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| xenophobiese apartheid [boodskap #117307] |
So, 18 Mei 2008 14:49 |
Daun Johnson
Boodskappe: 1155
Geregistreer: Januarie 2009
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Riaan, sal jy omgee om die antie wat die konsentrasiekampwagte so
bewonder het dat sy hul taal as haar eie aanvaar het, te vra of sy
kans sien om haar uit te spreek (in Afrikaans verkieslik) ten opsigte
van dit wat ek hieronder geplak het, en my stelling dat ek dit as niks
ander as 'apartheid' beskou.
Haven or hell?
18 May 2008, 12:04
Related Articles
* Scores flee as Gauteng attacks spread
* Six arrested for xenophobic attacks
* Five die in Joburg xenophobic violence
* Foreigners in Cape fear they'll be next
By Chris Makhaye
On a bustling street in downtown Durban, an argument over a piece of
paper attracts photographer Sandile Ndlovu.
"Makwerekwere awahambe (foreigners must go)," a woman shouts,
insulting Thomas Mtambara and his wife, Remita.
The piece of paper is a receipt for goods confiscated from the couple
and another hawker, minutes earlier, by Metro Police.
Why the confiscated goods have all been listed on the same receipt has
disturbed the Mtambaras - a couple who had to flee from the Democratic
Republic of Congo 10 years ago.
"Let them take it, only God knows," responds Remita, resigned to the
loss of leather boots, jackets and second-hand clothing they sell from
a stall near Durban's Catholic cathedral.
The tense scene is a far cry from the lifestyle which the highly
educated couple enjoyed in the DRC capital, Kinshasa.
Ironically, Mtambara could be helping to develop young whiz kids in
South Africa. He has a masters degree in maths and physics and taught
these subjects for 17 years before taking a job as senior statistician
for the Mobutu government-controlled Immigration Department.
He had to flee in 2003 after escaping from a cell in Kinshasa. He had
been jailed by the first Kabila government which imprisoned - and
killed - many senior Mobutu government civil servants. His wife and
son later joined him in South Africa.
Mtambara has since converted his qualifications from French to English
with the South African Qualification Authority (Saqa), but to no
avail.
Despite shortages of qualified teachers for maths and science in South
Africa, Mtambara has not been able to get a post here. The department
of education turned down all his applications.
This week, as has happened before, the Mtambaras were nearly attacked
in the dispute over confiscated goods. Again Mtambara backed down and
parted with merchandise, lest the arguments turn ugly.
Although the Mtambaras have a street trading licence, Remita keeps it
with her and she was not at their stall when Metro Police conducted a
spot check this week.
"We face discrimination most of the time - from the police, fellow
hawkers, immigration officials... anybody. Giving away these clothes
and jackets is nothing new," said Remetsi.
"Yes, it's very difficult but one has to learn to adapt," said
Mtambara.
Their experiences are shared by thousands of African immigrants trying
to carve a niche for themselves in South Africa. And with the wave of
violence directed at foreign nationals in Gauteng this week, many,
like the Mtambaras, fear that even the most basic of arguments can
easily lead to violence against them.
In Durban's Albert Park - long a crime-ridden area, even in the 1980s
and 1990s - tension between locals and foreigners was palpable this
week.
"We are really scared," said one Tanzanian youngster.
"Everyone has been telling us about what happened in Pretoria and
Alexandra. But what can you do? Sometimes you have to sacrifice
yourself to achieve your dream."
Two months ago, residents held a meeting, voicing anger at hundreds of
mainly Tanzanian foreigners living in the Albert Park area. The
foreigners were accused of robbery, housebreaking, hijacking, making a
noise and dealing in stolen goods.
Letter
Demands were made for the "immediate removal" of foreigners, with
residents threatening to take the law into their own hands.
These tensions prompted Pierre Matate, co-ordinator of the
KwaZulu-Natal Refugee Council, to write a letter to eThekwini Mayor
Obed Mlaba and others, warning that innocent people could soon become
victims of indiscriminate mob violence.
Matate, also from the DRC, condemned a recent incident involving four
Tanzanians who had stabbed a local, and said the refugee council
representing foreigners and refugees in the area would support "any
efforts to combat this criminality".
He also said in the letter that Durban had become a home to many
migrants and foreigners, and that it was unfair to target foreigners
as the source of crime in the area.
He said those committing crime must be charged in courts of law, and
that this would require the collaboration of South Africans and
foreign residents.
But, instead, divisions were emerging that would only suit criminals.
"The tension is growing and it is our responsibility as leaders to
start strategising so that this situation does not get out of
control," he said.
"We run the risk of innocent people becoming victims."
That letter had been submitted four months ago, but little had been
done so far, said Matate. Instead, many refugees and foreigners
continued to be treated as outcasts, not just by ordinary residents
but also by authorities.
This could only worsen the situation, warned Matate in another letter
to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Office of the KwaZulu-Natal
Premier, the minister of justice, the presidency and others.
He said in Albert Park many of the foreigners had trekked down Africa
as youngsters - or even boarded ships as stowaways - to escape poverty
in Tanzania.
"But as economic migrants they also have human rights that must be
protected," said Matate.
Some migrants said they were denied basic services such as health
care. Eric Mutawu, a 22-year-old from Tanzania, said he had gone to
Addington Hospital after a persistent stomach ache.
"They asked me for R20 to open a file and I didn't have it. I asked
them to at least give me Panado or other pain killers and they
refused," he said.
Other African foreigners living in Durban said although they had legal
permits to live in South Africa, they often found themselves at the
receiving end of xenophobia, as well as discrimination from home
affairs, police and other officials.
They said African foreigners were not treated the same way as their
white and Asian counterparts who were welcomed with open arms when
arriving in South Africa.
Emilinia Matore said that she left her job as a teacher in Zimbabwe
and fled to South Africa last year following reprisals against
teachers from the ruling Zanu-PF party.
She tried in vain to get a job in Gauteng. In February she came to
Durban and landed a packing job in a supermarket.
Lesson
"My fellow workers jeer at me and say I came to take away their jobs.
They say employers prefer to hire us foreigners because we are
prepared to work for next to nothing," she said.
"It is very difficult for us because we fled repression in our home
countries, only to find worse treatment by our brothers and sisters
here.
"I never thought I would have to flee Zimbabwe, but it happened. This
should be a lesson to South Africans."
Other Zimbabweans interviewed this week said the prejudice they had
experienced was not confined to poor people battling to make ends
meet, but even came from educated black South Africans.
A Zimbabwean masters student, who asked not be named, said he and his
peers were often treated as outcasts by black fellow students and
lecturers.
"Some ask why we are not studying and working in our own countries."
Joshua Mbonigaba, an economics graduate from the University of Butare
in Rwanda, his wife, Solange, and their 6-year- old son, came to South
Africa to flee the effects of their country's civil war.
Solange, also a graduate in economics, worked at a leading bank when
they left their country. But when they came to Durban the couple could
only find jobs as car guards, which they did for the next six years.
Joshua was recently hired as a lecturer in economics at UKZN's
Westville campus. His job is now on the line since his refugee status
has not been renewed after he reapplied more than six months ago.
"His contract states clearly that he will be employed only if his
papers are in order," said Solange.
"We live in uncertain times."
* This article was originally published on page 15 of The Sunday
Tribune on May 18, 2008
http://www.dailynews.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=vn200 80518113014956C157801
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