FNF Africa Regional Office: No to Xenophobia

Various sectors from government ministries in Sports, and Culture, civil society organizations, Non Governmental Organizations and religious leaders, have been roped in to rally behind the Unite as One Campaign. The idea of this wide approach to the campaign is to create a wave of messages, coordinated approach and raise awareness from every corner accessible to the public.  Black Sash, alongside Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, Sonke Gender Justice Network and PASSOP are pioneering the campaign. One of the goals of the campaign is collect one million signatures by African human Rights Day which will be celebrated in October this year.

The surge of xenophobic violence which occurred in May 2008 was spurred on by allegations of poor service delivery and unemployment. The attacks were mainly on Zimbabweans, Mozambicans and Somalians, who work/trade mostly in the informal sector. The recent rumours of xenophobic threats seem to have more of criminal element being perpetrated by small factions which want to loot, using foreigners as a scapegoat for the criminal activities. It is not an organized effort in which it presented itself initially and it is with this that law enforcement and civil society hopes to put a quick cap on any more incidents taking place.

Mr Nyembezi said “the campaign seeks to identify the real causes of the rise of this type of violence, modify people’s behaviour and bring about social cohesion”. There are a variety of activities lined up to make it easier and possible to engage with the public, more so with the South African community. By having this targeted approach, it will educate and empower them to be aware of the injustice this phenomenon is creating towards foreign nationals, stand up and report xenophobic threats and acts of violence as well as breaking down stereotypes and barriers between South Africa, and foreigners and among foreigners themselves. Mr Hubertus von Welck and staff members at the FNF Regional Office in Johannesburg joined in on the campaign by signing the pledge.

The campaign pledge is being marketed in various mediums, example mobile sms/text, facebook, e-mail as well as one on one meetings with the identified partners and supporters. For more information, go to www.uniteasone.org.za, and http://www.facebook.com/unite.as.one

Sign up now and join other concerned citizens to help fight the scourge of Xenophobia!

Masechaba Mdaka

FNF Johannesburg