Snapshots of the outrage against foreign nationals and
protests against sexual offenders in South Africa in recent weeks, captured by
FORBES AFRICA photojournalist Motlabana Monnakgotla.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



As the continent’s second-biggest economy, South Africa
attracts migrants from the rest of Africa. But mired in its own problems of
unemployment and political instability, September saw a serious outbreak of
attacks by South Africans on foreign nationals and foreign-owned businesses.
And they have been ugly.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 



The spark that fueled the raging fire was in Pretoria, the
country’s capital, when a taxi driver was shot dead by a foreign national who
was selling drugs to a youngster in the central business district (CBD).



The altercation caused a riot and the taxi industry brought
the CBD to a standstill, blocking intersections. It did not stop there; a week
later, about 60 kilometers from the capital in Malvern, a suburb east of the
Johannesburg CBD, a hijacked building caught fire, leaving three dead. As
emergency services were putting out the fire, the residents took advantage and
looted foreign-owned shops and burned car dealerships overnight on Jules
Street. 



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="924" height="617" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest2.png" alt="" data-id="42001" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42001" class="wp-image-42001" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest2.png 924w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest2-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest2-600x401.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest2-768x513.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 924px) 100vw, 924px" /><figcaption> A burned shop on Jules Street is one of the many shops that were looted. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="922" height="616" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest1-1.png" alt="" data-id="42002" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42002" class="wp-image-42002" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest1-1.png 922w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest1-1-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest1-1-600x401.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest1-1-768x513.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 922px) 100vw, 922px" /><figcaption> A cashier’s window smashed during a looting spree in Katlehong. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li></ul>



The lootings extended to the CBD and other parts of
Johannesburg.



To capture this embarrassing moment in South African
history, I visited Katlehong, a township 35 kilometers east of Johannesburg,
where the residents blocked roads leading to Sontonga Mall on a mission to loot
the mall and the foreign-owned shops therein overnight. 



Shop-owners and workers were shocked to wake up to no
business.



Mfundo Maljingolo, a worker at Fish And Chips, was among the
distressed.



“This thing started last night, people started looting and
broke into the mall and did what they wanted to do. I couldn’t go to work today
because there’s nothing to do; now, we are not going to get paid. The shop will
be losing close to R10,000 ($677) today. It’s messed up,” said Maljingolo.



But South African businesses were affected too.



Among the shops at the mall is Webbers, a clothing and
footwear store. Looters could not enter the shop and it was one of the few that
escaped the vandalism.



Dineo Nyembe, the store’s manager, said she was in disbelief
when she saw people could not enter the mall. 



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="926" height="614" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest5-2.png" alt="" data-id="42004" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42004" class="wp-image-42004" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest5-2.png 926w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest5-2-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest5-2-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest5-2-768x509.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px" /><figcaption> A worker cleans up after a liqour store was looted by Katlehong residents overnight. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="921" height="611" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/protest6.png" alt="" data-id="42005" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42005" class="wp-image-42005" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/protest6.png 921w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/protest6-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/protest6-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/protest6-768x509.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 921px) 100vw, 921px" /><figcaption> Car dealerships were among the businesses set alight on Jules Street. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li></ul>



“We got here this morning and the ceiling was wrecked but
there was no sign that the shop was entered, everything was just as we left it.
Now, we are packing stock back to the warehouse, because we don’t know if they
are coming back tonight,” lamented Nyembe, unsure if they would make their
daily target or if they would be trading again.



 Across the now-wrecked mall are small businesses that were not as fortunate as Webbers, and it was not only the shop-owners that were affected.  



Emmanuel Nhlane’s home was robbed even as attackers were
looting the shop outside.



“They broke into my house, I was threatened with a petrol
bomb and I had to stand outside to give them a chance; they took my fridge,
bed, cash and my VHS,” said Nhlane.



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="929" height="614" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest11-1.png" alt="" data-id="42007" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42007" class="wp-image-42007" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest11-1.png 929w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest11-1-300x198.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest11-1-600x397.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest11-1-768x508.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px" /><figcaption> Rubble and dust on the streets of Katlehong after a night of looting at a local mall and its foreign-owned shops. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li></ul>



Nhlane had rented out his yard to foreign nationals to
operate a shop. He does not comprehend why his belongings were taken because he
doesn’t own a shop. Now, it means that the unemployed Nhlane will not be
getting his monthly rental fee of R3,700 ($250).



Far away, the coastal KwaZulu-Natal province of South
Africa, was also affected as trucks burned and a driver was killed because of
his nationality. This was part of a logistics and transport industry national
strike.



Back in Johannesburg, I visited the car dealerships that were
a part of the burning spree on Jules Street. 



The streets were still ashy and the air still smoky, two
days after the unfortunate turn of events.



Muhamed Haffejee, one of the distraught businessmen there,
said: “Currently, we are still not trading.”&nbsp;




Cape Town, in the Western Cape province of South Africa,
which hosted the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa from September 4 to 6,
was also witness to protests by women and girls from all walks of life outside
the Cape Town International Convention Centre, demanding that the leadership
take action to end the spate of gender-based violence (GBV) in the country. 



There were protests also outside Parliament. What set off
the nationwide outcry was the shocking rape and murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana, a
19-year-old film and media student at the University of Cape Town, inside a
post office by a 42-year-old employee at the post office. 



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="926" height="610" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest4.png" alt="" data-id="42010" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42010" class="wp-image-42010" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest4.png 926w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest4-300x198.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest4-600x395.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest4-768x506.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px" /><figcaption> According to Stats SA, there has been a drastic increase of women-based violence in South Africa. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="929" height="615" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest8.png" alt="" data-id="42011" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42011" class="wp-image-42011" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest8.png 929w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest8-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest8-600x397.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest8-768x508.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px" /><figcaption> Leader of the African National Congress Women’s League, Bathabile Dlamini, was also present outside the JSE. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li></ul>



There was anger against the ghastly crimes and wave of GBV
in the country that continues unabated. According to Stats SA, there has been a
drastic increase of women-based violence in South Africa; sexual offences are
up by 4.6%, from 50,108 in 2018 to 52,420 in 2019. 



A week later, on a Friday, Sandton, Africa’s richest square
mile and one of the biggest economic hubs, was shut down by hundreds of angry
women and members of advocacy groups from across Johannesburg. They congregated
by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the cynosure of business, singing and
chanting, to demand “a 2% levy on profits of all listed entities to help fund
the fight against GBV and femicide”.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 



Among the protesters was Cebi Ngqinanbi, holding a placard
that read: “I’m not your punching bag.” 



“We came here to disrupt Sandton as the heart of
Johannesburg’s economic hub. We want to make everyone aware that women and
children are being killed every day in South Africa and they [Sandton] continue
with business as usual, sitting in their offices with air-conditioners and the
stock exchange whilst people on the ground making them rich are dying. That is
why we are here, to speak to those that have economic power,” said Ngqinanbi.



She added that if women can be given economic power, they
will be able to fend for themselves and won’t fall prey to abusive men, since
most women stay in abusive relationships because men are more financially
stable. 



Amid the chanting and singing of struggle songs, Nobuhle
Ajiti addressed the crowd and shared her own haunting experience as a migrant
in South Africa and survivor of GBV. She spoke in isiZulu, a South African
language.



“I survived a gang rape; I was thrown out of a moving car
and stabbed several times. I survived it, but am I going to survive xenophobia
that is looming around in South Africa? Will I able to share my xenophobia
story like I can share my GBV story?” questioned Ajiti.



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="928" height="616" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest9.png" alt="" data-id="42013" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42013" class="wp-image-42013" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest9.png 928w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest9-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest9-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest9-768x510.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px" /><figcaption> Addressing the resolute women outside was the JSE CEO Nicky Newton-King who received the memorandum demanding business take their plight seriously. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="922" height="615" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest12.png" alt="" data-id="42014" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42014" class="wp-image-42014" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest12.png 922w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest12-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest12-600x400.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest12-768x512.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 922px) 100vw, 922px" /><figcaption> Women hold up placards stating their grievences against GBV. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li></ul>



She said as migrants, they did not wake up in the morning
and decide to come to South Africa, but because of the hardships faced in their
home countries, they were forced to come to what they perceived as the city of
opportunities. And as a foreign national, she had to deal with both xenophobia
and GBV. 



“We experience institutionalized xenophobia in hospitals; we
are forced to pay huge amounts for consultation. I am raped and I need medical
attention and I am told I need to pay R5,000 ($250). 



“As a mere migrant, where am I going to get R5,000? I get
abused at home and the police officer would ask me where I’m from because of my
accent, I sound Zimbabwean. What does my nationality have to do with my husband
beating me at home or with the man that just raped me?” she asked.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="922" height="615" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest10-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-42018" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest10-1.png 922w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest10-1-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest10-1-600x400.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest10-1-768x512.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 922px) 100vw, 922px" /><figcaption> Women stop traffic while they hold up placards stating their grievences against GBV. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure>



Addressing the resolute women outside was the JSE CEO Nicky Newton-King who received the memorandum demanding business take their plight seriously, from a civil society group representing over 70 civil society organizations and individuals. 



The list of demands include that at all JSE-listed companies contribute to a fund to resource the National Strategy Plan on GBV and femicide, to be launched in November; transport for employees who work night shifts or work after hours; establish workplace mechanisms to provide support to GBV survivors as part of employee wellness, and prevention programs that help make workplaces safe spaces for all women. 



Newton-King assured the protestors she would address their demands in seven days. But a lot can happen in seven days. Will there be more crimes in the meantime? How many more will be raped and killed in South Africa by then?



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-6 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="928" height="614" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest13.png" alt="" data-id="42016" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42016" class="wp-image-42016" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest13.png 928w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest13-300x198.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest13-600x397.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest13-768x508.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px" /><figcaption> Nationwide outcry was setoff by shocking rape and murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="928" height="612" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest14-1.png" alt="" data-id="42017" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=42017" class="wp-image-42017" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest14-1.png 928w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest14-1-300x198.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest14-1-600x396.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Protest14-1-768x506.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px" /><figcaption> What set off the nationwide outcry was the shocking rape and murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana, a 19-year-old film and media student at the University of Cape Town Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure></li></ul>

Protest5

The Rage And Tears That Tore A Nation

The latest xenophobic attacks in South Africa have ignited the long-standing tensions between the country and Nigeria. These are captured in the retaliatory attacks on South African businesses in Nigeria and the diplomatic outrage by Nigerian authorities.



Nigeria also boycotted the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Cape Town. More critical was the temporary closure of South African missions in Abuja and Lagos and Nigeria’s decision to recall its ambassador.



But in the larger scheme of things, xenophobia is a distraction from the leadership role that Nigeria and South Africa should play on the continent on fundamental issues of immigration and economic integration.



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="There Will Be Blood, Brother (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2017/04/01/will-blood-brother/" target="_blank">There Will Be Blood, Brother</a>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">A constant irritant</h4>



Accurate figures are hard to get. But Statistics South Africa put the number of Nigerian migrants at about 30,000 in 2016, far below Zimbabweans and Mozambicans.



Xenophobia has remained a constant irritant in Nigeria-South Africa relations since the major attacks on African migrants in poor neighbourhoods in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg in 2008 and 2015. 



But, contrary to popular perception, xenophobic attacks do not disproportionately target Nigerians. Nigerians often exaggerate the effect of violence on their citizens. That is probably because Nigeria has a better organised, savvy, and loud diaspora constituency in South Africa.



Unfortunately, the loudness of the Nigerian diaspora transforms victimhood into foreign policy, generating the reactions that have been witnessed recently. It also plays into the naïve narrative of the “liberation dividend”. This entails Nigerians seeking to be treated uniquely because of their contribution to the struggle for majority rule in South Africa. There were no such expectations from the other countries that supported South Africa’s liberation struggle.



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Slave auctions in Libya are the latest evidence of a reality for migrants the EU prefers to ignore (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/current-affairs/2017/12/08/slave-auctions-libya-latest-evidence-reality-migrants-eu-prefers-ignore/" target="_blank">Slave auctions in Libya are the latest evidence of a reality for migrants the EU prefers to ignore</a>



This narrative has taken on an equally economic tinge. South African companies are heavily invested in Nigeria. So, they often become targets of Nigerian ire in times of xenophobia.



The accurate picture is that xenophobia affects all African migrants. These are mostly migrants from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and, increasingly Ethiopians, Kenyans and Somalis. Nigerians are affected. But they’re not on top of the list.



The Nigerian responses are understandable in light of the frequency of these attacks. But, it is important to probe the drivers of xenophobia to understand it more deeply.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What drives xenophobia?</h4>



First, some studies reveal that the intrusion of foreign migrants into vulnerable communities beset by joblessness and despair inevitability produces a tinderbox that sparks violence .



Migrants are easy targets. That’s because they are seen as being better off by the locals. They therefore become targets of people who feel their circumstances have not been addressed by government. It is no surprise that xenophobic attacks have typically occurred in poor neighbourhoods that have been affected by service delivery protests since the mid-2000s.



Second, xenophobia thrives on ineffective policing in South Africa. Barely two days after the Johannesburg attacks started, the national police spokesman admitted that the police were running out of resources to manage the violence. This prompted the Premier of Gauteng, the country’s economic hub, to threaten to also deploy the army if the violence continued.



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Why Nigerian Doctors Grab Opportunities Abroad (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/uncategorized/2018/10/18/why-nigerian-doctors-grab-opportunities-abroad/" target="_blank">Why Nigerian Doctors Grab Opportunities Abroad</a>



Examples of the police’s inability to maintain order and respond to threats to property and livelihoods are legion. This, in part, forces people to take the law into their own hands.



But the police are sometimes complicit in stoking anti-foreign sentiments. The July 2019 raids on foreign-owned businesses in Johannesburg in apparent efforts to stamp out illicit goods added to the current climate of xenophobia. When some business owners retaliated against the police, some local leaders appropriated the language of “threats on South Africa’s sovereignty” to justify the police response.



Reforms are urgently needed to create a competent, less corrupt, better-resourced, and civic-minded police service.



Xenophobia is also an outcome of a rickety migration and border control regime. Efficient border controls are one of the hallmarks of sovereignty and the first line of defence against xenophobia. Broken borders breed criminality. These include human and drug trafficking. Human and drug trafficking feature prominently in the discourse on xenophobia in South Africa.



How, then, does xenophobia distract South Africa and Nigeria from what should be their leadership on core African issues?



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Overreaction</h4>



The weighty issues of creating a humane and just society for South Africans and migrants alike will ultimately be led by the South African government. Outsiders can make some diplomatic noises and occasionally boycott South Africa. But these actions are unlikely to drive vital change.



In fact, the overreactions by Nigeria and other African countries simply undercut the South African constituencies that have a crucial stake in wide-ranging reforms that address the multiplicity of problems around xenophobia.



In the previous instances of xenophobic violence, Nigeria urged the African Union (AU) to force South Africa to take action. But such unhelpful statements only inflame passions and prevent civil diplomatic discourse.



Instead, the best policy would be for Nigeria to engage South Africa through their existing binational commission. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to visit South Africa next month.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Taking the lead</h4>



Rather than the perennial relapse into shouting matches and hardening of rhetoric, it is essential for Pretoria and Abuja to take decisive leadership at the continental level. The two nations must articulate immigration policies.



The newly-inaugurated AU Free Movement of Persons Protocol will not be implemented if South Africa and Nigeria do not join hands to make it a reality. More ominously, migration to South Africa as the premier African economy will only get worse in the coming years. This, as Europe and the United States tighten their borders against African migrants.



Also, without the leadership of its two major economies, Africa is not going to make any traction on the new treaty establishing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. Ironically, the WEF meeting in Cape Town addressed ways to boost intra-African trade. Nigeria should not have boycotted it because of xenophobia.



-Gilbert M. Khadiagala; Jan Smuts Professor of International Relations and Director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS), University of the Witwatersrand



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Xenophobia: Time For Cool Heads To Prevail In Nigeria And South Africa

African turned on African. Mobs looted shops, threatened lives and smashed anything they could get their hands on. There were languages from across Africa shouted through the streets of the capital of Pretoria on this confusing afternoon – one language was heard above the rest; the language of the boot.
By 11AM, in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, angry youths stood by the side of Townlands Road – rocks in hand. Earlier they had thrown rocks, witnesses said, at any vehicle entering where the so-called foreigners live. A police van stood by, just out of rock range.
For the mob, getting rid of fellow Africans, they call foreigners, was their aim; bigotry their game.
“All those who are selling drugs, nyaope (South African street drug), doing prostitution and human trafficking should voetsek (go away in Afrikaans). Would Robert Mugabe allow me to sell drugs in Zimbabwe? No, never! So why is our government failing us. This is war that’s not going to end. As you can see, it started slowly but let me tell you it’s going to get huge,” says Thembi Skhosana, a South African protester in Marabastad.
In many ways Skhosana epitomized the ugly threat on the streets.
“If our government doesn’t tell these people to go, people are going to die. [The government] is used to killing people, like they did in Marikana, so even now blood will be spilt,” she says.
Skhosana criticized the authorities for failing to clamp down on foreigners without permits.
“It’s best that we take the matter into our own hands. Police have failed. When they take bribes that means they’re also taking things into their own hands; we might as well deal with this our own way.”
On the other side, people also prepared to deal with things in their own way.
In Marabastad, Somali immigrants took up machetes, sticks‚ rocks and knives.
A Somalian shop owner, who sells groceries, Ali Abdul Hasen, came to South Africa as a refugee in 2006 to escape terrorist attacks.
“I came to South Africa for peace, stability and to provide for my family. When I came here I believed I would forget the sound of bullets, and killing each other. In Somalia there are terrorist attacks; you can get injured and die, but not from knives and axes to cut you into pieces,” says Hasen.
“They’re attacking us so we have no choice but to fight back. We have closed all our shops in the townships and came to this area, and now they’re attacking us here, again. We have to counter attack; it’s just tit for tat,” he says.
A woman wearing a peach-colored dress emerged waving a machete and shouting in her mother tongue. I couldn’t make out what she was saying but she wasn’t stopping for anyone.
Then we heard screams and shouting of enraged Somalians, everyone running to the left, chasing a young man in his twenties. When they caught him, the Somalis beat him up. We thought they were going to kill him. Police fired stun grenades to disperse the attackers. A journalist in the crowd was hit in the back by a rubber bullet.
Protesters looted the clothing and home appliance shop of Pakistani Muhammed Yaqoob. The floor was strewn with broken glass and debris. A dismayed Yaqoob walked gingerly over the broken glass, counting the cost of his empty shelves.
“I was at home when I received a call that my shop has been broken into. They took mattresses, shoes and blankets which amount to R50,000 (around $3,800),” he says.
“Life is better when there is peace. We are here to work for our families. And I believe that we are providing jobs, in this shop alone we have three ladies we hired. I’m also involved in feeding schemes providing food to local churches and giving blankets to street kids. But these are the same people who were among the group that stole our stuff,” says Zahid Afzal, chairperson of the area’s business forum.
In 2003, Afzal traveled 7,617 kilometers from Pakistan to Pretoria for business. He makes about R5,000 ($380) a week and sends half of it to his wife and two children. He’s contemplating going home, even if it’s not that safe there.
“Most of us are here because we are under threat of terrorism in Pakistan. There’s lots of bomb blasts happening in every part of the country. If this continues we have no choice but to go back home,” says Afzal.
About 40 shops have closed in Mamelodi and Atteridgeville, in Pretoria, and 12 houses were burned in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg. According to Brigadier Sally De Beer of the South African Police Service, about 136 people were arrested for looting and being in possessing firearms and drugs.
“I’m actually not willing to stay in South Africa as I can see the situation is like this now, I’d rather go back to Somalia. I’m sure if I’d be killed in my country I would be killed by a terrorist, not by civilians,” says Hasen.
While we were in Atteridgeville, police arrested South African protesters, confiscating a firearm as well as needles and drugs wrapped in a black shopping bag. By this time it was chaos.
“I was born to die. If I die today, it’s fine. But your mother will be killed first. F**k you,” shouted a man, believed to be a Nigerian, raising a middle finger to the mob.
“The dislike of foreigners in the use of foreign labor from Africa, India, and Europe to undermine black economic and political power during the apartheid period… this has conditioned people to see foreigners – particularly Africans, but also those from other regions – as a threat. This sense of threat has been exacerbated by public statements and actions from officials in all parties, police, and people in society at large,” says Loren Landau, from the African Centre for Migration &amp; Society at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Inequality and unemployment make it worse.
“Unless the conditions leading to these attacks change, violence will continue,” he says.
“Public education is a start, but this will not counter the incentives and benefits of violence for those who lead it. We will need the police to hold organizers responsible; to reconsider how we plan and manage our cities and to hold politicians to task when they demonize any group in our society, including refugees and other immigrants.”
According to the Nigerian Union South Africa spokesperson, Eneka Ezinteje, about 800,000 Nigerians are currently in South Africa.   According to reports, about 116 Nigerians were attacked in South Africa in the last two years. In 2016, 20 were killed.
How many Africans have to die before something is done?

There Will Be Blood, Brother

The sharpest minds in world business are in Africa to take stock of the last quarter of a century and help unravel the great knot of economic problems of the continent. The future of our grandchildren depends upon it.
At the heart of the issue is how the continent is going to get Africa’s fast growing working population to work. The World Economic Forum estimates that working population will double to one billion strong – that’s more than three times the population of the United States – by 2040.
Many of these young workers will be young, restless and savvy; they will be plugged into social media and will know what they are missing out on. Few in Africa will need a reminder that the devil makes work for idle hands; those who remember the death and violence of the Arab Spring in North Africa or the xenophobia in South Africa.
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The only way to mop up this growing lake of unemployment is through economic growth. Regional growth in Africa has remained steady at around 5% – at a time when most of the world has struggled with poor growth.
But double-digit growth is needed now to help draw the young, bright and talented into the workforce. Given Africa’s fight for foreign investment, with the rest of the world’s emerging economies, this growth rate, is likely to prove a mountain to climb.
“Even the world’s fastest growing economies are struggling to grow at 7.5%, so the chances of double digit growth for Africa are almost zero. I think the continent is more likely to be looking at 4.5% to 5%,” says George Glynos, an economist with ETM Analytics in Johannesburg.
For growth to happen, infrastructure is needed in Africa like a drink in the desert. Broadband, rails, roads and ports; a list that trips off the tongue, but the reality is more complicated.
In May 2013, all of us in Cape Town for WEF Africa heard how the World Bank estimated Africa needs $93 billion a year worth of infrastructure. Even at the time, most people in Cape Town thought this figure was a drop in the ocean and they were probably right.
Raising that kind of money may prove difficult with a shallow investment pool and institutions short of money. The Development Bank of Southern Africa admitted in Cape Town that it could only hope to raise 5% of the infrastructure bill, even though it predicted the BRICS nations would invest $50-75 billion over the next decade.
Furthermore, African states have to compete with nations around the world, who are also suffering from crumbling infrastructure, for investors. The exception may be the Chinese who are prepared to pour money into African infrastructure in return for resources and business.
The three magic letters to bring in the necessary billions, according to the experts, are PPP. In English, that is Public-Private Partnership, marrying investor’s money with state coffers to build the infrastructure that economies need. It sounds easier than it is. Many have the romantic idea that governments can sit down with private business, shake hands and agree. Not so. Governments and private business tend to work at different speeds. Governments in Africa can take many months to pay bills and their approach to business can differ.
“Private enterprise always needs to make sure the financing is sound before going into a project with government. If you look at the attempt in South Africa to boost the electricity grid by using PPPs it has proved difficult because the pricing is low. With all the will in the world, nothing will happen until you get the pricing right,” says Glynos.
Most agree that the governments of Africa have to work harder.
First, transparency in processes enables swifter decisions and execution; second, shared value and clear understanding of incentives across the value chain drives buy-in; and third, building a culture of trust between stakeholders is paramount, enabling bottle-necks to be addressed as they arise,” says Euvin Naidoo, a South African banker and strategist who is a WEF Global Young Leader.
Power, or the lack of it, is likely to be one of the big issues at WEF. South Africa, the largest power generator, has been struggling through the winter because of maintenance and breakdowns.
Linda Olagunju, the CEO of DLO Energy Resources who will be a speaker at WEF, believes it is time to integrate Africa’s power business by region.
“It is time for us to stop thinking about what each country is doing individually and start thinking of the progress of investment in power as a region,” she says.
Olagunju believes this could be helped by a legal framework for each region to ease cross-border power transactions and set up uniform bidding processes to help attract private money. She also believes renewable energy should be encouraged.
One of the big issues to be discussed at WEF Africa, is the pledge that the continent’s regions would agree to integrate infrastructure by region. That is, one country has the best airport; while its neighbors have good ports and roads so, between them, they can move trade through. This makes sense but it could be fraught with conflict as each country, naturally, wishes to have the best of everything. At WEF Africa 2013, leaders agreed to negotiate; this year’s gathering will hear back from them, I am sure many people can’t wait.

The Devil  In The Detail

The theatre was packed. Everyone wanted to see the opening film at the Durban International Film Festival [DIFF], Of Good Report, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. As the lights dimmed, director Jahmil XT Qubeka and producer Faith Isiakpere settled into their seats to enjoy the fruit of a year’s labor. They couldn’t believe what appeared on the screen.
“This film has been refused classification by the FPB [Film and Publication Board] in terms of the FPB Act 1996. Unfortunately we may not screen the film Of Good Report as to do so would constitute a criminal offence.”
The two men stared at each other in disbelief.
“I thought it was a joke because Qubeka and I always play jokes on each other. When the director of the festival came on stage to speak about it, that’s when we realized it wasn’t a joke,” says Isiakpere.
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Of Good Report is the second collaboration for the two men, who often tackle issues faced by Africans.
In 2010, Isiakpere and Qubeka received rave reviews for A Small Town Called Descent, a film about xenophobia in South Africa.
The film in question tells the story of a forbidden relationship between a high school teacher and his 16-year-old student, played by a 23-year-old woman. Minutes into the film preview, a sexual encounter between teacher and student did not impress the classifications board and forced them to switch it off.
On that night, at the DIFF, as Isiakpere and the team stood on stage to defend their film, he recalled a conversation he had with Qubeka a few days before.
“I am very proud of you because you made a film for people who will think… But are South African’s ready to think?”
The matter of the banned film was taken to the appeals court where Isiakpere and the team fought to have their film released. Isiakpere believed the outcome would answer his question.
It normally takes 30 days for the appeals committee to make a decision.Because of the high public interest it took three.
According to Sipho Risiba, a spokesperson from the FBP, the classifications board’s legislation states that “as soon as you encounter a scene showing unwarranted content [in this case child pornography] you must immediately switch it off.”
This made it a crime to show, possess or watch Of Good Report in South Africa. Risiba added that the gap in the legislation was the fact that it was not aligned with the constitution, which states that in order to make an informed decision on film classification: “films should be watched in context and not in isolated scenes”.
“I don’t know if the film publication board ever thought about the aesthetics of the film, that the film is a certain genre. It’s an art form. And when the film like that is screened at an international film festival you realize that film festivals are platforms to be risqué [and] a platform for you to push the envelope,” says Isiakpere.
Of Good Report won the case and received a rating of 16SNV. It was premiered on the final day of the festival. All the talk around the banned, later unbanned, film lent great publicity and calls from international film festivals. Another good sign for adventurous filmmakers is that the FBP is in the final stages of reworking legislation.
So you could say the frenzy around the film, deserves an A+ for highlighting the protection for freedom of expression of filmmakers in South Africa; a good report indeed.

He Thought  It Was a Joke

The lights are off and the curtains drawn. The Africa Corner Bar in downtown Tel Aviv is a shadow of the popular night spot it once was. It jumps more in fear these days, than it ever did to the beat. It is also out of time with name of the neighborhood it is in—the Quarter of Hope.
That name fitted like a glove when Amine Tekele Zegeta opened the bar last year. The Eritrean refugee believed he’d given birth to a place that would make worthwhile the anguish of his difficult journey to Israel.
Eight months on, Tekele Zegeta sits largely by himself in his bar. It’s Thursday afternoon and the place has only three patrons, one of whom has his eyes glued to the small TV set broadcasting an Eritrean music channel that seems to be playing the same three songs in Tigrigna over and over.
The bar has been this empty since May 23, the day a protest against the influx of African migrants spun out of control. The people of the Quarter of Hope ran amok, smashing African-owned stores and terrorizing Africans. Israeli parliamentarians called African migrants infiltrators who should be cut out like cancer.
That night a rock shattered the main window in Tekele Zegeta’s bar. Looters surged in and stole his stock. Out on the street, the rioters chanted racist slogans as they blocked a car driven by a man from the Ivory Coast and smashed his windows, before attacking any Africans they could find. The string of racist demonstrations and inflammatory language worry many, especially Israel’s 120,000-strong Ethiopian community.
“Ever since that day, I don’t feel normal. I am afraid to come to work. I open at irregular hours. I don’t know what will happen next,” Tekele Zegeta says.
It wasn’t the first time Tekele Zegeta’s bar had been hit. Several months after he opened, Israeli youth attacked him outside the bar and beat him up. A few weeks later he was harassed on the street, but managed to escape. Just two days after FORBES AFRICA interviewed him; Tekele Zegeta’s bar was again attacked when a man on a motorcycle roared up to the front door and threw in firecrackers.
“People don’t want to come here. They know there is trouble. They are lying low and not going outside too much, they don’t want to be attacked,” he reflects sadly.
Since 2005, some 60,000 Africans, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea, made their way to Israel, mostly seeking refuge from war, persecution and dictatorship. Like Tekele Zegeta, they cross into Israel via its porous border with Egypt and many tell tales of vicious torture and rape at the hands of their Sinai Bedouin handlers. Once in Israel, they are picked up by the army, given basic medical treatment and taken to a prison to be processed. They are set free after 10-12 days on conditional release, a status they must renew every three months. Then they are left to fend for themselves.
Israel considers the migrants interlopers, but the country has a policy of not deporting them, especially the Sudanese and Eritreans who are given group protection because they could face persecution—or worse—if they are sent back. Because they’re not recognized as refugees, most of them are not given the rights that go with being a refugee, such as the right to housing, work and medical care. Many end up sleeping in public parks and roaming the streets by day, with no hope of making a living.
Tekele Zegeta has it tough, but he is one of the lucky ones. He is recognized as a refugee and has a work visa. He left Eritrea in 2007, leaving behind his parents and a young daughter, for a journey that took him about a month. After years of cleaning apartments and offices, he pooled his savings and borrowed from friends to open the bar. He serves coffee, tea, soft drinks and beer in Israeli and European brands as well as Asmara, a brand named after the Eritrean capital. The bar is modest; it has eight tables with plastic coverings and the walls are adorned with posters of Eritrea or Ethiopia.
“I wanted to have a place for African patrons. They can come here, drink something, talk. But I don’t know if I will stay open. How can I?” he asks.
“I wouldn’t say this is my dream but I can’t stay cleaning houses for the rest of my life. I wanted to do something to get ahead. In Eritrea, I was ok. I had a home, an income, a life. I came here as a refugee, I came here for help.”
Tekele Zegeta is highly critical of the Israeli government’s handling of the situation.
“It is clear that Israel doesn’t want us here. I have been here five years and what do I have to show for it? In other countries, after that many years, you get some sort of permanence, citizenship, a chance at a normal life. Israel keeps us in limbo. It accuses us of seeking work but is working a crime in any other country? Israel should abide by the law. It can either send us to a third country or help us.”
In a high profile campaign, Israeli authorities began a crackdown on Africans in June, arresting and deporting mainly South Sudanese nationals. Israel maintains that since South Sudan is now an independent state, with ties to Israel, no-one sent back would face danger.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu also lauds his government’s plans to finish the construction of a fence along the Israeli border with Egypt and a detention center that will house some 10,000 people, in the Negev desert. The government is not saying what it will do with the thousands of people who reside in the country but have no rights.
Ethiopian MK Shlomo Molla is on record as saying: “We feel very uncomfortable about what is happening&#8230; Jews talk about how we were slaves in Egypt and how we suffered because of our religion and culture outside of Israel—but now we are making others suffer.”
Back at the Africa Corner Bar, Tekele Zegeta is cynical.
“What did the government do after the demonstrations? Nothing! It cannot go on like this. Israel can’t just throw people to the dogs. It must care what happens to us. If I close, I will be left with nothing, and I will owe money. I would be back at square one.”
Tekele Zegeta may have to shut Africa Corner Bar’s doors, no longer feeling safe in the area and in Israel in general. But he knows he cannot go back to Eritrea and is now seeking asylum in a third country. “At least, if I can be accepted in another country, that would be better,” he concludes.
For Tekele Zegeta, this place of refuge has become a place to seek refuge from. It is a sign of the times in Tel Aviv that an African as battered as he is can be considered lucky.

Tag: Xenophobia

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

The Rage And Tears That Tore A Nation

Xenophobia: Time For Cool Heads To Prevail In Nigeria And South Africa

There Will Be Blood, Brother

The Devil In The Detail

He Thought It Was a Joke

No Quarter Or Hope