Anti-racists in South Africa fight against xenophobia

March against xenophobia in Johannesburg (Pic: WikiMedia Commons)

In South Africa, activists are organising to defend migrants as xenophobic groups demand they leave the country by Tuesday.

Groups of racists have already been going door to door looking for people they suspect are migrants and warning businesses to sack them.

The attacks are primarily aimed at other black Africans. Some of those spreading hatred are part of organised groups like March and March.

Activist Rehad Desai is a member of Zabalaza for Socialism, it is part of a coalition of over 130 organisations opposing the upsurge in xenophobia called Siyafana Sonke, meaning “We are all the same”.

Rehad told Socialist Worker, “Xenophobic sentiment is very widespread. People are pressured by high transport costs, high food prices, overstretched clinics and most centrally unemployment. There is a large element who are angry and easily misdirected.”

As well as the organised forces, he said, “There are spontaneous and sporadic actions of people demanding to know who is a migrant.”

“If we don’t counter it on the ground, we will see something akin to ethnic cleansing. People are taking it very seriously.”

The social emergency people face means some may join in with looting to try to gain some advantage for themselves.

But looting of small shops also deepens the crisis for the poorest. They rely on small businesses as a way of buying everyday goods in small amounts.

In response to the violence, thousands of people in South Africa, many from nearby countries including Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, have asked to be repatriated.

Up to 10,000 people from Malawi including children and babies have gathered at Sherwood Hall in Durban to await repatriation.

They are being gradually moved on in buses but at a slow pace.

Rehad said that groups of migrants trying to leave South Africa are getting very little assistance from the state.

They are often reliant on donations from ordinary people and from civil society, especially Muslim organisations.

Siyafana Sonke has also raised 100,000 Rand—the equivalent of over £4,500—to provide tents.

General from Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX), also part of Siyafana Sonke, told Socialist Worker, “We are organising in different areas to provide humanitarian assistance.

“In Johannesburg and other cities we are sharing information with migrants about their rights and the support they can get, including numbers for lawyers. They should not be forced to leave or intimidated to leave.”

General added that the state is also out to target the migrants, “They are facing random arrest and stop and search from the police”.

The coalition against xenophobia is formally backed by the Saftu trade union confederation.

But it is not automatic that trade unionists in South Africa will oppose xenophobia.

Some accept anti-migrant arguments themselves.

Importantly, it has also drawn support from the huge organisation of people who live in informal settlements, Abahlali baseMjondolo.

Rehad told Socialist Worker that the movement has held mass meetings of hundreds of people in some of the bigger cities.

Socialists in South Africa have contacted activists opposing Ice in the US to share information about how to respond to attacks on migrants. 

In some places they have been able to counter xenophobic marches.

“We stopped them in Freedom Park near Pretoria. We countered them in Cape Town. We can’t do that everywhere but we’ve had some real successes,” said Rehad.