Cape Town – Despite load shedding, members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Wednesday gathered in a darkened City Hall for an anti-xenophobia rally.
“Tonight we have come out as united workers to join society in condemning the attacks on foreign nationals. This thuggery will not happen in our name,” said Cosatu Western Cape (WC) secretary Tony Ehrenreich.
Cosatu had called for the rally, attended by members and led by the trade union federation, religious leaders, and representatives from the African National Congress (ANC).
Dan Melapi, Chairperson of Western Cape Cosatu, said the aim of the rally was to find sustainable solutions to xenophobic
“Our community members are fighting among themselves. We are here today to strategise how to end this violence once and for all, how to root this evil out of society,” said Melapi.
Religious leaders in attendance included the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba, Pastor Nosey Pieterse, and the Muslim Judicial Council’s secretary general Maulana Abdul Allie Khalid.
“After the 2008 attacks we hoped we had seen an end to xenophobic conflicts,” said Makgoba.
Makgoba said leaders and users of social media who “fanned the flames” of xenophobia were to be condemned.
“But we must go beyond the condemnation. We know our people are venting their anger because of root causes so we must join the struggle for equality and take collective responsibility to identify our problems and collectively tackle it,” he said.
Makgoba added that he believed South Africans were inherently good people who did not want to harm foreign nationals.
Khalid said a rally in the dark reminded him of strategising during the anti-apartheid struggle.
“We must again unite. We are inter-dependent, we are brothers, we are sisters. We must practice kindness and compassion with our African brothers and sisters,” he said.
“Africa is suffering from Cape to Cairo because of the legacy of colonialism and imperialism. So, the end of xenophobia is a better future for us all”.
Pastor and trade unionist Nosey Pieterse, who led farmerworker protests in Du Doorns in 2013, said South Africans must seek forgiveness from foreign nationals.
“We have sinned against God and we have sinned against foreign nationals. They came here looking for bread and instead found death,” said Pieterse.
Pieterse called on government to declare a day of mourning for those murdered in xenophobic attacks.
“We need to turn to God for healing,” he said.
“We must prayer to be cured of this violence in our country.”
ANA