XENOPHOBIC ATTACK

XENOPHOBIC ATTACK - Fear of Stranger

In 2015, there were outbreaks of violence against non-South Africans, mostly in the cities of Durban and Johannesburg, which led to the deployment of the army to deter further unrest.

In March, the government launched an initiative to raise public awareness and improve access to services for victims of discrimination.

Human rights groups welcomed it, but said that the government needed to publicly recognise attacks on foreigners as xenophobic.

In a statement published in October 2018, South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, blamed the governing ANC party for a "scourge of xenophobic violence".

Ogbonna, who expressed displeasure at the “appalling treatment” meted out on indigenes of African nations, particularly Nigerians, in South Africa, called for stringent efforts to end it.

“All that we ask for is respect for fellow Africans; we utterly condemn the actions in the spirit of brotherliness and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“We demand that African nations rise up not just to condemn the act, but put measures in place to forestall future occurrences.

“They must rise up and sanction the South African government in order to prevent recurrence of xenophobia in South Africa or any other African nation.

“We need to stop seeing ourselves as enemies or threats; there are approximately 2.3 million immigrants in South Africa, but the hostility is constantly meted on the nearly 2 million African migrants.”

He said that failure to stop xenophobic attacks could hinder AfCFTA, and urged the government of South Africa to go beyond condemning the attacks and put in place measures to punish offenders.