xenophobia

Way back during the apartheid years, when I was in international company, I hated having to admit to being a South African. During the transition to democracy that changed and for a time, I felt proud of my country. Lately, I'm starting to get that uncomfortable ashamed feeling again when I travel. Yesterday I hit a particularly low point.

On Wednesday (28th May), I paid a visit to Mary Tal, who heads up Whole World Women Association, an organisation based in Cape Town, dealing with the concerns of refugees and migrants -- and women in particular. Whole World Women is a participant in the Citizen Journalism in Africa project. When I meet Mary, she looks tired. She has been very involved in the recent xenophobic crisis in South Africa.

It's a strange and terrible time in South Africa. The xenophobic attacks, which started in Gauteng province (Johannesburg, Pretoria and surrounds), have now spread across the country. It's horrific. Tens of thousands of people forced to flee their homes -- again. Several killed, many injured.

Whether we talk about homophobia or xenophobia, we need to acknowledge the fact that these are hate crimes and that for as long as human rights are not seen as indivisible, these violations will continue in other forms and this continent of ours that we call home will perish.

Yesterday I woke up, went outside to pick up my newspaper, and was confronted by a picture of a man burning to death, set alight by a mob who laughed as the flames engulfed him. We have been seeing images like this for days now, as South Africans in several poor residential areas, as well as the Johannesburg city centre, have been attacking foreigners.