Xenophobia: A direct result of failed ANC economic policies

From within the ranks of the South African Communist Party (SACP) comes the criticism that the security services have been caught napping. From all quarters comes the call that we need to understand the source of all this hatred before we can attempt to address it. This contribution is an attempt to provide such an analysis.

Our African working class brothers and sisters have been working in South Africa since the 1980s. Cheap labour was imported to work in the mines. For the last 20 years, economic immigrants have been fleeing war, poverty and the consequences of structural adjustment programmes from various parts of Africa and have been taking refuge in our various townships in South Africa.

There were no reported incidents of xenophobic violence. The first reported incidents started in the Western and Eastern Cape. Somali traders were forced from their homes and shops. And in certain cases, they were attacked and killed, and nothing was done by the state to address this, except for attempts to get the different parties to work together. The state has blamed criminal elements mostly for the violence. The main gripe was that Somali shopkeepers sell their goods at a cheaper price, thereby undercutting the market.

The scale of the attacks on immigrants in Gauteng has apparently caught everyone by surprise, but is this in fact the case?

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http://wsws.org/articles/2008/aug2008/lett-a01.shtml