(FRANKS..)
Johannesburg, South Africa
- The latest wave of xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals
occurred in South Africa's Isipingo located in the province of
KwaZulu-Natal.
Thousands were displaced from their homes and up to five
people were reported to have been killed when violence spread through
the province. It began a week after Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini, was
reported to have said that foreigners "should pack their bags and go
back home". The king later denied making those comments but within days
the violence had spread to the country's most populous city
Johannesburg.
Since the end of apartheid and the opening of South
Africa's borders in early 1990s, migrants from all over the world,
especially African countries, have flocked to the southern African
nation's cities and towns looking to escape the poverty and political
intolerance in their home countries.
People from outside view South Africa as a place of
opportunity but with the country's economy in stagnation, strained by an
already high unemployment rate, tensions between local residents and
foreign nationals have escalated in recent years. And this was not the
first time, the xenophobic attacks of 2008 left more than 60 people,
mostly foreign nationals, dead.
But many South Africans have chosen to rally against the
violent outbreak. Thousands took to the streets of the country's
biggest cities to call for an end to the violence and for a united
Africa.
Many immigrants remain in refugee camps, afraid for
their safety and wanting nothing other than to return to their home
countries, even if it means they will return to a more difficult life.
They say the anti-immigrant violence in South Africa has become
unbearable.