ntial areas of Gauteng, during which at least two Zimbabweans died.
Due to a number of reasons ranging from historic, political and socio-economic in nature, a culture of xenophobia has developed among black South Africans against foreigners, especially those from the rest of the continent.
Over the years, a special derogatory word that personifies the xenophobic aspect of the nation has been developed. The word ‘amakwerekwere’ is by far the most popular denotation accorded to all foreigners. It purportedly depicts the phonetic sound of foreign African languages.
The ever increasing tide of Zimbabweans crossing the Limpopo River is only likely to raise the already high levels of resentment against foreigners here. Indeed it seems Zimbabweans have now been forced to bear the full brunt of South African xenophobia.
This could also explain the increased harassment of Zimbabweans by state institutions like the police and Home Affairs Department. In fact, the Lindela Deportation Centre has become the unofficial home for Zimbabweans here.
The mob killings that have recently erupted could signal a dormant volcano waiting to erupt if officials don’t do something about it soon. At this rate, South Africa risks a huge bloody conflict between locals and foreigners, especially among its poorer communities.
It seems a pity that South Africa is not taking the opportunity to benefit from the fallout in Zimbabwe. A lot of the people who are now coming here are beneficiaries of the health and education explosion there in the 1980s. They are thus ready for socio-economic harvest. Sadly, the Zimbabwean government cannot benefit from its investment back then.
But South Africa has a critical shortage of black skilled labour and professionals. There is an urgent need for a collective effort by the government, political parties, civil society and the media to treat this matter as a national crisis.
We as the Zimbabwean community here are beginning to set up national structures to represent us. This is so especially with regards to the media community and civic society organizations. I therefore call upon the various interested parties to organise a big indaba to try and confront the problematic issue of Xenophobia before it gets out of control.
Daniel Molokele is a Zimbabwean human rights lawyer who is based in Johannesburg. He can be contacted at ‘danielmolokela@yahoo.com’
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