Update: May 26th from the Washington Post:
“The unrest has dented South Africa’s reputation as one of the most welcoming to immigrants and refugees.”
And from The Observer, “Is this the end of the rainbow nation?”
‘They say we take their jobs, and in a way it is true,’ said Nora Tapiwa of the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum. ‘South Africans remain poorly educated and prefer to speak the vernacular rather than English. Employers, especially in the service industries, prefer Zimbabweans. Higher up the ladder, in banks and insurance companies, you even find many Zimbabweans benefiting from black economic empowerment. We are smart people and we are immigrants, so we don’t sit around waiting for the government to deliver.’
Black on black “xenophobic” violence spread in South Africa, the “rainbow nation,” Friday according to this account from CNN. Government troops are being brought in to protect immigrants fleeing across the borders to neighboring countries, or hiding in mosques and churches.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) — The atmosphere was tense in Cape Town on Friday after xenophobic violence that has left more than 40 dead in Johannesburg spread to South Africa’s largest city.
Clashes overnight resulted in one death and 15 arrests and the evacuations of 420 foreign nationals, a police official in Cape Town said.
“Crowds of people went on a rampage, looting and carrying out acts of violence,” said Cape Town Police Superintendent Billy Jones. They were charged with public violence and are to appear in court Monday.
One foreign national, a Somali, died when he was run over by a vehicle as he tried to escape the angry crowds, Jones said. Twelve people suffered minor injuries.
He said Friday was tense but calm, with state and local police stationed throughout the area.
Jack Bloom of the opposition party Democratic Alliance told CNN on Friday that government troops were helping police ward off violence in Johannesburg.
Aid workers and volunteers were providing tents, food and supplies at the police stations. Bloom estimated that about 2,000 foreigners had sought haven at those locations.
It was the first violence in the coastal city since a wave of xenophobia began about two weeks ago in Johannesburg, resulting in at least 42 deaths.
The many articles from news sources today reference immigrants and refugees from Somalia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique as targets of the violence. S. African blacks say the illegal immigrants are responsible for the increased crime and lack of jobs in their country.
According to South Africa’s latest census, the country has about 45 million people. The South African Department of Human Affairs estimates that more than 4 million people reside in South Africa illegally, but that figure is based on a 10-year-old study and some feel the number of immigrants in South Africa is much higher.
Aljazeera reported S. Africa’s unemployment figures:
The unofficial unemployment rate in South Africa is believed to be about 40 per cent.
I searched the articles to try to figure out if these were white S. Africans being racists, but figured when in no article did it say “white mobs” which it surely would have had the perpetrators been white. No article said “black mobs” either. Then I found this BBC report that actually films the mobs and sure enough they are black. Imagine that, blacks are xenophobic!
The lesson to the West: It’s not about xenophobia and racism. No amount of multicultural indoctrination will wipe away peoples’ desires to live among those of their own culture and be able to work and care for their families. From one end of the world to the other, governments must control their borders or subject their citizens to increasing levels of chaos.
*Note: See additional detail on the the meltdown of South Africa here (from the Sunday Herald).
Learn about Islam in South Africa here.