R2K and Africa Solidarity Network Condemn Xenophobia & Tribalism

The Right 2 Know Campaign together with Africa Solidarity Network (ASONET) calls on leaders from all sectors of society to publicly condemn the recent xenophobic views emanating from the social media account of the African Basic Movement (ABM) and to rally their constituencies against anti-foreigner /xenophobic and ethnically -based threats and sentiment.

Government and leaders from all sectors of society must do whatever is possible to quell the outpouring of xenophobia and threats of attacks on non-Zulu and Indian people by this shadowy and dangerous ‘movement’.. The constitution of South Africa protects the right to freedom of movement and the right to security within the country. These same rights cannot be continuously violated by this group.

It is nothing short of a tragedy that South Africa has failed, since 2008, to deal with xenophobia decisively rather than reactively.  It has become almost normal for various threats to be issued, for foreign owned shops to be periodically looted, and for physical violence to be meted out against foreign nationals before measures are put in place. In the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal it has become the norm for discriminatory statements to be issued against Non-Zulu people. Xenophobic and tribal sentiments and actions appear to be orchestrated and if left unchecked, can spiral out of control. Just as there is a National Action Plan to tackle racism, similar plans should be developed to combat xenophobia and tribalism.

There are three key issues that fuel xenophobic tendencies and actions:

Poor leadership – We must look back to certain incidents in which leaders have made statements peppered with anti-foreigner sentiment. If leaders are not rebuked for xenophobic talk, then we should not be surprised that citizens feel emboldened to propagate such views.

A failing criminal justice system – The justice system is currently failing the people of this country in terms of effectively dealing with utterances and actions that are in direct violation of the rights of everyone who lives and works in our country.

Prejudice against anyone deemed to be the ‘other’ – Today, foreigners are seen as the ‘other’ and in KZN, the same goes for the Indian and Xhosa people

We are calling all citizens to support #NoToXenophobia and #NoToTribalism campaigns.