Lack of employment and housing fuelling xenophobia in South Africa

By Tererai Karimakwenda
08 January 2006

Tension between South Africans and foreigners reached boiling point at the informal settlement of Olievenhoutbosch in Pretoria on Tuesday. Reports say there were v iolent clashes between South Africans and foreign nationals from Mozambique and Zimbabwe, leaving a total of 5 people dead, 2 of those Zimbabwean. Several other Zimbabweans were seriously injured. The violence broke after a South African was allegedly killed by a Zimbabwean. The Pretoria police arrested 36 men for public violence. This was the 2 nd time in as many weeks that foreign nationals had clashed with local South Africans as xenophobia continues to intensify.

Zimbabweans and other foreigners are competing with the local residents for scarce resources and jobs as well as housing, and this fuels the resentment. The recent clashes have also been attributed to housing allocations by the council, which is being accused of giving houses to foreigners while the locals remain in shacks.

The Reverend Molefe Tsele of the South Africa Council of Churches agreed that xenophobia is very much alive in South Africa. But he said it is not directed at Zimbabweans alone. He said many stakeholders, including the government, are addressing the problem and there is a “roll back xenophobia” campaign in full swing. There are also efforts on a high level within The Human Rights Commission. But Reverend Tsele explained that the South African government is failing to provide adequate housing and jobs for its own people, and the locals then blame foreigners for their plight.