Xenophobia and Pussyfooting Around the Real Issues

Reading the mainline newspapers and listening to the government's excuses for the xenophobia attacks makes one wonder whether people have lost the ability to see things for what they are. The local George Herald, Thursday 5 June 2008, have been brave enough to come up with some interesting comments on a two page spread addressing the xenophobia attacks in George. Is it that in a smaller town the police and journalists are closer to the population and the real issues or are they less intimidated?

• "Massive unemployment root of attacks" - 65% of the people living in Thembaletu are unemployed
• "Thembalethans looked at the newcomers (Somali shopkeepers) and felt jealous that they could so easily set up a business and make a living here" - Mayor of George
• "A primal trigger is crime and sheer opportunism when people start looting"
• "Most of the Somalians have gone back into the community and were welcomed with open arms by Thembalethans who discovered that their own (South African) shopkeepers had taken advantage of the situation by suddenly upping their prices for commodities like bread, which was sold for R16 for a loaf"
• "There are some rotten apples amongst the Somalians who stole the Halaal food intended for the entire community"
• Criminal elements breaking into houses and vehicles of Somalians
• "A mediation team from the Western Cape Premier's office that will head up and coordinate ongoing efforts of integration of immigrants in local communities, arrived on Monday and will remain in the Southern Cape for a while"
• A Somalian was killed with a knife in the Blanco community hall where the foreigners were staying . The reason is suspected to be over a blanket.

Looking at all the comments it is obvious that the causes of xenophobia has been several and from all sides. The solution of reintegration lets me think of a battered woman being reconciled with her husband. Today sorry, tomorrow the same story? One thing that concerns me is the comments made by several government officials during the attack. Mbeki for one said that they should not attack fellow Africans as they supported them during the struggle, how can they now turn on them? This makes me wonder whether the fact that I am white and, therefore, a colonial (foreigner) and not a fellow African makes me a more legitimate object to attack next time. Add to that the fact that I was the opposition in the struggle adds more fuel to the fire. I am just wondering if an attack was launched at the whites the same type of rhetoric would be used to justify it, and this by a government that is supposed to see to the safety of all its citizens. This does not leave me feeling very comfortable.