(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
"The nature of violence is inhuman and barbaric to say the least," Dumisani Moyo told Ny Tid by telephone from Johannesburg. He is a Zimbabwean academic who now lives and works in Johannesburg.
The last days of violence are the worst since apartheid. At least 26 people have been killed in recent days and around 20.000 people from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other African countries are now seeking cover at police stations, churches and community centers in Johannesburg and surrounding areas.
When asked how the extreme xenophobia can be explained, Moyo points to speculation about a so-called third force or "third power" that incites violence. South African police have stated that they are now investigating this "third power" and whether it may be politically motivated. The South Africans are going to the polls next year to appoint Thabo Mbeki's successor, and some argue that the violence may be linked to certain political forces' desire for more power.
At the same time, Moyo emphasizes the undeniable fact that the skepticism of foreigners has grown sharply in South Africa in recent months. It is often claimed that foreigners steal jobs from poor South Africans. Immigrants in a desperate situation have accepted even worse wages than local South Africans normally would, and a number of employers have taken advantage of this.
The main underlying reason, however, believes Moyo is that South Africa has failed
total in fulfilling the promises made when apartheid ended in 1994.
– South Africa is still an angry nation where many people's future dreams have become nightmares. Unemployment is high and promising projects such as housing construction, health care, schooling and access to basic social services for most people are still completely or partially in the blue, says Moyo.
Will analyze causes
This explanation is shared by the research institution South African Institute of Race Relations.
– Poor political management in recent years has created a political and social powder keg that is now exploding, the institute stated in a press release on Tuesday this week.
The ANC government's response to the crisis has been slow. It was not until three days after the violence began to spread that President Mbeki issued a statement promising that the police would go to the bottom of the matter and weed out the perpetrators. Mbeki later said he would set up a panel to analyze the causes of the violence, which most South African media define as an extremely passive move that comes too late anyway.
Moyo says that many foreigners are bitter about the fact that South Africans have apparently forgotten that they themselves received protection and support in a number of neighboring African countries during apartheid.
Grotesque images
One important thing that can be done is to give the refugees from Zimbabwe the status of just that – refugees. This is a point that MSF has also advocated for the past week. Refugee status gives a person a bunch of basic political and social rights in relation to work.
Moyo himself came to South Africa just over a year ago with his wife and their three children, after completing his doctorate at the University of Oslo. Ideally, the family wanted to return to Zimbabwe, but the escalating political and social crisis there made it impossible.
Many argue that the outbreak of violence should now force the South African government to finally put pressure on the authorities in Zimbabwe, even though Mbeki's spouses Zanele and Mugabe's Grace should now be related. The family connection is constantly appearing in the South African media as an explanation for Mbeki's inadequacy in relation to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe. As the continent's great power, only South Africa can contribute to a solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe, something Mbeki's silent diplomacy cannot be said to have contributed to.
In the coverage of the acts of violence in the South African media, there have been a number of breaches of professional ethics, including in relation to the uncritical use of grotesque images of victims being burned alive. The symbolic dimension of setting people on fire is extra strong in South Africa. During apartheid, necklacing – taking the life of suspected traitors by stepping a burning car tire over the person's head and shoulders and then letting the victim burn to death – was a well-known method.
The Alexandra district, where xenophobia began in earnest on 11 May, also forms the backdrop for Alan Paton's famous novel from 1948 Cry My Beloved Country. Peton described how Johannesburg already in the 1940s had the status of a port of hope:
«All roads lead to Johannesburg. If the crop fails, there is work in Johannesburg. If there are taxes to be paid, there is work in Johannesburg. If the farm is too small to be divided several times, there is work in Johannesburg ».
Perhaps there is such a hope for Johannesburg as a lifeline that the estimated three million foreigners living there have in common. Now several thousand of these are once again on the run from violence and insecurity, while many more fear the future.
