SA groups calls for action after xenophobic killing

By Alex Bell
20 June 2011

A South African based refugee rights group has called on the ANC government to take urgent action, after the recent xenophobic attack and murder of a Zimbabwean man.

The man, named as Godfrey Sibanda, was stoned to death in Polokwane last week, after he was cornered and attacked by a mob of angry local South Africans. Thousands of Zimbabweans ¬living in the same township have since fled the area after their homes were burned down.

A local councilor from the ANC government has since been implicated in the violence. The councillor was arrested along with five other individuals last week and charged in connection with the attacks.

Refugee rights group PASSOP has now written to members of the ANC, including South African president Jacob Zuma, urging them immediately expel any officials linked to inciting hatred against foreigners.

“It is extremely concerning to us as, as there should never be any politician involved in violence, particularly xenophobic violence or senseless violence against foreign nationals from any other country, including Zimbabwe and Somalia,” said PASSOP director Braam Hanekom.

Hanekom told SW Radio Africa on Monday that “using violence against foreign nationals to gain political support is a huge danger and must be stopped immediately.”

In 2009, thousands of Zimbabweans were forced to flee their homes in De Doorns in the Western Cape, after a flare up of xenophobic tension. Local councillors were also linked to the violence there, which saw hundreds of homes belonging to Zimbabweans burned down.

In the same year ANC councillor Vusi Khoza was arrested for his involvement in a “raid on foreigners” in Durban, which resulted in the murder of two foreign nationals. During Khoza’s trial a Zimbabwean national Eugene Madondo, a survivor of the violence, said Kohza was a “war general,” who had led the angry mob.

“There can be no room for leniency when dealing with these “grassroots” politicians if they have involved themselves in inexplicable behavior. If we allow for such conduct we could soon find ourselves facing other forms of populist hate crimes and violence in the months and years to come,” Hanekom said.