Immigrant Attacks Will Never Happen Again: Pledges South African President

04/07/2008 by Robbie Ragless

South Africa held a national day of mourning yesterday in recognition of the 62 people who died during the xenophobic fuelled attacks that occurred in May this year.

The countries capital, Pretoria, welcomed the South African President Thabo Mbeki, religious leaders, politicians and relations of victims to pay tribute to those murdered and displaced by the violence. And voice the message of, "Never again" reports www.globalvisas.com.

At yesterday's proceedings Mbeki pledged to stop such attacks happening again by ensuring the safety and a peaceful living environment for all Africans no matter where they come from. He stated, "We are meeting here today to pledge that we will do everything necessary to assist the victims of this criminal onslaught, both the South Africans and our foreign guests, to resume their normal lives."

The month of May was marred by rampant violence between South African poor and African immigrants. Immigrants have been blamed for rising crime levels and high unemployment rates, which has stimulated tension.

Despite it commonly being reported that xenophobia was the root cause of May's events, Mbeki has denied that xenophobia is a problem in South Africa. While apologising on behalf of the government and the country as a whole, he blames the wave of violence on common criminals rather than a xenophobic ideology, "I will not hesitate to assert that my people are not diseased by the terrible affliction of xenophobia," he said.

However one wonders if this is in fact the case when a BBC reports quotes locals shunning immigrants. As one female resident was quoted as saying, "I don't like those people - they bring crime on our country. We belong here; they should go back to their country." Another quote, "They don't belong here OK, so they must leave this country," also reflects this somewhat rooted attitude.

A recent xenophobic attack by 25 people on a Bangladeshi shop owner also hampers the belief that xenophobia in South Africa is not an issue.

Nevertheless South Africa's president calls on South Africans to welcome all visitors and travellers to the country no matter where they come from.

The South African government aim to reintegrate all those displaced by the attacks by the end of this month. As it stands, it is estimated that there are about 9000 displaced foreigners in the country, many of these have already moved back into their communities.

Almost 1500 have been arrested in connection with the May attacks on serious crime charges such as murder, arson, attempted murder and robbery.

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