The 30 man squad for the South Africa national rugby team was announced today and included in that list of 30 were three Zimbabwean born players: Tonderai Chavhanga, Brian Mujati and Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawirira. These three young men are highly talented rugby players and they deserve their chance to play at the highest level. With all the talk currently being about xenophobia in South Africa, it is refreshing to see that there is no xenophobia in selecting the national rugby team. Read the rest of this entry »

The xenophobia attacks in South Africa have left many people in shock, mainly the foreigners who have been directly affected. Many have lost their homes and all their possessions they worked so hard to get. More than 50 people have lost their lives during these attacks. There is a serious humanitarian crisis taking place in South Africa, with thousands of people having been displaced and now they do not know where to go. Read the rest of this entry »

Amidst all the chaos happening in South Africa with the xenophobia attacks, one person who maybe glad this is happening is Zimbabwe President, Robert Mugabe. With the upcoming presidential election runoff taking place in Zimbabwe on June 27, a lot of attention in the region has been taken away from Zimbabwe as all eyes now focus on the xenophobia attacks gripping South Africa. Read the rest of this entry »

Soul City, South Africa responds to the xenophobic violence.

With the current xenophobia attacks gripping South Africa there have been several calls by different people for President Thabo Mbeki to step down from his position. The reason being that he has failed South Africans, especially over the last couple of months. “Crisis? What crisis?” will be a statement many people will remember President Mbeki by and what a terrible way to be remembered. This statement came after the president said that there was no crisis in Zimbabwe after the delay in announcing the presidential election results and the violence that followed after that. Now can you imagine if he were to say there is no crisis in South Africa due to the current xenophobia attacks? With the way he has handled the situation, you would think he thinks there is no crisis in South Africa. Read the rest of this entry »

I was watching the news last week and there was an interview with a Zimbabwean national commenting about the xenophobia crisis that has gripped South Africa. The man being interviewed said that ‘there is no crisis in Zimbabwe; the crisis is in South Africa’. This coming after South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, famously said that there was no crisis in Zimbabwe in the aftermath of the post election violence gripping Zimbabwe. Read the rest of this entry »

“Protect my brother; protect my sister”

You are not powerless. You can do something to stop the violence and xenophobia that is going on around us. It is not only
the responsibility of the government and the police.

10 things you can do:

1. Report any threats or acts of violence against foreigners or groups of South Africans to the police.
2. Speak to your local councillor. Ask him or her to call a community meeting to condemn violence. Work together to find solutions.
3. Join the community policing forum and other community forums. Ensure these forums protect foreigners and anyone else who is being threatened in your area.
4. Speak out. Participate in public forums. Call in to radio shows. Write letters to the newspaper. Talk to your friends, family and neighbours. Talk to the people you work with or go to school with. Ask them to take a stand against violence.
5. Make sure foreigners at work feel safe. Speak to people at work about having a discussion on violence and xenophobia in your workplace.
6. Offer your help. Many police stations, community centres and churches are giving shelter to the victims of violence. Find out what they need. Donate blankets, food and clothes. You can also volunteer to help.
7. Check that your foreign friends and neighbours and their families are safe. If they are not safe, offer them a safe place in your house or organise community members to stay with them at their houses.
8. Report any threats or bullying against foreign and other children at school to the school principal.
9. Call on community leaders and public fi gures to speak out publicly against racism, xenophobia and violence.
10. Show love, care and ubuntu to those who have been affected by the violence.

Brought to you by: Soul City Institute, The Times, HeartLines and Sowetan

Many had thought that the current xenophobia attacks occurring in South Africa would not spread outside Johannesburg but that has not been the case. The attacks have now spread to Durban and Cape Town. This morning, I spoke to a security guard from Zimbabwe who was telling me there is now ‘chaos’ in the township of Du Noon which is near the suburb Milnerton in Cape Town. Read the rest of this entry »

I would firstly like to thank InTheNews.co.za for publishing my letter and giving me a platform to share my views and thoughts about the tragedy occurring in South Africa due to the xenophobic attacks.

I am a Zimbabwean and have been working in South Africa since 2002. I got head-hunted by a South African recruitment firm to leave Zimbabwe and come take up a job in the engineering industry in South Africa. I have enjoyed my time in South Africa and so to my family. Moving to South Africa for me was a great move as I had the opportunity to expand my career and it is no hidden fact that the economy in Zimbabwe had started to go on a downward spiral so I was glad to move to South Africa to what was a better economy. Read the rest of this entry »

We at InTheNews.co.za would like to call upon the attacks to stop immediately. All the talk currently in South Africa is about the xenophobia attacks happening in the Gauteng province in South Africa. It is reported that at least 22 people have lost their lives so far during these attacks and the attacks don’t seem to be stopping. As South Africans, how can we allow this to continue? A small section of our population is tarnishing the image of South Africans now. Read the rest of this entry »