Xenophobic Attacks Spreading in South Africa

[Ibrahim Tall]

Link

 

23 foreigners killed so far, can't wait for the World Cup...

[Heres Rixxy]

Exactly. What were FIFA thinking.

 

No chance the country will be ready for it.

[Patrick Bateman]

Its actually disgusting that South Africa have been given the chance to host. They won because they played the "Africa deserves a chance" (ie race) card when SA has one of the highest murder rates in the world. SA is also a firm ally of Zimbabwe too, another joke nation. The games must be given to a European country who actually have the facilities in place.

[spud]

According to our president, the soccer world cup, as it is known here, will be the best ever. The reason for action man?s optimism has not been explained but at grassroots level there are two distinct factions, defined roughly along racial lines.

 

In the culture of leader veneration, the urban and rural poor (almost exclusively black) faction agree with the president. During the last 10 days, action man has been very careful to keep a large distance between the ongoing attacks on foreign nationals and the soccer world cup.

The other faction, who are almost exclusively white, expect the world cup to be an unmitigated disaster, which should be awarded to another country immediately. Aside from these attacks there are other problems. Rumour and myth is a very potent force in black South African society. For instance, a few years ago, a rumour began that sleeping with virgins was a cure for AIDS. The resulting incidence of rape is the highest of any country in the world (one million cases per year) and victims include babies only weeks old. A rather disturbing myth which circulates and is occasionally voiced in the media is that black South Africans will be given concessionary tickets for the games. Although FIFA continually deny this, rumours persist that black South Africans will be able to buy tickets for around R10 (approx. 66 pence) per game. This has the potential to become a major issue and could result in rioting and disruption of games.

 

Disputes on planning permission and the recent builders? strikes has slowed the building of stadia and the opening dates of many of them have been put back a year. The entire country suffers from ?electricity load shedding?. This is effectively electricity cuts which the national electricity supplier expects will last a further 7 to 8 years. As an example, the town I live in has no municipal or domestic electricity between 8pm and 10:30pm, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, although the electricity has been regular for the past few weeks. The world cup critics ask how it is possible to guarantee floodlights or media links, when the indigenous population may not be able to watch the game on TV, as they are in a ?load shedding period?. Indeed, some, like the mayor of Cape Town, take the moral view of whether it is justified that a football game gets electricity at the expense of the people.

 

Apart from the logistics, the biggest fear is crime. South Africa is not a pub based society. I live in a town with a population size of 160,000. I only know of one pub. My point is that there is no where to gather in the evening, so people will resort to parks or open spaces to have a drink and socialize. Given the electricity cuts, and the lack of public transport, this would seem to be early Christmas for criminals. Criminals here don?t stop you and ask for your wallet or cell phone. Automatic weapons, 9mm handguns are the norm. Many people predict that this world cup will be remembered because of the number of dead supporters.

[Ibrahim Tall]

South Africa attacks reach Durban

 

A mob of plus/minus 200 were gathering on the streets carrying bottles and knobkerries (wooden clubs) busy attacking people on the streets," Provincial police spokeswoman Superintendent Phindile Radebe told AFP news agency.

[spud]

Action man has deployed the army in Jo-Burg.

 

First time since the end of apartheid that the army is on the streets.

[Ibrahim Tall]

Cape Town now.

 

One Zimbabwean woman told the BBC she had decided to return home from Johannesburg after seeing a series of xenophobic attacks.

 

The 36-year-old woman said she had seen an armed gang douse a Mozambican immigrant with petrol and throw him into his burning shack.

 

"The screams of the burning Mozambican still haunt me. When I close my eyes to try to sleep, I see the man screaming for help. But no-one helps him," she said.