Xenophobia: ANC calls on locals to act

Xenophobic violence broke out almost immediately after the final game of the World Cup tournament last Sunday, with the attacks mostly concentrated in parts of the Western Cape province.

State security forces quickly deployed in the affected areas. But sporadic attacks have continued mostly targeting small grocers shops owned by foreigners.

More attacks have also been reported in parts of the central Gauteng province raising fears of a repeat of the 2008 anti-foreigner violence that left at least 62 immigrants dead and tens of thousands others displaced.

“Let us all help the law enforcement agencies by identifying, naming and shaming those who are involved in such clear act(s) of criminality. We urge the law enforcement agencies to continue with their good work in identifying these hooligans and detain them ” ANC spokesman said Jackson Mthembu said in a statement last Thursday.

Both the ANC and the government have attempted to play down xenophobic violence after initially rejecting reports that locals were planning attacks against black African immigrants as the work of elements out to tarnish the image of South Africa soon after the country successfully hosted the first ever FIFA World Cup tournament to be played on the continent.

But civil society groups say the attacks that have already send thousands of immigrants from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and other African nations fleeing back to their home countries could easily get out of hand if authorities do not act firmly to contain the situation.

The Humanitarian Assistance Network of South Africa (HANSA) said on Thursday that it had re-activated its xenophobic violence early warning system with 24-hour toll-free hotlines manned by multilingual foreign nationals set up for victims to report attacks.