Fears World Cup aftermath could be marred by xenophobia

By Clare Byrne Jul 6, 2010, 15:20 GMT

Diepsloot, South Africa - Widespread reports of racists threatening to attack foreign migrants in South Africa once the World Cup is over have raised fears that the tournament's achievements could soon be squandered.

Two conflicting pictures of South Africans' relationship with other Africans are doing the rounds.

On the one hand, millions of South Africans rallied in support of the last African team standing in the World Cup last week, even painting their faces with Ghana's Black Star.

On the other hand, many African migrants in South African townships are living in fear of their lives, following reports their neighbours are planning to give them the boot after the World Cup.

'Everywhere you go and buy stock they talk about it. It's the talk of the day,' says Fungai Makota, a Zimbabwean tuck-shop owner living in Diepsloot, a slum of about 150,000 people some 30 kilometres north of Johannesburg.

'We don't know the date, we're just waiting,' she said.

Felix, a Zimbabwean builder, who has been in South Africa since 1993 - so long most people think he is South African - said he has also heard people talk of plans to drive out migrants after the tournament, when policing has been relaxed and perpetrators no longer risk summary justice in dedicated World Cup courts.

'In the shebeens (taverns), when I'm watching football, I've heard people saying 'after the World Cup they (migrants) must go home,' said Felix.

It seems unthinkable that the most precious legacy of the World Cup - the image of a stable South Africa at peace with itself and with the world - could be tarnished so quickly.

But there is a precedent.

In May 2008, 62 people - mostly African migrants - were murdered and tens of thousands chased from their homes by mobs accusing them of taking jobs for lesser pay, jumping the queue for public services and causing crime.

Two years later, many of the communities that were affected by the violence in 2008, like Diepsloot, are still simmering cauldrons of frustration.

At 25 per cent, South Africa has one of the world's highest unemployment rates and the few jobs available are also contested by an estimated six million migrants from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi and other neighbouring countries.

And while violent crime has fallen dramatically during the World Cup, thugs continue to terrorize people in poor communities like Diepsloot.

'You walk in these passages - they mug you and take your shoes,' Patrick Moloi, a street trader in Diepsloot says, pointing to the lanes that cut through a sea of jumbled tin-and-wood shacks.

Moloi holds illegal migrants chiefly responsible for crime.

'Even if he shoots you, you cannot find him or arrest him (because he is undocumented),' he complained.

'If they commit crime in this way, with no papers, xenophobia will happen,' he said matter-of-factly.

Fungai Makota is already preparing for that eventuality.

In June 2008, she and her Mozambican husband cowered inside their shack in Diepkloof Extension One while a mob went door to door in search of migrants.

The youths pelted the door of the shack with stones and beat her husband so severely his infant son no longer recognized him. They also looted her shop.

Over the past few weeks she has begun slashing her stock levels and making plans to flee to Mozambique if necessary.

'If they do attack, how can I stay in fear, not sleeping at night? Maybe they will burn you,' she says, eyes wide with alarm.

In Western Cape province, where Cape Town is situated, immigrant support groups are also sounding the alarm over threats.

The Social Justice Coalition, a group of non-governmental organizations and individuals that monitor xenophobia in the Cape Town area, reported that some Somali shopowners in the city's Khayelitsha township had been ordered by youths to leave.

In some cases, local residents rallied in defence of the traders and afforded them protection.

In Diepsloot, some South Africans also spoke out against xenophobia and denounced the perpetrators as criminals looking mainly for an excuse to loot. But many were too afraid to speak out, leaving human rights groups to wave the red flag.

In a statement last week, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said it was 'concerned about rumours surfacing that there are negative sentiments arising towards non-nationals in South Africa.'

'We cannot blame other people for our troubles,' the foundation said.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has assured the government was 'closely monitoring these xenophobic threats by faceless criminals whose desire is to create anarchy' and that police were ready 'to thwart these evil acts.'

Last week, the army joined police in searching homes in the Western Cape's Du Noon township, in a display of force apparently aimed at showing troublemakers what they could expect.

The ruling African National Congress has given the reports short shrift, however, calling them the reporting of 'doomsayers somewhere in dark corners who want to steal the thunder of the successful hosting of this football spectacle.'