ALTHOUGH some hostility towards immigrants in South Africa persisted, many foreigners had been reintegrated back into their communities, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said yesterday.
"Communities affected by the violence have engaged amongst themselves and, although hostility still continues in a few communities, the vast majority of those displaced have been reintegrated," she told a conference on xenophobia in Pretoria.
She was speaking ahead of the Constitutional Court's decision on whether Gauteng refugee shelters could stay open or not.
"It is now time to listen to victims of violence, it is not time for us to accuse each other … it is time to restore peace," Mapisa-Nqakula said.
She added that the loss of over 60 lives in the xenophobic attacks was due to "pure criminality".
This opinion was shared by Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, who called the xenophobic violence which started on May 12 "dastardly" and "systematic attacks" which had no place in a democratic South Africa.
He said the lives of everyone in the country, including documented and undocumented foreigners , had to be protected.
SA Human Rights Commission chairperson Jody Kollapen said although the Constitution made provision for diversity, this was still a very "romantic and elusive" notion.
He said the nation had been deeply damaged and that the stereotyping of people needed to be discussed frankly.
Marivic Garcia of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation said reintegration was a complex process that should be done properly.
The Methodist Church's Bishop Paul Verryn said that xenophobia was a "world phenomenon" and not restricted to South Africa.
He added that reintegrating foreigners back into their communities was fraught with anxiety.
The House of Traditional Leaders blamed the attacks on colonialism and the apartheid regime. Kgosi FP Kutama said colonialism had been responsible for dividing people, and called for borders to be scrapped.
A representative of the Somali Association of South Africa said it seemed as if South Africans had been given more rights than they could handle, and that this weakened the country's stability . — Sapa
In The Dispatch
CSVR is a multi-disciplinary institute that seeks to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects and build sustainable peace at the community, national and regional levels.
