for locals
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
Competition for jobs and money lies at the heart of many black South Africans’ hatred of foreigners – particularly those who come here from other African countries.
Easily two-thirds of people interviewed by the Mail & Guardian this week said they did not want the government to allow foreigners to live and work in this country.
Last week threatening placards denouncing foreigners were found in a Pretoria-Johannesburg train after two Senegalese nationals and a Mozambican were killed, allegedly by a group of South Africans accusing them of “stealing jobs” in the country.
Raymond Lukhozi (26) said he hates both African and overseas foreigners. “These people come here to take work opportunities from South Africans.”
He said foreigners come to the country with “high qualifications” and are given jobs at “South Africans’ expense”.
“We have people roaming on the streets with degrees, but they do not get jobs because companies have given jobs to foreigners.”
South African Police Service representative Captain Francois Grobbelaar said the police have established that there are more cases of hawkers attacking foreigners now than in the past four years. He said hawkers claim they assault foreigners because foreigners come into the country illegally and take their customers.
A Tembisa hawker selling cigarettes at Johannesburg station, Joseph Moloto (24), has been unemployed for six years and hates foreigners. He said he had been a farm labourer where he saw foreigners “making life difficult for South Africans”.
“They come to the country to work as cheap labour and they do not challenge employers or even join unions,” he said.
“When we demanded that the farmers pay us for overtime, they [foreigners] walked away and pretended nothing was happening, and the farmers said we are lazy compared to these guys because when we went on strike, they continued working.”
Moloto said he and friends attempted to kill foreigners on the farms but failed because, “These guys have guns and they are skilled. That is why they come to the country by foot from as far as Mozambique and Zimbabwe.”
A hawker in central Johannesburg, Maria Zulu (36), calls foreigners “makwerekwere”. Zulu’s hatred of foreigners stems from rivalry over the clothing trade on the streets.
“These people are taking our customers,” she said. “They do not price their clothes like we do. These people are not co-operating with us, their prices are lower and many people buy their clothes. We are supporting families, they do not care because they just need money for food.”
Zulu’s friend, Jane Makelane, says: “When you tell them you do not like what they are doing, they threaten to kill you and flee to their country.”
Many believe most foreigners in South Africa are involved in criminal activities and want the government to send them back home.
Jonas Hlongwane (27) claimed foreigners are used by taxi owners to kill people. “I hate these people, because they take our jobs,” the former taxi driver, now unemployed, said.
Hlongwane said he lived in hiding for a year because of death threats from alleged assassins and has since quit the taxi industry.
“I was a driver in Soweto, and many of these foreigners were hired by some guys, whom I will not name, to kill us. They will even kill passengers because they do not care for our citizens,” he claimed.
There were some dissenting voices – for example, Mike Zondi (32), who said he does not dislike foreigners provided they do not work at lower wages than South Africans would.”These people should not be denied access or be killed in our country, but they should be clear policy guiding them,” he said.