Monday, May 19, 2008

Making Guests Feel At Home.

South Africans it seems like to make their visitors feel at home, which isn't so good when their home is Zimbabwe:

The violence in Alexandra started on Sunday evening when an enraged mob marched to a hostel in London Road, targeting foreigners mainly from Zimbabwe whom they accuse of stealing precious jobs and contributing to worsening crime rates.

The crowd beat the immigrants, forced others from their rooms and shot dead two men – one a South African who refused to take part in the attack.

I've heard about the supposed hostility between black South Africans and Zimbabweans before but had thought that it was to do with the South African sympathy for Robert Mugabe. Given South Africa's responsibility for sustaining Mugabe in power, and thus fueling the Zimbabwe exodus, the attention of the rioters should really be directed against themselves. Whilst recent actions such as the refusal by Durban dockers to unload Zanu weapons is welcome, it hardly makes up for the behaviour of the Rainbow Nation's political elite, who memorably gave Robert Mugabe a standing ovation at the infamous 2001 anti racism conference.

{Link via UK Commentators}

No comments: