring into South Africa" would hamper economic growth.
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