Sonke reminds the South African government that equality is the hard-fought for cornerstone of our democracy, and there is no space for any violence against people based on their race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or identity, ethnicity, disability, religion or creed. “When South Africans fighting for equality were being persecuted by the Apartheid government, it was many of our neighbours in Africa who gave safe refuge to those fighting the cause of freedom,” says Sonke’s Communication Manager, Czerina Patel, “All South Africans have a responsibility to speak out against violence meted out against vulnerable or marginalised people, but also to ensure that South Africa’s international reputation as a country that embraces equality and human rights is not damaged by those who seek to oppress on the basis of difference.”
Sonke notes with sadness the tragic deaths in Soweto and Langlaagte following the looting of small businesses such as spaza shops and cafes, and where shops owned by cross-border migrants seem to be the main targets. This looting and violence draw attention to ongoing levels of xenophobia in South Africa following, in particular, the brutal deaths of at least 62 people during widespread xenophobic attacks in May 2008. The African Centre for Migration & Society at the University of Witwatersrand points out that those xenophobic attacks didn’t stop in May 2008, and that in fact more people have died in attacks against foreign nationals every year, than in 2008. Many reports cite government inaction as one reason for the continued violence. Sonke Gender Justice condemns the outbreak of xenophobic violence in Gauteng
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