KwaDukuza mayor speaks out against xenophobia

Despite KwaDukuza mayor Ricardo Mthembu’s fervent plea for calm on Sunday, xenophobic violence spread from Durban onto the Dolphin Coast last night.

Speaking at the national imbizo at Thembeni sports field on Sunday, KwaDukuza mayor Ricardo Mthembu assured residents that xenophobia would not be tolerated locally.

“I want to say, what is happening in Durban, will not happen in KwaDukuza,” said Mthembu.

The violence has caused panic among foreigners staying in KwaDukuza townships.

The Courier spoke with about 20 locally based foreigners last week and they reported that fear was running rampant.

One of those we interviewed was Richard Lino from Uganda who has been living in South Africa for the past nine years.

“Since I came to this country I have not experienced any unfair discrimination, but when I heard about the xenophobic attacks, I was scared and just pray that it never comes to KwaDukuza,” said Lino.

According to the foreigners, South Africans often complain that foreigners accept any salary offered to them by employers, so when there is a job opportunity employers will employ foreigners simply because they do not complain and take what is offered to them.

KwaDukuza council speaker Thulani Khuluse confirmed that there have been complaints about foreigners who own tuck shops in the townships and sell their goods at cheaper prices than locally owned tuck shops.

The municipality is not able to control whether the private sector is paying fair wages. They could only lead by example.

“When a company receives a tender from the municipality, that company must pay their workers nothing less than R100 per day. The municipality has that rule. Unfortunately we have no control over private employers,” said Khuluse.