shame on you mbeki

This is absolutely unbelievable for south africans to had behaved in such a callous way like that to their fellow african brothers,then i itell you there is no where safe anywhere in the whole world than your natural home your original country.If africans could be treated that way in africa then what is the meaning of african union?there is simply nothing united in african union at all,if south african policemen could watch a victim died without any reaction to resuscitate his life until he gave up to the ghost then i suspect it is the whole south africans against the foreigners,the policemen should be the last set of people you will expect to react to such a terrible and worrisome situation with a care free attitude,i tell you that will never happen in the uk,usa or europe.
I am a nigerian and i leave in the uk, i use to blame uk govrnment for some of their decisions that affect us directly but after this situation in south africa i think i have to change my views torwards the uk government,it is better of than to be in south africa,i will just advice the foreigners to leave their country and i hope this will be an eye opener to our various african leaders and politicians to give good governance that will enable viable economy in their countries so that will do not get killed by our brothers who refused to be their brothers keeper.i do not blame the south africans,i blamed the so called corrupt leaders and politicians in africa.

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With just under 20,000 murders in South Africa for 2003-2004 (that’s 54 murders a day!) why has it taken the international community so long to “notice� that there is great unrest in South Africa?

Was it too "politically incorrect" to say that violence exists in the "rainbow nation" and has existed for many years?

The only difference between today and a few weeks ago the fact that it is now hitting international news!

How many murders are there on a daily basis? How many rapes? How many (white, black, Indian) people suffer mercilessly at the hands of criminals on a daily basis there?

How many of us South Africans living in Europe, live here because this is NOT NEWS TO US!

I'm sorry for what is happening in SA. Very sorry.

But I am "happy" that the rest of the world is finally taking notice of something that has been a problem for years!

This is not news. This was "day-to-day" life for many of us when we were still in SA – wasn't it?

Living in Cape Town I am saddened by these crazy events.
Whatever happened to love your neighbour?

Once again it's the poor who are suffering, regardless of what country they are from.

The South African government has been to slow to respond.

To the Zimbabweans, Nigerians, Malawians... I am sorry.

It is really disastrous, all these mobs of poor African country people have no other choice than to flee their country to other richer countries.
The Africans unfortunately have no compassion toward their brothers of colour, and do not want to share their wealth with them.
So these people try everything to come to Europe.
Unfortunately, Europe has not the capacity to recieve them.
Europe is trying to help these people building up their economy so that they could stay there.
But corruption is so high that there is very little progress in these countries.
The solution is to go there and manage things for them. But this is not politically correct, and will never be done. So wait and see the coming catastrophy that will come out of this situation???

I am so heartbroken by all of this. One of the biggest problems is Thabo Mbeki. If he had been firm with Mugabe and cut off the fuel supply etc. to Zimbabwe, things would improve in that country. Now Zimbabweans AND South Africans are suffering. Actually, all of the southern African leaders are to blame – Mocambique, Malawi etc. They hold their friendship with Mugabe the Mad in more esteem than their citizens' welfare.

The average black Zimbabwean has had no luck under white or black rule. Let us hope Morgan Tsvangirau will bring change (chinja).

The 2010 world cup needs to move to a civilized country.

I would recommend to the foreigners that they leave SA and go back to their countries and leave the zulus to fight the xhosa and the pedis and the shanganis and the coloreds and the afrikanners etc.

The violence has nothing to do with economics or poverty but a culture of impunity where crime is in general tolerated; 20000 murders annually is surely a world record.

I can predict with some confidence that in another 15 years SA will be like a hybrid between present day zimbabwe and somalia.

Those presently killing foreigners will then try to relocate to mozambique whose economy BTW has been growing at 10% for eight years.

How short sighted and foolish people can get.

Charles

Anyone with half a brain cell should have seen this coming. The next targets are the white South Africans.

I lived in South Africa for 8 years and had to get out in December 2007. Those guys are reallly animals. We should call them South Animals (SA). They commit crime with impunity and with a sense of entitlement, ala Mandela's tolerance.

Any expartrate of any race that is in SA is either dumb or unmarketable internationally anyway.

this is unbelieveable for south africans leaders,there is nothing united about the african union.i m blaming our africans leaders for the bad economy we ve back in our country of orginal, home is the best to reside.nothing more than the natural home which is country of orginal my black brothers.
i m a nigeria and i reside in madrid, spain.i used to blame the spanish government for some of there decisions that affect us directly but after this situtions in south african,i now known that the govrnment are doing there best for the economy.we ve bad leadres back in africa that is why we are moving from our own country.i m blaming our african union and the government.
we should not kill our self for a bad government that we all ve in africa my fellow black brothers there in south africa.
we are one body in blood.shame on the president mbek of south africa.
one love my brothers out there.

MY STORY:
As a Nigerian college student in one of the best Universities in Nigeria in the early 1990's, I saw and met some South African students in my school – The University of Nigeria.
On getting quite close to one of them called Gwen, I learnt that many of them scattered all over Nigerian Universities were on a scholarship scheme granted to them by the Nigerian Government – they did not pay a dime to live and school in Nigeria.
I also learnt that they were on some form of yearly bursary allowance from the Nigerian Government to support their feeding, books, etc.
This means they lived and schooled in Nigeria to obtain University Degrees for no charges, while I, a Nigerian citizen, whose father worked very hard to educate up till University level had to pay my school fees and buy my books all through my educational life in Nigeria.

I didn’t mind then because almost every African knew of the situation in Pretoria. I never minded after, but until last week…

Men have failed to understand how far and deep ‘HATE CAN BEGET HATE.

Man’s Inhumanity to Man... It is really A SAHAME!!!

People must realise that SA has always been a violent society from pre-colonial days to date with little respect for life. While people may talk of the foreigners taking jobs or unchecked immigration, let us be cognizant that it is jobs SAfricans are unwilling to do. Immigrants come, dispaly initiative by setting up corner shops and contribute to the economy and they are vilified for this. Analyze too who is the victim; fellow black Africans as if they are the only immigrants there. It is an uncomfortable truth that most black SAfricans suffer from internalized oppression where other racial grouping are more acceptable than fellow blacks.

I am a Zimbabwean and will always be respectful of the roles the Frontline states played in our struggle. When it was our turn too to help victims from the Mozambican civil war, we did that without complaint knowing that one hand washes another. True, Zimbabweans might have poked fun at the immigrants but never would they kill them or chase them away. People were accommodating accepting that only by the grace of God we were now spared what they were going through.. We have too much respect for the sanctity of life ( I suppose the main reason why Mugabe gets away with brutalizing his own people) but I would rather have this that the rabid actions we have witnessed and the lacklustre response from those who could have contained and eliminated it from the very beginning. Much of what we are getting is rhetoric and more concern about who is singing what song. Obviously the politicians have not educated the populace enough on a few home truths about the real SAfrica: what shaped it, what obligations it has as part of the global community and that important role other blacks are playing in sustaining that economy.

SAfricans will do well to remember that for any gains acquired through violence, they have to be retained through violence. Today it is the foreigner and tomorrow they will be turning against each other based on tribal lines. When chaos is allowed to reign, no one is safe. Given how many black SAfricans are out of the country I wonder how they would feel if it happened to their own.

Given that many had papers as permanent residents or citizens, one wonders too when these people will be accepted as part of the SAfrican society. The collective application of the term foreigner has become very contentious for me. It is this language that has to be challenged, especially its use by the media, because it is inflammatory and influences the collective psyche of them and us

They should also remember that the bedrock of income from tourism is from blacks. I urge a black boycott of the SAfrican tourist market. I urge too the international community to shun the place until the government and law enforcement agents get their act together and vigorously address this issue instead of the tepid response we have witnessed.

I live in a South Africa and this kind of action does not surprise me in the least. The crime in SA is so bad and the goverment and the ANC have done nothing to prevent crime. Now every one is in uproar when the citezens of SA take the law into there own hands. 3 out of every 4 crimes commited in SA are by illigal imagrants. Does the world or the gorverment of SA think that it could just go on this way. You reap what you sow ANC

My brothers and sisters I am sorry – I hang my head in shame and kneel before you to seek your forgiveness. Before last week we were the darlings of the world a beacon of democracy and a constitution that puts tolerance above all else. A constitution that put all others to shame.

The government should have known that this was bound to happen – at the high level they lost touch with the people, they became unreachable in their quest for an idealist South Africa – at the low level the intelligence failed to carry out a proper risk assessment that would have put in place measures to react to such a situation.

Africa day is still the 25th of May , but for me and other south africans like myself it will be the day that we mark the end of South Africas innocence. Africa Unite.

If youre struggling to feed and support your 9 children,what will posess you to adopt 5 more and expect them not to fight for simple things like food and basic things.South Africa is fooling the world by accepting refugees and not doing anything to assist them.What are they to eat,live and everything else?My advice to South Africa is....Take care of your own people first and then everybody else.I dont believe those fools in parliament.The least they can do from now on is to set up refugee camps for the immigrants to settle in and be fed rather than feeding them to the lions.

Paula Scully’s (a south African living and working in the US) comments (On CNN)regarding the current violence in SA at the moment were disgraceful. I am afraid apartheid has absolutely nothing to do with the situation in SA at the moment. Where has she been for the last few years.(I wonder)..lets face it the government of the day has not done enough to prevent the flood of illegal aliens from entering South Africa.....I do not care what debt Scully thinks we (South Africa) (her home land in which she no longer lives) owe the rest of Africa (giving exile to past South African "freedom fighters") . The fact of the matter is simple. People form another country have entered South Africa illegally..(I wonder what would happen if I casually sauntered across a US or any other "first world" countries border without permission or due process). The people are now sick and tired of the situation and, because nothing seems to be done by the authorities to alleviate the situation, have taken law into their own hands...I do not condone their actions and a lot of innocent people will probably be hurt in the fallout but people are at their wits end and have a hard enough time competing for a living with other South Africans. To now compete against illegal aliens is a very bitter pill to swallow.
South Africa has enough of it's own inernal issues to sort out..why should we pander to peoples (countries) problems. I for one do not have all the answers but I do believe that charity starts at home......

South Africa has become a screwed-up country since 1994. I wish the people would vote with their heads next time, and not for the so-called struggle people. They only think of themselves and have lined their pockets very nicely in the process. This fighting is a real shame, but does not surprise me.

When the violence has settled down, the thugs who orchestrated this violence will be no better off with the immigrants gone, in fact, it will probably be worse for the locals.

On behalf of all the level-headed south africans, I would like to unreservedly apologise for everything that has happened to my african brothers. This country is going to miss you dearly.

When the Nigeria parliament raised this issue last week, I thought they were simply too over reactive. But now, I could see that this absurdity is indeed happening in SA which was considered one of the beacons of hope for Africa.
Mbeki, rise up!

well SAfricans were just sick of immigrants.immigrants only bring problems.some come to their host countries and dont want to integrate look at the somalis they dont like safricans,so before we talk back at safricans we got to have a look at other countries too lets say lybia killed many black immigrant workers who were just trying to earn a living.

As a Nigerian, it is a big shame to see how south african youths, old and even the police force have embraced and closed their eyes to such heinous crimes against humanity. This is a complete genocide and I strongly urge the United Nations and if possible the lame African Union to condemn it and sanction south africa.

I also plead with FIFA to reconsider their earlier decision to host the prestigious world cup in that hell of a country whose only stock in trade is crime, crime and wanton killing. I am very sure that world cup 2010 if hosted in south africa will be the worst in terms of casualties of phone snatching,robbery and all other concievable criminalities. I watched with shock and awe how the south african police officials looked on without any feeling or even possible assistance while a man died in their presence, shame on you south african police, the chief of the south african police should resign or be forced to resign, he is imcompetent and a disgrace to the office he holds.

From all indications, it is more than clear to all that has been following this genocide against immigrants in south africa that their government is even more than reluctant to stop this barbaric act, this cannot happen in my country because the president will issue a direct order to the appropriate security departments to arrest and prosecute any person found to be breaching public peace. Thabo Mbeki is a coward and should resign.

These south africans that has engaged or allowed themselves to be used by the devil to commit all these crimes should know that ' Hate begates Hate' and that if they do not stop this, there might be retaliations in most part of africa especially in my country because nobody has monopoly to madness.

Shame on you south african people, shame on your elite and shame on your democracy.

Mbeki has nothing to do with it, it is due to poverty and hardship, when things are not right, we look over our shoulder and find someone to blame, and as always the minorty always lose. This exact treatment in practised in devoloped countries in europe, yet no one seems to say shame about that, We humans have a lot to learn.

too many somalians went in SA, they opened shops, now many of them lost thier lives. this is onother sad for africa.

The image of South Africa is going to the gutter.
How can we be savages killing our fellow africans.
Where are the leaders – they are all abroad instead of handling this national emergency.
The police are out- numbered and sometimes just stand hopeless.
The world cup is now in tatters – the world knows now!
Stop the killing .
Mandela speak out please. Mbeki, Zuma, Tutu and others please make a visit to the displaced and show you are meaning what you say.

this is sad there seems to be no good news coming out of Africa.

The violence we are now seeing sickens me, it burns deep in my soul to once again see the image of Africa tarnished by what I believe is the vast minority of the much larger ethnic and tribal groups. It makes me equally sick however to see the South Africans expats on this forum sitting abroad in their safety with the audacity to say things about a country that gave them their birth.

Yes things are difficult in this country, yes, our crime is high, yes we have poverty and many many problems, I acknowledge all of that, but running away to Europe won't solve them, educating the people and contributing to your country will, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

To the foreigners in South Africa who are being treated such as this, I can only say as a South African citizen who has traveled extensively all over the continent, and who has been welcomed in so many of your countries, I apologize on behalf of my country, and I am deeply ashamed.

To the perpetrators of this violence, I have nothing but contempt, I believe very strongly that there is change coming in Africa, yes, its slow, yes it will take years, but Africa has potential, potential to stand with the rest of the world with its head held high and proud, yet this violent, criminal minority detracts from that.

Once again, to the victims, I am sorry, to the expats who prefer to throw stones from abroad, when you come back and try and change things for the better you will earn back the right to speak, and to the South Africans, never forget what the rest of Africa and the world did for us in the previous decades, when they sheltered our freedom fighters, when they spoke out against apartheid, and when they joined us in celebration at the end of apartheid, they are our brothers and sisters, let us treat them as such!

The statistics should also have told Mbeki how difficult life is for these poor SA township residents. There's at leasst 21 million poor black South Africans living in the most aweful conditions imaginable, in filth, battling horrid diseases such as AIDS and XDR-TB – and hunger. The food prices have doubled every month of the past year in South Africa because there's simply not enough farmers to produce food for the country's 47-million citizens as well as for the 5-million poor souls from the rest of Africa. According to the UN Aid-agencies more than half of all South Africans have to survive on less than $1 a day – and they warned about this six months ago.

Yet the country has less than 3-million taxpayers and unemployment - claimed by the government to be at 23% - is much, much higher than that, at least 40%. And so many people are dying of Aids and TB now, thousands of funerals are carried out each day of young people.

As deeply sorry as I am for the plight of those foreign Africans in SA right now who are feeling the brunt of all this outpouring of anger - I feel just as sorry for the black South Africans who feel that this is the only way that their government is still going to pay attention to them. They have been protesting for months now about the 'lack of services in the townships, about the poor salaries, about the soaring food prices. I am not surprised that Mbeki doesn't dare to show his face in the townships but flew off to Tanzania in his luxury jet instead.

Shame on him!

The problem we are witnessing in SA is a result of Thabo Mbeki's desire to keep Mugabe in power at all cost. He was recently qouted as saying there was no crisis in Zimbabwe. This was against the overwhelming evidence. Victory was stolen from Tsvangirai, people were beaten and jailed. Mugabe refused to meet SADC leaders, Thabo chose to come to Harare to meet Mugabe. The outcome of that meeting was never made public.It is hard to imagine a man of his status can stoop so low all in the name of helping a friend. What is happening now was long predicted, but because of poor planning and a failed foreign policy those in power never saw it coming. It pains me to watch the SA police doing nothing to help an injured man till he died. If they can only realise we are in Africa were future is hard to predict the better for them ,Who knows maybe it would be South Africans flocking to other countries in 10years time. Time will tell

Black South Africans must move on just like the Americans did. They cant keep playing the blame game. They must work hard. Otherwise they will remain "previously disadvantaged" for the next hundred years and i wonder whom they will blame then.

Marc Bhicara's comment: There is no truth in saying "Africans have no compassion towards their brothers of colour and do not want to share wealth."
You completely fail to understand that the current brutal explosion of the most shocking and deplorable violence in townships comes from homeless black South Africans pitted against neighbouring Africans who live and work in make-shift homes among them.
This is primarily a "war" waged by SA's poorest Africans due to competition for jobs and governement homes. Had government given the neighbours refugee status and documents, and kept them in refugee camps, this would probably not have happened.
It is indeed shameful that poverty stricken South African blacks are now turning on neighbouring brothers who assisted during the freedom struggle, but do understand what lies behind it.This is not a justification for what is happening, the influx of East Germans into the west of the country caused similar tensions, but far less intense.

I got a job to work in SA from USA. I have a good job here but I thought it will be better from me to take a pay cut to go and work, help my people in Africa. I am a US citizen but born in Zimbabwe. I am a Medical doctor. When I saw the Zimbabwean suffer and flee to SA I thought Sa was doing a good job and I want to be one of them to help by working in SA. Now I am worried with what's going on now is it worth going there now. Help V

The rest of the world thought they understood South Africa and blamed previous governments for the crime and poverty. Once apartheid was gone people expected South africa to get better when in fact its just got far worse. Surprise!!! – People are not better off. Who's next to be murdered when the majority realise that there are still no jobs when a few million leave? These people are desperate and savages. – Its that simple.

I feel sorry for friends and family who still have to live in this third world country where the value of life is almost non existent and people fear for their lives on a daily basis.

Many a politician has tried to fix africa but the reality is the political correctness brigade gets involved and nothing gets fixed. Africa needs some tough love or it will simply deteriorate further. The rest of the world will just watch and scratch their heads trying to figure it out but never will.

This episode is reflection of the evil that goes on daily basis in SA
The country has become a hob for notorious crimes, nigerians don't have any business been in that country if our corrupt leaders are doing their job instead of looting the nation. What really has SA to offer to several nigerian proffessional there. The entire blame is on our past leaders like obasanjo and babangida who looted the country dry

Shame on you.just the other day when my beautiful country Kenya was at crossroads it made headlines in ur papers, now look at how low u have stooped. When it turns out that it is a black man against a black man, its worse than apartheid. Fifa should move the 2010 world cup to a more civilized country. The people u r butchering r not the cause of ur woes, go to school and get education, build up ur society and don't boast with the progress that the white man did and is still doing in ur country. You did not deserve the independece , but should be colonised again.SHAME ON YOU BUTCHERS

This is most unfortunate.

I must express the dissapointment as a South African. I will says this, remember that this is a few mobs that are cuasing the havoc. I live in Johannesburg and have seen no voilence. This is happening in the townships on the outskirts. Please dont think that the whole South Africa is a warzone.

Also keep in mind that South Africa is experiencing a huge problem with illegals from Africa. Ten years ago the was not nearly as many as now. There is simply not enough space for everyone. I must also mention that I personally, on many occations have been shocked at the arrogance and aggression of many immigrants. They are not showing respect to our country. However not all. I think South Africans should stand up for our country, it has indeed got out of hand. But I regret fully the voilence and brutality.

We are the rainbow nation. God Bless South Africa, its citizens, and the people of Africa. May unity one day be reached. I pray for the foreigners that have been traumitised. May God help you rebuild you lives. My heart goes out to the innocent people just trying to make a living. I am fed up with the crime!!!!

Shame it really is. These thugs are forgeting (or they probably don't know) that their top politicians were protected and housed in other neighbouring countries including Zimbabwe, Zambia, etc during those many years of bloody apartheird rule. It's a shame for them not to embrace their fellow brothers now. I think they authorities must start 'educating' these dumbskulls about the history of their country.

On the flip side it's a lesson to the authorities to provide jobs and better social services to these poor squatters so they stop blaming innocent foreigners like it's their fault. These same kinds of violence happened in France not very long ago, locals from poor areas blaming immigrants for their problems.... it's a shame man!

As an african,i know what must have insitgated this wasn't short termed, we should look beneath the surface,that might help.

What a Shame, South Africa that has and has had the potential to compete with the rest of the world, a once shining example to the rest of Africa, a beacon of hope!, what now for the rest of Africa, can we rise above this and progress forward??? I dont know, but without hope there is no life, let us hope SA will be able to overcome this terrible trend and African Leaders rise up to the occassion and put people first.

Is there factual evidence that supports the argument which suggests a majority of the criminals in SA are illegal immigrants? Even if 75% of the crimes are from illegal immigrants – does this suggest the 3 million Zimbabweans living in SA all came to hijack cars in joburg? I dont think so. I lived in SA for about a year and was fortunate not to be a victim of crime but i cant say the same for the some of my friends who still live there. the truth here is that the mbeki administration has failed to show leadership – it is evident in the way he has responded to the zim crisis and the current violence against immigrants.

South Africa's history is no doubt written in blood. Violent conflict between various ethnic groups has almost for ever been part of this contested land. After 1994, the ANC had the opportunity to change this and to create something new and beautiful for all who call Africa home. But their unashamed and indifferent incompetence simply allows the blood stained story to continue. The ANC government knew well in advance that the purge of foreign communities in South Africa by local bands of thugs was almost a certainty – yet, as in the case of so many other problems that plague our country (crime, corruption, AIDS, energy, infrastructural meltdown), they ignored this. Oh for one good leader to save us from this awful mess ...

It very sad , for a country like south africa to act this way. I have been in south africa for almost 10 years and i have a baby boy here but last night i had to leave my girl friend and baby to go for a very save place . I will tell you that this things is not about foreigners it politicedit surprising when the press say the goverment can not control the situation. What about if it was a band of rebell how was the govement was going to react ? the goverment knows what is going on . It simple to see it , in south africa we got coloureds, indians and whites why those other people are not doing that but it only black . Guys , they already talk about it they that this was going to happen. I will ask my brother to leave this country we must go back to our country . AS FAR AS I AM CONCERN A BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN MAN NEVER THINK ABOUT FUTURE THAT WHY THE ARE POOR THEY ARE NOT ALOT OF THEM WHO PREPARE THERE FUTURE

Shame on some South Africans who do not remember that their neighbours suffered a lot during apatheid era. Im a Tanzanian national, I still feeel what we went through just to see a free south africa. I donated money while in primary school, NOW WHAT? ARE WE THE ENEMIES NOW?

The country as a whole should be punished by re-awarding the 2010 World Cup (probably to Australia). I'm afraid it's the only language the country's many millions of moral zombies might understand.

African ambassadors warned Mbeki-regime of ethnic-purges a month ago

May 24, 2008 - SA journalists Peter Fabricius and Justine Gerardy report in the Pretoria News today that the Mbeki-regime had totally failed to act on warnings from African ambassadors last month about these 'impending xenophobic attacks' on black foreign Africans.

SA's so-named 'safety and security minister', Charles Nqakula admitted this without any apparent shame yesterday. We all remember him from the following statement he made in SA parliament – and indeed which sowed the seeds for the current ethnic-purges now taking place:

See his infamous "Whinging Whites can Leave the Country" comment in parliament: on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwXSIDp3RSM

There has been an ongoing ethnic-purging campaign in South Africa ever since - but it only started getting international media attention when so many tens of thousands of black foreign families were being chased enmasse in such an organised fashion from townships from two weeks ago and pamphlets warning of their pending doom were widely distributed beforehand.

However, so-called 'SA whites' - but especially the Afrikaner minority who have no foreign governments who would ever complain on their behalf - have been on the receiving end of such ethnic purges for years already.

Some 30,000 'Afrikaner whites' have already been slaughtered since 1994 in exactly the same way as foreign Africans are now being purged from the townships. Often they are slaughtered in the most horrid ways imaginable.

Especially the country's few remaining professional farmers have been on the receiving end of these purges, and some 2,966 have already been killed gruesomely on the country''s farms and smallholdings.

A group of SA journalists maintain a detailed list of exactly how some of these Afrikaners were killed this past year on:
groups.msn.com/crimebustersofsouthafrica/boergenocide08.msnw

Long before the current ethnic purges however, foreign embassies such the USA and the UK's were also warning that not only black foreigners were being attacked, but also white visitors - looted and murdered in a very organised fashion by huge armed gangs when travelling back and forth through Johannesburg International Airport for instance. These latest attacks targetting black foreigners are the only ones making it into the international news media because the SA regime is very clever at spindoctoring away these attacks targetting Western tourists. There nevertheless is a very clear pattern of organisation in all these attacks targetting foreigners of all races.

By Friday (yesterday) these latest two-weeks-long ethnic-purges against black foreigners had spread to the Western Cape, KwaZulu- Natal, Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga provinces.

Of course for the past few years in the Eastern Cape, Somali refugees who ran little survivalist-spaza-shops in small Xhosa-townships in that province were being murdered rather routinely, some 400 Somali traders were murdered there in what very clearly were ethnic-purges from these Xhosa-dominated townships.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees was indeed very clear about this fact in his warning about this matter to the SA government in March 2007, saying that these Somali shopkeepers were being targetted very regularly by ANC-government officials with a wide range of harassments only because they were Somalis.

The death toll from these past two weeks fortunately still remains relatively low when compared to the murders of Somalis and Afrikaners in South Africa. One thing they all have in common: their attackers hate them intensely and have no regard for their humanity: for instance, one tragic death which was not included in this current death toll was the frail Zimbabwean newborn baby who had died in her mother's arms– umbilical cord still attached - while she was being chased from her burning shack near Carletonville two weeks ago.

'Totally unexpected phenomenon?'
However on Tuesday - in spite of all this overwhelming proof that ethnic-cleansing campaigns had been routinely carried out for years in South Africa - its Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad still managed to describe these latest violent attacks as "a totally unexpected phenomenon".

That's a very misleading claim indeed!

And Minister Nqakula - the 'whinging whites' video-man - also made the highly unlikely claim yesterday that his government had been "caught off-guard".

At yesterday's meeting with the ANC-cabinet, the African ambassadors were, it was being reported, initially 'sceptical of government assurances that the violence was under control, that protection of refugee concentrations would be stepped up and that intelligence-gathering would be increased to prevent further attacks.'

These diplomats said they were deeply disturbed about the 'Xenophobic pamphlets warning foreigners to leave SA or be killed', as these obviously 'indicated a degree of organisation' - as well as they should be.

At a time when the country's top three politicians were all conveniently abroad, the SA government yesterday finally issued a written statement and apologised for 'all the inconveniences caused' - but it was deputy-president Mlambo-Ngcuka, sounding up from Abuja in Nigeria, not Thabo Mbeki.

Is this man still in charge of the country and if not, who is minding the store? Those African ambassadors indeed have all the reason in the world to be greatly worried about the direction South Africa is now taking.

groups.msn.com/crimebustersofsouthafrica

I totally agree with Ricardo. SA is extremely violent all the time. It is the rape, murder and Aids capital of the world where HIV-positive men rape babies thinking this will cure them! They even have a special name for gang rape in the townships.
We have to live with this violence every day. I am very upset at the xenophobic attacks, however this is just an extension of our everyday culture of violence. We have no real leadership to deal with crime – or even the total meltdown in Zimbabwe, which is why we have so many refugees in the first place.God help us all.

I have yet to know of any country or city headed by people of African origin or descent, that is not wrought with corruption, stifled with economic problems, or mired in poverty. The cold-blooded savagery in the way they kill their own people (lighting them afire while wrapped in plastic, hacking them to death with machetes, and teaching children to kill) is indicative of a much deeper psychosis among their violent culture.

I hope this situation is not lost among U.S. citizens of African descent who whine about being taken as slaves (although were sold to the English by their very own people) as they could've have never survived, much less thrived, through the generations.

Changing the leaders in SA will not solve the problem as another like-minded thug will simply replace the previous despot. Either the world collectively steps in militarily (you know, like the U.S. "liberated" Iraq...um...right), or we just let them be.

It had to come to this before the International Media started to focus on the violent and criminal Society South Africa is. The corrupt ANC state there 50 murders per day and a woman raped every 3 minutes. Not to mention the rape of babies and children as a cure for HIV/AIDS and the mutilation of their bodies for sale by Witchdoctors. But who knows? The last time the International community got access to their crime stats was in 2004 and Interpol stated they were at least 50% understated.
The ANC taught 2 generations of Africans that the way to resolve their problems was through violence. They ransacked and burned schools in the 70's and 80's to make South Africa "ungovernable" and when that wasnt enough we had the infamous "necklace" to dissuade anyone who disagreed with them. The legacy of Nelsn Mandela and hid then wife,Winnie, is now back to bite them but they are living in total luxury with their private security and they couldnt give a damn.
America you must share the blame.Through your CIA you put a cabal of criminals and Marxist Terrorists into power and turned a once viable Country into a filthy cesspit.

So when 3000 white farmers in South Africa get murdered in the most horrific way and their wives get raped and tortured, that is not "NEWS WORTHY" for CCN.
When black South Africans start killing black Zimbabwians it is not called racist killings but xenophobia.
Where is Nelson Mandela now. Surely as a Noble peace prize winner he should be condemming the above murders?

this is a result oy envy fromm pple who do not want to shed sweat to provide for themselves, pple with a strong sense of entitlement who would rather snff glue and do drugs all day than make an effort to better themselves. How many of these marauding idiots are prepared to do the menial jobs usually done by foreigners? How many of them have got any formal qualification to take up any other better job? The answer to both is close to zero. It is because of their skewed mindsets that a zimbo or a nigerian or whatever, with no papers, can come here and do spectcularly better than the locals who have access to almost everything , only if the savages new what to do with their lives instead of blugeoning and roasting a fellow human being for no other crime than that of being a "kerekwere"

south africa should realise that it has lost the opportunity to be a champion of the concept of african renaissance that the out going mbeki is so fond of talking about.the xenophobic attacks should be a source of shame for any right thinking south african.

who are the foreigners being attacked in south africa?this insipid respect for colonial borders baffles me to say the least.we africans were not party to the 1884 berlin conference that created these borders which did not consider our close links-social,economic,political,geographical.so who is a foreigner in south africa which is a part of the bigger entity called africa.

the dreams of pan africanists have been dealt a mortal blow by these so-called south africans who have exhibited shocking myopic mindedness.i cannnot help the righteous indignation.i am nauseated by the thinking which has been manifested in the xenophobic attacks.

south africans should be constantly reminded of the apartheid days and what some of us in the region suffered as we provided refuge and bases to umkhonto we sizwe cadres.maybe thabo mbeki too has forgotten this.short memories hey!

I was born in Swaziland, raised in Zimbabwe and have family living in South Africa and Zimbabwe now currently based in USA. I visited all three countries in March of this year. While in South Africa I lived in Jo'burg and also spent some time in Pretoria. What struck me was the tension in the air when moving around SA. I was warned upon arrival of the crime rates. I was advised to carry condoms with me as I moved around SA because of the high rape cases. (something I have never had to do anywhere else) At the O Tambo airport in Jo'burg airport while waiting for transporation someone tried to rob me of my luggage. My brother's white female neighbour was robbed in broad daylight at gun point for a cell phone and the jewelry she was wearing. I could not walk too freely with my handbag – at the market I was warned by someone that I looked too much like a tourist and hence should be on the lookout. While driving down to Swaziland my cousin and I stopped at a gas station. The man behind the counter greeted us in their language assuming that we understood. When we informed them that we could not understand and the language we could both understand was English, we were asked what we were doing there. This was not in Gauteng. When I flew back into SA from Zimbabwe I was picked up by a taxi driver who had to have a password and I was told to watch my back because people are often followed from the airport to their homes only to get robbed or worse. Luckily I was not harmed during my trip.
The violence in Zimbabwe is alarming because Zimbabweans are generally peaceful people to a level of complacency that is frustrating. In South Africa, however, there is no 'shock factor' involved. There were two murders against Zimbabweans in Pretoria while I was there in March. It just was 'not news worthy' for the international community to take heed of. In February my white aunt who is married to a black man has her home's doors torn down by THE POLICE because they suspected (without basis) that there were some illegal foreigners on their property. It was an unreasonable attack on her home and after the white policemen learned that she was married to a black man, they reused to do anything to repair the damage to her home. Racism, violence and the issues pertaining to wealth distribution are issues that have not really been addressed by the SA government.
My biggest fear is that SA will end up like Zimbabwe, driving away people to it's own downfall. The thing is SA has more tribes, more tension and more unwilling adults wanting to work than Zimbabwe ever had. Some SA blacks feel a level of entitlement that clouds them from the realization that they ought to take advantage of affirmative action, get educated and build their nation together. Part of this is deeply routed in the aparteid regime. The blacks were not meant to prosper. Traffic in Pretoria/ Jo'burg alone is worse than some Western World large cities, something I was told attributes to the fact that the planning has been poor but also the whites never thought that so many black people would own so many vehicles. Whites for the most part still own a large chunk of the economy, nothing wrong with that except a lot of the ownership still stakes claim to the old aparteid system. There was a big issue in March of this year with some white young men feeding black women food prepared with the white men's urine and they were proudly racist. This was not covered by international media although it was all over SA TV and radio. Yes, there are racist whites but there are also racist blacks and other races as well. Africa in general has to move from its past with a great deal of determination in order for success to trully bear fruit. Africa has the potential to become the next China in terms of manufacturing and so forth but the leaders in Africa have failed to do their appointed duty of leading. Africa is rich in resources, has the cheap labor and educated people as well to be geared for success but with weak leadership and policies, this amounts to nothing.
One would think that given the current attention on the violence against foreigners that the Mbeki government would be pushing to ensure Zimbabwe's success so that there is peace and Zimbabwe's people can go back. Zimbabweans are willing to go back but are fleeing the economic hardships brought about by the current lack of leadership. It's true, Zimbabwe is not a province of SA as Mbeki insanely stated although SA has a lot of muscle power to influence the movement of Zimbabwe in the right direction. The hands off approach towards a neighbouring country clearly affects the mute onlookers just as severely especially when you look ahead in the future. One wonders what will happen if in the future SA is in trouble and its neighbours have managed to get their acts together? Driving foreigners out is not the answer although the influx of illegals is clearly an issue that is not getting the correct amount of attention. The region needs to really address the root causes of issues and not be so disjointed and dettached from the issues on the ground thye operate on. Zimbabweans are not asking for SA's money, they just need some observers in the region to assess the situation to aid Zimbabwe in a true democratic process. Shame on the SA government!

With help from SA then if Zimbabwe gets back to production then the food shortages in the region would find an avenue for relief. This would begin with giving Zimbabwean refugees reason to return ot their homes. SA needs to address all issues with foresight and dedication. The xenophobia is merely a symptom of the real issues at hand that if left unattended could bleed into total destruction. Mbeki's quiet diplomacy obvioulsy is not helping anyone.

I am an ex South African living in Portugal . My ex wife and daughter still live in Johannesburg and my Father near Durban . As a professional currency dealer I am deeply concerned and saddened by the events of the last week . I spoke this morning to an associate in Zimbabwe who tells me inflation has hit 1.2 million percent and that they have just issued a 5 Billion note and I also heard that what you can buy two potatoes for in Harare today you could have bought 10 cars for 10 years back .

How long , before stagflation hits South Africa and why has this happened in countries with such rich mineral and agricultural reserves in a time when the world desperately needs what Africa can provide ?

This is very sad indeed . We only live once . Why all this violence ?

There is no more official apartheid or white rule , yet the murder and crime continues – so who is to blame now ? Most educated whites have left South Africa , so who is to blame for the blackouts and the fact that South Africa will probably lose the World Cup 2010 as well .

An absolute disgrace and yes a true – Cry my Beloved Country ...

As a person living and working in SA since 1967 and having a great pride when we finaly rid ourselves of apartheid, I fear for South Africa more now than in the past. The government is failing the people by not governing in a responsible way. By turning a blind eye to the rising crime and the blatant corruption within the government departments they have in effect said "do as you want, we are impotent to take any action against you because we are too weak in moral fiber".

Shame on all S/Africans, their leaders should wind back to the 1980s
when front line countries used to suffer from bombings from the Boers
because of keeping them as refugees!How many citizens of those
countries perished because of keeping them in these countries to add
to the ones being killed now! Remember late President Samora Moises Machel was killed by the Boers and ANC was the causer and now Mozambicans are being killed at the hands of S/Africans! How short sighted are these People?

i am not sure what really are the causes of all these horrifying attacks but i have a feeling of deja'vu the only difference is that its now a different country, i am zimbabwean. to the whites especially farmers be careful. if the black south african is able to attack their fellow brothers what will stop them from coming for you. Very soon its going to be about their land not being adequate for them. The government in my country did not stop the barbaric attacks on white farmers and see where we are now. likewise the SA government is not doing much to stop this madness what will make them act when land invasions start. To the SA people watching and doing nothing be careful because you might soon be like us.

The South Africans are right. It's just plain wrong to displace citizens of a country. The United States should duplicate these actions to help inprove our economy.

The SA attacks on fellow Africans is indeed deplorable. Shae shame Shame on Mbeki and the ANC. How dare South Africansattack the very people who boycotted the Apartheid system and sheltered them in their days of woes?

Africa as a whole is in a deep crisis. As millions wallow in misery and their leaersplunder their nation's wealth, they find other victims to blame.

Our great heros of the past and the advocates of the Panafrican Nation must be turning in thei graves.

Asan African women I am TIRED of seeing AFRICAN MEN BRANDISHING, CLUBS, ARROWS, MACHETES AND DANCING LIKE IDIOTS IN THE WHOLE CONTINENT ON SCREENs ALL OVER THE WORLD.

I am traumatised, Africa must wake up fromits deep slumber fold it's begging bowls and purposefully chartthe future of the continent in a spirit of unity , develop serious economic strategies and aggressively sit at the negotiation table of international economics. STOP THIS MADNESS!

South Africans have always been xenophobic towards forei
gners from other African countries. Only that the xenophobia has never been this overt. Remember Oscar 'Oskido' Mdlongwa's "Makwerekwere" song in the 1991. Makwerekwere is a slang term for foreigners in South Africa. Xenophobia is not a post-1994 phenomenon in South Africa. It's always been there. Reports blaming apartheid forces are baseless and are similar to Zimbabwean authorities blaming former colonial power UK for all its socio-political problems.

Neither is xenophobia limited to South Africa, Kenya & Uganda have had issues with attacks on Indians.

There are countries in Africa that have had succes with foreigners. In Zimbabwe(forget Mugabe for a while) for example there was an influx of Zambians, Malawians & Mozambiqueans soon after independence in the 1980s when there was economic boom. The Railways in Zimbabwe is still dominated by Zambians & Malawians.

These attacks didn't start at the beginning or the month.

According to a worker, these attacks have been going on for a long time.

They have already cleaned certain townships of Zimbabweans, etc.

It is propaganda & bullshit that this shit stared at the beginning of may. It is only recently that it is no longer possible for the illegal ANC terrorist Government to keep quite

South Africa has been the darling of the western democracies !
It has been viewed through rose- colored glasses and the problems associated with the country have invariably been blamed on the white colonization of the area!
Unfortunately it appears that like a lot of African countries they simply cannot govern themselves!
Tribalism=Racism and Africa is so very full of tribes!i
I don't see much of a future for these people!

Banana republic... need i say more?

I read about the incidences of the latest onslaught of human beings in South Africa with utmost dismayed, and the pains I felt cannot be fully explained. And I wonder if these mobs are born of a woman. How can human beings be battered like an animal to the extent that many of the victims died without help of urgent medical attention while the policemen looked without offering the defenseless the basic assistance needed in a conflict zone, and most annoying, were the fact that, this very people who are been hunted helped the South Africans in their time of repression.

Many of the African Countries were subjected to compulsory levies during the 1970-to late 80’s on behalf of South Africans just to champion their cause and to provide necessary amenities for the masses, before they gained freedom from the apartheid regime of that time. And how come these people who help them to survive their struggle are not welcome I their land as if they were the ones who oppressed them.

President Mbeki and the state he governs should be ashamed of this development mostly in two fronts. (1). as one of the AU leaders, for failing to act on Zimbabwe. (2). He owns an apology to too many people for his reluctances in persuading Mugabe to step-down after the hijacked election in his country so that the country would recover from its economic woes. And the State police should also be ashamed of their inhumane response as required in conflict zone.

The question that left unanswered is: who caused the recent uproar? Is it the migrant worker or the immigrants who has no right to work or the lack of amenities for the citizens of South Africa not provided by their own government? Their government says they are doing their best to enhance welfare of their citizens but there best is only suitable for those in the upper-class level. The masses are neglected from year to year as they are left without proper shelter to live in the informal settlements but that does not mean the foreigners should bear the brunt of the failure on the part of there government.

Most of these foreigners ran away from persecution and from basic needs as economic meltdown hit their country following the inhumane act of doctoral leadership only to be confronted with death in the country they thought would be flowing with milk and honey.

These are people who are hungry, how come they are engaged in fight? Knowing fully well that, they can’t fight, for his cause does not calls for violence? How can the weak withstand an attack and generate strength to defend her self knowing fully well that, their plight calls for empathy? These refuges are not shown mercy neither were they shown kindness. They did not take their mansions but lived in the shacks, how come they are the ones causing the economy to rise and taken their jobs? What the people of South Africans should know is every world economy is bound to fail one day.

Many including myself are Africans and in we live in other countries of the world, we strongly condemn this babaric act.

Ezendigbo.

I grew up in west africa and in the 80's two south african university students lived with my family (fleeing apartheid). In my high school about this time they were brought in in bus loads to complete high school education again fleeing their own segregated nation.

The point is so soon, so quick, and not even a generation later these folks forget the sacrifices of other nations for the SA independence. It is indeed a shame.

I agree with A Stuijt. I'm a South African and its really sad that the poor and marginalised in our country are turning on each other and their blood is on the hands of Mbeki and his cabinet. South Africa's resources are too few to help the millions of African foreigners streaming into the country unchecked. My brothers and sisters in the townships live in extremely intolerable and inhumane conditions because of the empty promises of this ANC government. They have to share this with African foreigners who are illegal in the country and who puts further strain on the meagre and poor infrastructure of these townships, and its not surprising that something has to give. These Africans living in Europe and USA and condemning us South Afriacans are shortsighted in say that we South Africans are unwelcoming and I dare them to see for themselves the living hell of our township citizens. Every government has a legal duty and moral obligation to first see to the needs of their citizens first before attempting to assist outsiders.

I was speaking to a gentleman the other day. He was in intelligence, until affirmative action was introduced.
He was saying that he can lay his head on a block that this action has been arranged by Mugabe's henchmen (with Mbeki's knowledge). This is being done to keep the media off of Mugabe's back and out of Zimbabwe, so that he can just go right ahead and murder the MDC supporters.
the more I think abou t this, the more it rings true. Zimbabwe has not been in the news for at least two weeks.....

Remeber this started in Gauteng in the east rand which the dwellers are the Zulus and some Xhosas.The government consists of Xhosa in dominance in parliament and provincial even directors; thats why Zuma became famous as he represent the Zulu. So he was favoured by other racial groups, as we know that My enemy's enemy is my Friend bearing in mind Zuma's scandals and mistakes together with errors. As for Zimbabwe and the 2010 committee they didn't want everything to be reported so the SABC has been fired, suspended, resigned, extended-leave etc. We have been watching CNN news for years but they decided to cut the channel. So when we want local news we go e-tv. When whites reports they say they still have apartheid. They talk about Black Empowerment but the cant take the former TVBC {Bophuthatswana} homelands who have the skills despite being black. The Engineers and Technician are paid peanuts; thats why you see engine falling from the aeroplane and Escom failing to maintain Generators. Now what do you think if you are skilled in AK47 and you dont have job? What do you think of unskilled person at work at Eskom, blackouts? How can you allow 7million illegal to come here without a revolt. I understand that London have been preparing for 2010 world cup; Let them take it because we the Batswana we have been excluded from the event even Mahikeng the capital city of NorthWest. What I like about these latest two-weeks-long ethnic-purges against black foreigners had spread to the Western Cape, KwaZulu- Natal, Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga provinces is that there is crime in South Africa. We have been living in bugler proof, high wall, Alarms security because of crime; Before this government we have been free. – LEPPS

Shame on the people living comfortably in crime free countries. You are allowing so many people to die- easy blaming the people instead of the real masterminds- the government and big money.You all shouted to have the white minority system replaced by a black majority system. That ignored the real plight of the country- the people need to be invested in – not the select few black and whites that are in the mining industry and acting as so called political leaders(leaders that have nothing else but making money as their goals) This problem was created by "Big Money" stealing the wealth of the country and shipping it to London and other places outside that beautiful but violent country. Dont blame the hungry and frustrated blacks and dont blame the ordinary white South Africans(and stop killing them Mbeki by your silence) Yes we that are so fortunate to be out of the country know of all your connections and friendship with the dictator Mugabe and we left because there is no intention to stop the senseless killing and racism against whites and no intention to stop big money from further raping and killing people (black and white). I was born to a journalist dad in South Africa. Yes I am proudly white and no I dont feel the need to bow my head in shame about what a select few did against black people- they should have been imprisoned like the criminals they were and so should any black people that commit crime. South Africa is simply a free for all crime paradise. There is no will or intention of the so-called rulers to take action.
The system is South Africa has no other way than collapse . I had a furniture factory and supplied jobs to 60 black people and about 6 white people. I had to make a choice-loose everything and walk away with your life- it was hard but the best choice I have made-I left South Africa after many attempts on my life and severe crime committed against my company and no results whatsoever laying criminal charges. Government officials can be bribed and police officials to do anything for less than a thousand rand. I am very fortunate to be in living in the United States and although I had to give up everything I still have my life and I am so sorry to agree with the statement "what is happening is no news"- The amount of corruption within the South African Government and police force is astronomical. I am simply stating a fact when I make the statement there is no future in South Africa. The risk is too high-no money is worth it to die for.
Millions of good people black and white are suffering because of a total corrupt system and government- this has not changed, as a matter of fact, got much worse after 1994 and yes South Africa are heading the same way as Zimbabwe and Somalia. I am so blessed to have a change to start again with nothing but be safe at night, and believe me its hard to start in a new culture with nothing but my only advice to anybody that still breath- get out as fast as you can- nobody is coming to save you- the rest of the world dont care about the 20 000 murders a year.

This incindent should remind our African leaders that there is no safety in stading on the fences with regards to problems of our fellow African countries when they are in trouble. If lAfrican leaders under the falser comfort of "not meddling in iso called nternal matters" of Zimbabwe, the issue will not end there. What' s respectably internal about the hunger, starvation and butchering of our fellow African people? Where is respect and dignity for human life? Shame on us! And for South Africans, they are quick to forget where they came from. The very merciles disrespect of human lives they fought against only a few years ago, they now repeat on their own fellow black people. Who among the black will rise to speack against emerging vice in our motherland?

Thabo Mbeki for one should have known better that Zimbabwean problem, if left unconfronted and resolved, will inevitably affect other countries as well.

Am from Kenya and worked and lived in South Africa for almost four years. I've never come across such an unfriendly society in my life. Though I came as a professional to fill up the skill gap, l never felt at home. I couldn't put up and I ended up immigrating to Australia. This is a purely white society and there's no comparison whatsoever with the black South Africa. I feel more valued and appreciated by Australians. I feel at home. God help South Africans!!!

In response to Bayu's post, such callous attitudes toward unfortunates has happened in the United States. During the Hurricane Katrina disaster when New Orleans and much of southern Louisiana was overrun by floods, thousands were killed by the storm. Thousands more were essentially killed by neglect and positive economic discrimination. The authorities lied about the total dead, and it was easy to do so, as the flood waters were laden with corpses of not only the recent dead of the flood but also other dead that had been washed out of their cemeteries to float down the floodwaters to the bayous with them. Dead bodies were left to rot in the sun to be eaten by alligators or wild dogs. Many seriously injured shared the same fate, to be eaten alive by predators while others probably even watched and did nothing. Poor people whose only crime was being poor had to endure the horror of being beaten back by police who were protecting wealthy people who had first claim on buses to take them to safety. Even if those poor were dying, and many were, they rated no places on those buses carrying away the rich to safety and luxury. New Orleans police disappeared from the streets, some to actually join the looters. The owners and managers of one old folks home abandoned its patients, dozens of them, to die in the filthy floodwaters as they got into their huge luxury vans and left the helpless old folks to the alligators, crocodiles, snakes and wild dogs, ..and the looters. Those owners were eventually prosecuted but no conviction resulted and the callous courts turned them loose. They may as well given them a medal! Thousands of starving refugees were crowded into a sports stadium, herded there by authorities because that is where they put you if you were poor but could move and were uninjured...and so presented what? a threat?! At the sports stadium, old women were repeatedly raped by gang members and others while the authorities did nothing. They authorities for the most part were not there. No food was brought to that stadium except by some rediculous air drops that often injured the refugees that had to run to get anything at all. Only the meanest and strongest got fed. After the storm, untold other thousands were left on roofs. A lucky few got rescued. Most were used as unpaid props for 'photo opportunities' for politicians who flew over them in helicopters to show how much they 'cared' before flying on to some ten course dinner in a luxury hotel and more press interviews. Over two hundred and fifty thousand people eventually were exiled from their homes to become homeless waifs in other parts of the country. The main beneficiary was the Republican Party, who gained a demographic majority in the remaining electorate. Those two hundred and fifty thousand were poor, and predominantly democratic voters. It would be a lie to say they were all black folks, because they were about even in racial composition; the only thing they shared was their poverty, their beliefs, and their misery, and later their homesickness to return to the homes that they had lost. It could be gone on about how those same poor were subsequently victimised by their insurance companies who refused claims saying 'wave damage' was not covered, by governmental engineers who wanted to level the homes and flood the area permanently to cover up the fact that the flood was actually the proximate and mathematically certain result of the economic shortcuts taken to only protect the city with woefully inadequate barriers to the sea while knowing that the problems were ongoing and progressive; and by Republican politicians who went along with this crime by the engineering planners knowing that the eventual flood would get rid of their political opposition.

in the name of rodney king can we all just get alone my brothers and sisters sexton8160

As a South African I am sickened by what is going on in my own country. President Mbeki has created this situation with his quiet diplomacy in Zimbabwe. With affirmative action, corrupt government, the gravy train and incompetence at all levels of the public and private sector he has allowed this to happen.
Xenophobia is the newest in a long line of ills in South Africa. You are from another country so we have the right to rape you, to rob you, to kill you. White people have been dealing with xenophobia for the last fourteen years. No matter that we were born in the country. No matter that we have been in the country for generations. Now Zimbabweans who also have no home to return to is dealing with this. Mozambicans will have to deal with this. Foreigners must go home is the message that one is getting from all of this. Historically the only native people to Southern Africa is the Bushmen. They aren't going around killing people in the most brutal fashion.
How can this be justified in any way. We have no jobs so we will kill those who do. My sister married a Zimbabwean thus they are taking our women. And how long does it take the government to react? The same way that hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in Zimbabwe under the regime of Robert Mugabe we can now also credit Thabo Mbeki with being responsible that thousands of people will have been killed under his regime. With the crime rate through the roof and people getting murdered for a cell phone or a hijacked car you can no longer blame Apartheid.
It is very clear what Thabo Mbeki feels about people who helped his people during Apartheid. Comrades are being killed and robbed and chased out of their homes by the very people they helped to bring a new order to. All the promises made by people like Mister Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu have not been kept by Thabo Mbeki and his government. Shame on you for allowing this to happen.

As with many people I have also considered that the World Cup 2010 in South Africa should move to another country.

BUT, (and I am not saying it should or shouldn't – this is simply a perspective on the matter) consider the following:
Here is a country that has been through its fare share of misery and pain over the years.A great many people are uneducated and unskilled (for whatever reasons quoted: "oppression in the past", "failures of government", whatever the reason – the fact remains).

Here is a country that has had this "time-bomb" activated a long time ago. But only now has it exploded. (Actually, I think it hasn't exploded yet!)

And here is also, Africa's ONLY hope!

Europe's lack of compassion for Africa (I refer to the G8 summit where it was very easy for only one vote to prevent financial aid from going to the continent) confirms that.

There are two ways to look at this World Cup:
1. Being callous and cruel and saying "take it from them and let them 'solve their own problems' "
2. Or, taking a different perspective and saying "OK, here is a nation (and people) in trouble. In need of help. Let's finally get off our comfort-zone buttocks and HELP them!"

Yes, there are the Mugabe's of the world who don't want "interference from the west".

But forget the Mugabe's. Forget the alleged (or completely true!) "failures of government", "the corruption", and consider the people!

Unless aid is given to the country (and not only financial). All of Africa will suffer.

My definition of "aid" is "teaching a man to fish".

If anything is learned from these recent atrocities it is that Africa (and by that we mean South Africa) needs help – and perhaps a bit of "western" intervention.

The World Cup is the ONLY "symbol" of a future for this country. If it is pulled from them. Whatever investments exist in the country will be pulled out. Whatever skilled people remain in the country will surely leave.

And all of Africa will go to pot.

By,
Ricardo – A South African in Europe (now with a different viewpoint of home)

South africans should be ashamed of themselves what is happening to foreigners,they are also scathered in different ´countries living and working without any problems that they should not forget.
Mbeki and his government should start forcing them to go to school we understand it is illitracy and jealousy which is causing the whole stress.Read your books,Go to school,etc

Aparthaid or Xenophobia. Chase out those coward immigrant out of your country. Let them go back to there countries and fight for the right. Let the Zimbabweans go back and deal with issue of Mugabe instead of commiting violent crime in South Africa. Let the Nigerians go back and deal with the issue of corroption with ther rulers instead of living as a criminal in South Africa. I'm a Nigerian. I have visited South Africa twice and I assume it one of the dangerous place of earth.. Its immoral to take life of another human. While I sopport that the south africa chase away those robbers, coward away from there country I'm not in harmony with the way it was carreid out.
Go on South African, Chase them out. South Africans did not run away to another country during the aperthaid regime. They fight it. Why are Nigerian and Zimbabwean who are causing crime, housing shortage and unemployment not go back to there various countries to face there leaders.
My email is. davidematthew@yahoo.com.

this is very sad indeed. the poor killing the poor

I am surprised by what is happening in SA. My question is 'Do we have SAns living in foreign countries? If yes then let then out. Let do unto others what you would like to do onto you. If Mbeki is still in Tanzania where ever he is let him out. Actually all SAns living abroad should be chased back.

As a south african living within the countries borders i am now as embarassed by president mbeki as i used to be by pw botha.

This is really sad...SA is the least place that I expected to lash out on their brothers and sisters. Shame on them, shame on SA government for taking too slow to stop this violence.

My heart goes out to all the victims especially to the Nigerians affected in this mess. I hope the Nigerian government is taking a hint. It is about time you fix your economy. You have the resources, stop the greed and provide jobs so your citizens can stop ruuning to the greener pastures and getting killed in the process.

I think South Africans should think of their fellow countrymen who are staying in our countries. They should know that several South African businesses are also spread within our regions. If these seeds of hatred continue, then I think south Africans living in the affected countries may experience social intolerance.

What a shame!!!!!

Oh why, cry my beloved africian brothers and sisters in this God forsaken country called SA. lets not pretend that all is well in zululand but, let this be a warning bell for international community to take note of a vocanic keg about to explode in 5- 10 years...SA is a very brutal society, where muder, rape, lynching and all barbaric arts are condoned. But dare 2steal a sweet and every state resources will bring to bear to have you lockedup and the key thrown away.
So, it does not suprise me what has happened this last week in SA, the xeno attack is deeply instutionalised in their culture; both private citizens and law enforcement agents. SHAME ON ALL SOUTH AFRICANS.

godo to see south africa is "flourishing" after getting rid of apartheid.. wasnt getting rid of apartheid supposed to be "the solution to all south africa's problems" – problems created of course by the white man if your to believe what the media says...

i know several people, prior to these latest incidents, who have fled south africa to get away from the rampant crime, now reverse racism , and violence, and not to mention at the time a seedy black president whose reputation for rape etc, was well known...

you wont of course see any of that in the media.....

I visited SA 3 years back and loved the country as a tourist.The current events are going to be the biggest setback to the tourism industry.I had recommended many of my friends to visit SA .Now who will think of going there as the tourists?It is a great loss to the tourists and hit to the economy of SA.

xenophobia, racism, ethnicity or similar such differences have been with us since biblical times, there is a reason why this is so remember the tower of babel in Genesis 10 and 11. We africans must just accept that we have our own differences yet to be addressed. Before the whiteman came to africa we had long been terrorising each other stealing woman , animals land from, and killing each other. We were united by colour against the whiteman but the animal remained in us, we have been busy fighting the whites and forgot to rehabilatate ourselves against ourselves. Foreigners moving to south africa to escape bad economies in their countries must not get too comfortable and start challenging south africans and stealing their wives and showing off with fancy cars and properties. Half of these foreigners are just staying there and not contributing any thing they don't pay tax, they don't send anything back home to support their folks, some come back home in fancy cars to show off but do not contribute anything meaningful in society. The truth also is whilst there is general animosity against whites by blacks, the black enjoys living in a whiteman's world because the whiteman insists on quality and standards. The good cars , the good food, sport, generally the high life tickles the black man's fancy but on his own he cannot maintain an enviroment were this can be achieved. Hands up to ANC they did not kick the whiteman out of South Africa instead they came out with a rainbow nation which has become an envy of all africans. I am Zimbabwean The situation here is worse than the xenophobia in south africa Zimbabwe is just not showing the world what is happening here

I am so saddened to see the violence going on in SA, my home. I am currently overseas, and too see the awful pictures brings tears to me eyes. I am deeply deeply saddened and i think it is a complete disgrace. protest should be aimed at the government for not sorting out problems, not aimed at innocent people who are also trying to live a better life and give their families something. what are they going to do in their home countries, go back and starve? i think africa should be one, and violence and burning ppl alive is just evil, plain evil. what a terrible disaster and shame after we had come so far since the awful days of apartheid.

45 blacks get killed in ethnic violence in South Africa and the world knows about it, but over 35,000 'Afrikaner whites' HAVE ALREADY BEE SLAUGHTERED since 1994 and the world does not care, nor do the news networks cover it!!! A white student has a bit of fun with his "victims laughing" and it is spread all over the world as such a dastardly racist act, but blacks KILLING 35 000 WHITES IS OK???
SA Safety and Security minister states that if white "winges do not like the crime, they can simply leave this country" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwXSIDp3RSM and the world ignores this.
The useless SA president states that “there is no crisis in Zimbabwe� and over 4 million flee through the non existent border control and burden an economy that cannot even look after itself and now they wonder why the locals want them out???
The ANC claim that Zimbabwe gave refuse to South African’s who fled Apartheid, but the truth is that the local blacks lived very well under Apartheid, it was only the radical terrorists who sought asylum in other countries whilst they hatched their terror campaigns.
.. and the world cup soccer is going to come here in 2010??? I for one will be very grateful for all the European liberals who turn a blind eye to the evils of the black racism to come here to SA and be on the receiving end of the unfettered murder, rape, muggings, theft and total lack of respect for other human beings which is imbedded deep in the blacks of South Africa. And it is not the fault of Apartheid; their behavior existed long before apartheid that is why apartheid existed!!!
When will the world wake up???

I have read through numerous comments about the current situation in South Africa, and while I wholeheartedly condemn the xenophobia that is taking place in my country at the moment, I can hardly say that I am surprised.

One must look at the history of South Africa to understand what is currently happening. There are many different black ethnic groups in South Africa: Zulu’s, Xhosa’s, and Sotho to name but a few. These different ethnic groups were constantly warring with each other long before colonization took place. These ethnic groups only united when they had to face a common enemy, namely “the white man� and the draconian laws that led to apartheid system being implemented in South Africa. In the early nineties, apartheid crumbled and the common enemy slowly faded away, we were all caught up in the euphoria of the New South Africa. Once the “honeymoon� was over the indifferences between the different black ethnic groups started to rear its ugly head again, this is one of the main causes of the divisions in the ANC at the moment, in which the majority of South Africa’s top politicians are from a certain ethic group and others are somewhat neglected.

Now if there is intolerance among South African ethnic groups towards each other (remember the Pre – 1994 election violence between the ANC and IFP in Kwazulu Natal) what would eventually be the outcome when you then throw people from other African countries into the pot?

There is an estimated six million foreigners living in South African, mainly from other African countries (this is based on a report that is around ten years old) so there is probably close to eight million at the moment, most below the breadline. They come to South Africa in droves seeking work and a better life, when this does not come to fruition they turn to crime (Nigerian and Zimbabwean crime syndicates are rampant in South Africa), or place a burden on our already failing economy. One must remember that prior to people migrating to South Africa 70 – 80% of the people in the country were illiterate and living below the bread line, unemployment was already high.

The Mbeki government was warned on many occasions about the crisis that we now face and did nothing about it. I remember being forcefully conscripted into the military as a young man, indoctrinated by propaganda that was spewed out by the apartheid government of the time, and doing what was known as township duty, which was basically subduing the black population, and thinking this is terrible, and not wanting for it ever to happen again. I have seen a person being necklaced (beating a person into submission, and then placing a car tire around their necks and setting it on fire) and it is one of the most horrific sights I have ever seen, and a terrible way to die. I thought I had seen the last of it, but alas this is not the case.

The masses need to blame someone, as the current government is doing nothing, look at the AIDS, arms deal, and the Zimbabwean fiascos to name but a few. I have spoken to numerous of the older black people in South Africa they state that they were better off under apartheid rule, that is how bad it is here at the moment.

A plea to all, do not take the 2010 world cup away from South Africa it is the only thing we have to look forward to as a nation. Who knows where South Africa will spiral to, if on top of everything that is happening at the moment we lose the 2010 world cup.

Im a South African,Im very saddned by what is happening in my country right now.It barbaric,foolish and should be condemned.The real problem here is that people are generalising their views about foreign brotheres and sisters.As someone who have had first hand experiences ragarding some of the foreign poeple evil acts ,I should be xenophobic but i choose not to.It is also wrong to generilise about South Africans behavior torwad foreign people,We are not all xenophobic,It only the minority of which in most cases is characterised by criminal acts.It is a naked truth that some foreingeres are criminals,they are here illegally,that make it difficult to arrest them if they perpetuate crimes.That is why if go to a local police station you will find most South Africans there.there are places in South Africa which are regarded as no go areas for even locals,go there and check who is living there,you will find out.People in those areas are pimps,druglords,they own illegal clubs.But if you are getting stories from the media you won't know all that.
Imagine if all South Africans were like xenophobic.Think about it,So most people are blowing the whole situation out of propotion.Our government and other leaders have condemned it, the general pubic is condemning it,Im condemning it.We must look at things from all the angles.Maybe some South Africans are sick and tired of crime and unemployment here,maybe they do'nt want extra criminals maybe it our foreign policies,or the private sector exploiting cheap labourer in form of foreigners,What drive Zimbabweans from Zimbabwe?Then who is to blame ?Do you think xenophobia is a human right or human nature ?Please think about it.Let debate and discuss about these social issues,let be critical and open minded.
Our democracy is very young so we are still open for change.Maybe we became too heavinly,godly,savior,shelter for Africa while we were not even ready internally.People let talk about this please and together we will find the cure for these deases.Nkosi Sikelel Africa.

Shame on you SA. So you have forgotten too soon your cry for help from the same people you are killing, raping and kicking out of your country!. It is a pity! I am totally disappointed!.

I used to love this country with all my heart and soul. However the "African Dream" is no longer, it died the day the xenophobic attacks started. What kind of people, if they are even human, are we dealing with? These "South Africans" that have turned on their fellow brothers are savages, with not one ounce of compassion in their bones. The truth is that South Africans have an extremely lazy attitude, they do not want to work. However, foreigners come into our country, yes illegally, but they are starving for the opportunities that South Africa offers them, and they are willing to work hard.
Now because of this need the foreigners have for a better life here,the South Africans are resentful, because now they too will actually have to do something! They need to get over the fact that because of Apartheid, South Africa owes them EVERYTHING. If the Jewish people felt the same way about the Holocaust, where would we be today?
My feeling today is, that my husband and I will take what ever we have and leave, let these barbarians destroy such a beautiful country.
What is sad though, is that most white familes feel exactly the same way as we do. We will be paving the way for the rest of us.
My heart bleeds everyday for all those suffering, and believe me I would take all of them with me if I could!

I am in south africa for nearly 12 years now and i can tell you that since the xennophobic incident i am really thinking of leaving this country.i have childrens who can not sleep anymore thinking that they will be killed because we are makwerere(foreigneirs). I have a nice job, my husband also is working, we even did buy a house, but nothing is more important than life itself.SA should be ashame of itself

I find a lot of the emails a bit histerical. Also the comments on the world cup being taken away are rather dramatic. For someone who actually lives in Johannesburg, I can assure you that life goes on like normal. People are still driving their expensive cars and sipping on large cocktails in the shopping malls. The wealthy black, white and Indian people are untouched by the riots at the moment, although one will be silly to deny that we dont suffer from random attacks in our own homes at stages, by these cretins who have no regard for human lives.

However in the most poverty stricken areas the situation is bad. Luckily for the economically stable portion of the community we dont have to live and even come close to these informal settlements. These current so called Xenophobic attacks are really limited to isolated communities with extreme socio economic problems. There is an element of crime that has been rampid in recent times. Nothing new. I am just so sick of everyone blaming apartheid, whites and poverty. Most of these thugs are not even 1/4 as poor as our neighbours in the rest of Africa and although they do suffer with extreme issues of poverty, it should never be an excuse to commit crime of any sort! As I said, there are these elements in our society who has never learned to regard human life, and sieze any opportunity to run havoc. South Africa has a very poor community, but in countries like India and Thailand there is also severe poverty. if not worse! I dont see this happening in India. It is all a mindset.

Oh well, lets hope things turn out for the better and I apologise to everyone who has been affected by these thugs. I solemnly declare that this is not Xenophobia. This is plain thuggery by criminal elements seizing any excuse possible to exploit the allready exploited.

Andrew I echo your sentiments:

"The violence we are now seeing sickens me, it burns deep in my soul to once again see the image of Africa tarnished by what I believe is the vast minority of the much larger ethnic and tribal groups. It makes me equally sick however to see the South Africans expats on this forum sitting abroad in their safety with the audacity to say things about a country that gave them their birth.

Yes things are difficult in this country, yes, our crime is high, yes we have poverty and many many problems, I acknowledge all of that, but running away to Europe won’t solve them, educating the people and contributing to your country will, you should be ashamed of yourselves".

I will not run away.. There is a lot of work to be done here. But this is my country. And there is so much hope. The majority of people are willing to make sacrifices and work together to curb all these issues. I give a flying hoot about the ineffective government and ensure that measures are taken that I stay safe. I am working on ground level with many people of different races and classes to ensure that we make a difference. Running off to Europe and then claiming you have a right to critisize this country in such a snooty fashion is not contributing to anything. If you sit over there and feel estranged in your new home, come back, face the dangers and help build this country up again. If you are happy where you are: shut the hell up if you can't be an ambassador.

There are many opportunities here and to always cry doom and gloom, will get you nowhere.

Nancy don't get me wrong by any means, my heart gos out to all the people around the world who suffer any kind of tragedy or loss in there lives. What I don't understand is why we as Americans are constantly trying to send money and aide to other countries when we can't even help our own? Take a look at New Orleans for example. What has the government done for those people? Not nearly enough! But we have money to give to China or Africa. Please explain this concept to me. Thank you for your time.

Does anybody know if tourists have been involved in these riots ?
How is situation in other places in SA apart of township where riots occurred ?
SA can still be considered a safe place for tourists from Europe ?

I was planning to go to south africa with my wife for the 2010 world cup
but right now, i will never visit South africa again. This is the worst kind of racism available. Racism against the same colour. What do they think they have, just that the white man made there economy stronger than other african countries because of the help of Europe and America. Let them wait china is really going to help develop other african countries, they should wait and see what Mozambique and angola will be soon. My Cousin was shot there in 2005,my friend was attacked by robbers in Jbourg, infact the robbers traced him from the airport. Most of there airport personell are robbery agents. That country is not worth visiting or being proud of. I am making this appeal to people to be very careful during the world cup. make sure you pay double premium for your travel Insurance then, because you must be robbed. The police there is useless, the citizens are uneducated illetrates. when there are no more Nigerians,Zimbabweans and Mozambicans to attack, then the Europeans,Asians and Americans should get ready. It will be there turn. South African is the real Axis of Evil in Africa and not Sudan.......Shame on you Murderers, soon you will murder your fathers,wives and Children...the curse continues...in South africa,

I understand anger over what is happening but one must not make general statements. I am a South African citizen and I am very well educated as are the majority of the citizens. The majority of the citizens are appalled by what is happening and if you start putting everyone in the same category then you are being prejudiced.
Situations in the townships are tense. If a tourist is in a township then there might be a problem. Most sane people would not however willingly put themselves in the middle of chaos.
South Africa is not currently being overrun by angry mobs. Life goes on as it has for the last fourteen years. Crime and corruption and xenophobia is not a new thing. It has been brewing and brewing while the black elite has become richer and richer and more removed from the people who put them in power in the first place. The different nationalities in South Africa, white, Indian, Malaysian and more have been in the country for many generations and have had to deal with xenophobia for a much longer time. Nothing is said about that. In the crime wave of the last fourteen years hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives for no reason at all. If you want to rob someone of a cellphone do so, you needn't murder them. To say the crime is only the fault of the so-called illegal immigrants is to think that all white Southerners in America owned slaves.
It is an emotional issue, but we needn't lose our heads. The South African government has proven itself to be ineffective. The president is in Japan when there are clearly issues at home that must be dealt with. People are robbing, raping and killing under the guise of xenophobia when they are just common criminals who should be in jail. The latest tally is 52 people killed. How many have Mugabe's government not murdered? How many have been killed in the Sudan?
To say South Africa is the axis of Evil in Africa is to show ignorance of the political situations in Africa.
What is happening is evil. What is being done by evil people can not be blamed on a whole country.

Liana how can you say that the majority of South Africans are well educated when the stats show a drop out rate from high school as much as 80%? The majority of South Africans are illiterate and that is a fact. South Africa is ruled by an axis of evil – the black-nationalist, racist African National Congress (ANC), the S.A. Communist Party and the Marxist trade union grouping, Cosatu.
You ask how many have been killed in Sudan etc but I can tell you more than 280,000 have been murdered in South Africa since 1994. And dont pretend South Africa is a caring Nation because this report in a local newspaper shows their concern for fellow citizens:
A mob of angry South Africans attacked a mother and daughter who were handing out clothes to Zimbabwean asylum-seekers at the makeshift refugee camp on Cape Town's Foreshore.

The attackers beat Alison Goldberg of Green Point to the ground before smashing the window of their 4×4 with a hammer and trying to drag her 16-year-old daughter Lili out of the car.

Lili, a Grade 10 pupil at St Cyprian's, had been sitting in the back of the car passing clothes and blankets through an open window to her mother who was distributing them to the refugees.

During the frightening attack two weeks ago, Goldberg said all she could hear was her daughter screaming.

"They threatened to put her down a manhole and she was terrified they would kill me and leave her down there."

Goldberg got around to the driver's side but the men refused to let them drive away. She eventually just opened the vehicle so they could take the bags of clothes and blankets.

The Zimbabweans tried to help but were no match for the aggressive locals who were determined not to share with foreigners.

On the one hand I feel very sad for the people that are suffering from all this violence, especially the innocent children.

I would most certainly not wish that on my worst enemy.

On the other hand however these are the people that voted for Mugabe and got rid of a president that was doing a geat job. (i.e Ian Smith). Why must we then bear the burden for their foolish decisions.

I am sure that most Zimbabweans would welcome Ian Smith back, given the choice. Why did they get rid of his government in the first place? They called it the struggle. The struggle for Mugabe?

I sincerely hope that us as South Africans have not carbon copied Zimbabwe and other countries in Africa.

Clearly our current government in South Africa, as voted for by the masses, is failing them and have not delivered.

Unfortunately I am of the opinion that there is no turning back if on is to consider Africas track record.

The road ahead is going to be very tough especiaslly for those unfortunate people who are unable to flee this country (i.e the poor and disadvantaged).

Before we all sentence the average black S/African to death........This is again another demonstration of how much African leaders have failed themselves and their people.

Granted, no civilized society should vent it's frustrations by killing or even harming immigrants (legal or otherwise), one cannot put the blame solely on the average black S/African.

I am a Nigerian professional leaving in the Caribbean and i can't for sure tell you that my country (or any other African nation for that matter) is immune to such callosity – because even among tribes in Nigeria such sparks occur.

We therefore should not think the black people of S/Africa as inherently evil, because when a cobra is cornered it spits venom. They are cornered! Their government has failed them –
failed to check the wave of illegal immigration,
failed to provide basic health care and good education,
failed to provide good jobs,
failed to see beyond impressing the world (the west),
failed to see the frustrations,
failed to connect with the people,
failed to distribute the wealth,
failed to own up to the truth,
failed to see the people are cornered!

We denounce the violence and barbaric acts, we sympathize with the victims but brothers and sisters here is the big picture – LET AFRICAN LEADERS START USING THEIR BRAINS.

God bless Africa

Why is everyone so shocked by the current violence in South Africa? This behavior is commonplace in the rest of Africa: Congo, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Liberia...Why should South Africa be any different?

Bill, I never said South Africa is a caring nation. The crimes committed the last fourteen years alone more than prove that, not to mention everything before 1994. I have been the victim of crime, my family and friends have been victims of crime. I have been the victim of racism and of xenophobia in a climate where based on the colour of your skin alone you gain employment or no. I have lost friends and I have lost family in South Africa due to crime. Their deaths aren't yelled and screamed about on CNN because it is the so-called norm. South Africans have become used to murder every day. It isn't even newsworthy anymore if a police officer is killed in the line of duty or an eighty year old woman is brutally raped. What is news worthy is the xenophobia of the last few weeks. It is appalling, yet very telling that the deaths of the last few weeks can create such a global outcry while the deaths every day barely rate a mention.

Can somebody warn the white people please?? Is it such a far stretch to imagine this can happen to them next.....you can take them out of the bush, but you cant take the bush out of them... I have always believed this, and now they themselves showed it to be true: Africans are Africas worst enemies!!!! and my spelling is right by the way....

do you know what my country consists of -me, my family ,my friends and neighbhors-business associates -and fellow church members -and towns folk -and the ocasional fellow countrymen i see on the road and wave hello to -beyond this -i do not depend on the police -the military -the federal government -unless i have no other choice-i remain in a civil -comunity that enforces laws and court judgements by appointed and elected officials –i have served my country in the military -and i try to live as an honorable god fearing man and respect authority and my elders and there wise ways and requests -there is respect of law and enforcement of it where i live -and there is respect for individuals property
-i recomend that south afric give everyone equal rights -and apply these principles –by the way after freedom is fought for and gained it must be maintained -blood fuels the fires that turn the gears that keeps the machine running -freedom and disipline are to be used
equally -or one destroys the other -inevitabbly .

South Africans should not forget history...the past. When Aparthied was the law of the land, a lot of Africans countries took in Black South Africans to educate and keep them safe...This was to prepare for a post Aparthied country...That has been accomplished...If this is how some South Africans choose to pay back other immigrant into their country (no matter the reason for Foreigner coming to SA), ... the whole country should be ashamed for this type of behavior...I wonder what Mandela, Sisula and other great South African leader would say...Sad....Very sad turn of events...I'm disappointed.

As a South African living in Europe I am so disturbed and disgusted to see the images broadcasted on TV showing people beaten up and dead. This is inhumane and is due to the ignorance of the self-centred and inhuman president that we have. How could a man of this status claim that there is no problem in Zimbabwe? Thabo Mbeki is a disgrace to the country and to fellow Africans. South Africans should also remember that we were once refugees in other African countries. Violence should not be associated with Africa, and it is a pity that things have turned out like this. It is also a disgrace that the police is not performing their duties adequately.

The South African blacks are ingrates and the world must isolate that country if only to make a point to others with violent tendencies that friendliness, amiability and love is what is required in the world of todays. Animalistic brutalities on innocent people who are working tirelessly for the growth of the South African nation should be roundly condemned by all peace loving people of the world.

It is disheartening that the people been attacked today are the same people who stood solidly behind the black people of that country during apartheid era. In Nigeria for example, workers ( probably the parents of those who are wickedly attacked on the streets of South Africa today) were made to voluntarily part with their wages to assist the African National Congress to cripple the apartheid regime in that country. Bless Nelson Mandela , Damn all the violent seeking South Africans.

Someone has to say this. Is this what the Mexican bashing in the US leading upto. Will we wake up one day to find out mobs of armed non Hispanics attacking and burning hispanic areas or even closer to the South African situation will we see Hispanic American citizens be goaded into turning on Hispanic illegals and driving them out like the Black South Africans have turned on the illegal Blacks? People who keep raising tensions about illegal immigration in the states should see this situation and ask themselves Is THIS what we want ?

The government of South Africa is suspect and an accomplice in the senseless destruction of lives and properties across South Africa. How else do you explain that such brutish action took place without check for days in a country that has a government in place.Tabo Mbeki and its government should be tried for war crime.

I was in South Africa for a conference and a

The government of South Africa is suspect and an accomplice in the senseless destruction of lives and properties across South Africa. How else do you explain that such brutish action took place without check for days in a country that has a government in place.Tabo Mbeki and its government should be tried for war crime.

I was in South Africa for a conference and a bus driver warned me to keep a distance from rail journey because according to him " Foreigners have 90 % chance of been brutalized on the train"

What a callous nation! What a mean and babaric people!

[...] are used. There are also links to blogs from readers, journalists and news sites. One journalist blog on this topic has drawn 110 comments, many of which are from South Africans and ex-pats, expressing [...]

Any comments from Dr. Rasheed Kola would be interesting..

"What a callous nation! What a mean and babaric people!"

The Bakassi Boys: fighting crime in Nigeria
Absract:
Johannes Harnischfeger a1
a1 Department of African Studies, University of Frankfurt

"Nigeria's police and judiciary have failed to protect its citizens and have therefore lost all credibility. European principles of justice have likewise become discredited. Militias like the Bakassi Boys offer a popular alternative, which includes public executions and the use of the occult in fighting evil. But the growing fear of crime is only one reason why ‘jungle justice’ may spread. Governors and influential politicians help finance armed vigilante groups, and may make use of young men with machetes and pump-action shotguns to intimidate political opponents. As an ethnic militia that is ready to defend the interests of the ‘Igbo nation’, the Bakassi Boys have also been used to kill members of other ethnic groups. In many parts of Nigeria, ethnic and religious communities are preparing for ‘self-defence’, because they have no trust in the ability of democratic institutions to settle their conflicts."