Johannesburg - The xenophobic attacks that erupted in KwaZulu-Natal last year and swept across most parts of the country were triggered by a labour dispute in the province, and not by Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini’s speech on foreign nationals, an investigation by the South African Human Rights Commission has found.
Commission chairman Lawrence Mushwana, briefing journalists in Johannesburg on Friday, said no attacks on foreign nationals took place on the day Zwelithini delivered his speech at a meeting on moral regeneration in Pongola, KwaZulu-Natal on March 15 last year.
“However, on 30 March, violent attacks on migrants occured in Isipingo and in Durban. In essence these attacks took place 15 days after the respondent’s public utterances,” Mushwana told reporters.
“Informants interviewed alluded to the suggestion that the trigger of violence in Isipingo was a labour protest by workers from Jeena supermarket in Isipingo. On 30 March, the striking workers together with community members barricaded Prince Mcwayizeni Road with rubble, logs and burning tyres near Jeena’s supermarket.”
The protest was organised by the SA National Civic Association (Sanco), which accused the supermarket’s management of exploiting workers by hiring casual staff for years without registering them on a permanent basis.
“At the time of the strike action, the SAPS received reports that migrants were being assaulted in their rented residences at Emalandeni informal settlement. On the same day, a group of men, who witnesses allege were South African, attacked migrants at Isipingo CBD,” said Mushwana.
The commission cleared Zwelithini of inciting violence and hate speech after complaints laid by the African Diaspora Forum (AFD), Lawyers for Human Rights and other individuals. The complainants charged that Zwelithini’s statement incited violence against foreign nationals and had resulted in an eruption of xenophobic attacks that started in KwaZulu-Natal last year and spread to other provinces.
In his speech, Zwelithini accused foreign nationals of making “streets dirty”. He also called on foreign nationals to pack their bags and go home. Mushwana said a Zulu language expert who assisted the commission in its probe, concluded that these statements did not incite violence.
Zwelithini had argued that he was quoted out of context through “inaccurate reporting” and that the media did not understand the Zulu language.
Marc Gbaffou, chairman of the AFD, asked Mushwana how he compared Zwelithini’s statement to that of disgraced estate agent Penny Sparrow who in a social media post called black beachgoers monkeys. Sparrow was found guilty of hate speech three months ago and fined R5 000 by the Equality Court.
“I just want to know what is the balance the chairman would give to the king’s utterances compared to Sparrow’s social media posts…and why did you use the Canadian examples in the report while there has been killing of people in Rwanda, just next to us here. People were called cockroaches in Rwanda and as a result thousands were killed,” Gbaffou said.
Mushwana said the report was also a means “to open the dialogue” on the attacks.
“We would welcome that you to study the report and come back if you think there are issues that needed to be addressed. We are trying to open this dialogue, we did not think that this was a case closed…because this issue started in 2008 and went on. We needed a door to open and to teach people to accommodate each other,” Mushwana said.
Gbaffou said he had only received the report before the media briefing. His organisation would study the report and get back to the commission.
“The board will decide what to do, we will go through the report and come back to the commission and probably Zwelithini. We will see how to use the recommendations in order for communities to live in harmony,” he said.
African News Agency