Sun shines on Mpumalanga’s foreigners

MBOMBELA – In the province where the sun rises, foreign nationals are not fearing for their lives. While parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng have been rocked by xenophobic attacks on foreigners over the past three weeks, Mpumalanga has been free of the violence.

The closest effects were felt across the border in Mozambique when the attacks sparked protest action against South African-registered vehicles, which resulted in the temporary closure of the Lebombo Border Post last Friday. Peace had been restored on the other side of the border. Mr Fernando Lima, editor of Maputo-based publication Savannah, said the reaction to the well-documented murder of Mozambican

Mr Emmanuel Sithole in Alexandria over the weekend was angry, but no organisation had called for renewed protests. This side of the border things have been quiet too this time, after a spate of violence in 2008 where 62 foreign nationals were killed across the country.

• Xenophobia flared up in Pienaar last year. Read it here.

Experts put the cause of xenophobic attacks down to misconceptions that foreign nationals took South Africans’ jobs, driving up unemployment, and caused crime.

Mpumalanga is no exception, with an unemployment rate of 28,1 per cent and youth unemployment of 37,6 per cent, according to Statistics South Africa. Yet foreigners residing in Mbombela are not fearful for their safety.

Mr Duma Dladla (37) first came to South Africa from Mozambique in 1994. He stays in Pienaar with his wife and three children. “Life is good. Nobody has shown any negativity towards us.” He sells guavas from a shopping cart in the city centre.

“Foreigners are here to make money. We are not taking other people’s jobs, but creating our own.”

He adds that he is not worried that violence will break out, but concedes, “We can’t predict what will happen in life”. Dladla adds that speaking siSwati along with his native Xitsonga has helped him to assimilate into the community.

Another Mozambique national Mr Julius Matsinhe who has been here for 11 years, sells cellphone accessories and belts on the streets to support his family in Xai Xai.

He attributes the violence elsewhere to hatred and the demeaning of foreigners.

“We are not here to take people’s jobs. You can’t get hired without a South African ID,” he points out, and adds that some of his Mozambican counterparts engage in petty theft, targeting their countrymen too, something honest workers tried to dissuade.

Mr Paul Nyaseka (32) is also from Mozambique and stays in Pienaar, where attacks and looting broke out last year after a Somalian allegedly killed a local schoolboy. He said they were worried that something might happen, but it died down quickly.

“People from outside the country work well hand in hand with people here. We have good relationships with our neighbours.”

Mr Jay Barber (29) came to South Africa from Pakistan nine years ago. He manages a store in the CBD. During the spate of attacks in 2008, they closed the store four times a day, but the police protected them and they were unharmed.

Now he is not worried that violence will recur, but adds that it can take only one person to make a mistake and others to follow. “It is not supposed to be like this. We are all humans, who feel pain. When we work together it is better for everyone.”

Ms Khetiwe Mamba (27) is a South African and totally against xenophobia.

“Some of the foreigners help us. Some of them create job opportunities for us. Some of them are in real need back in their own home countries. During apartheid our veterans were looked after by them.”

Selling wares on the CBD sidewalk, she says some of her countrymen have probably gone over to violence because, “People are too lazy to think and come up with ideas of how to make their own money”.

Mozguide.com reports that since the stone-throwing incident last week, no incidents have been reported anywhere in Mozambique.