Pretoria – Xenophobic violence is brewing yet again, with a massive march against foreign presence in the capital planned to take place next week.
And the organisers have vowed that the march would go ahead full steam despite calls to accept foreigners and treat them fairly.
They declared the march wouldn't be called off despite some foreigners contributing to the economy of the communities they lived in.
The march is scheduled for February 24, and the organisers – from Mamelodi – on Tuesday said it would see residents from across Pretoria participate and march from Marabastad to the Home Affairs Department offices in the CBD.
The protesters would be given a platform to voice grievances against illegal immigrants.
The target of unhappiness were people from Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Pakistan.
Makgoka Lekganyane, for the organisers, said the nationals of these three countries took jobs belonging to locals, and were guilty of increasing crime levels in the city.
But no xenophobia was intended by the protest action, he insisted. “How can it be xenophobic when one is raising concern about things affecting them?”
The march will be staged on the back of waves of protests that have hit Rosettenville in Joburg, where close to 15 houses were burnt down and foreigners displaced. Locals accuse them of drug dealing and running brothels.
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba and other high-ranking government officials visited the area, and called for calm.
They asked the community to refrain from torching houses and businesses belonging to foreigners.
They called for engagements between locals and immigrants to ensure peace and stability.
The city has previously been a hotbed for so-called xenophobic attacks that regularly swept through the country, with community members breaking into shops, stealing stock and assaulting shop-keepers.
Some foreign nationals have died, with the deaths sparking further antagonism between locals and foreigners.
Foreigners in the capital have been accused of stealing jobs and economic opportunities in communities.
They have also been accused of stealing women by being generous with money and goods.
The Co-ordinating Body of Refugee and Migrant Communities, which represents the interests of foreigners, warned that the march could turn violent and lead to attacks of foreigners.
Director Blessing Nyakudzi said he was aware of the planned march, and expressed concern that it could end up with marchers looting the foreign-owned shops.
Nyakudzi said: “It is unfortunate and regrettable that Pakistanis are accused of stealing jobs because they are known for operating tuck shops. They are the people who are being attacked the most.”
But Lekganyane said marchers would only express their dissatisfaction against the government for unnecessarily legalising immigrants in the country.
“Why is the government giving asylum status to Nigerians, Zimbabweans and Pakistan? Is there war in Nigeria, Zimbabwe or Pakistan?”
He said the presence of foreigners impacted on the chances of South Africans getting jobs.
He said 60% of South Africans in the townships were not working.
“Unemployment is at 34%, but they give people asylum when there is no work in South Africa – what do you expect them to do?” he said.
Housing was also among the issues to be raised during the march. Lekganyane said most houses in Pretoria West were “hijacked” by Somalis, who had named one area Somaliland.
“So many South Africans are in need of those houses. Houses meant for South Africans are being given to people who are coming from outside the country.”
Lekganyane accused the foreigners of engaging in immoral conduct, such as forcing young girls into prostitution and giving them drugs.
He denounced people selling drugs in the country, saying they had to be deported back to their own countries.
Pamphlets mobilising people to join the march have been distributed in the city.
“They bring nothing but destruction, hijack our buildings, sell drugs, inject young South African ladies with drugs and sell them as prostitutes,” read a pamphlet.
Nyakuzi said people should guard against accusing all foreign nationals of drug-dealing and crime because they weren't all the same.
"I think the onus is on the government to do something about it," Nyakuzi said.
"Those planning the march must be discouraged."