Rabat – While Pretoria presents itself as a champion of pan-African solidarity and an exemplar of human rights promotion and African dignity, reports suggest African migrants in South Africa are increasingly navigating the nightmare of anti-African xenophobia now prevailing in the country.
Converging reports indicate a rising wave of Xenophobia has been targeting African migrants for the past month. The situation has shifted from hatred and racist sentiments to violence, according to several accounts. The argument put forth by South Africans is that African migrants are living in their country illegally and profiting off their backs.
Several videos document the ordeal and challenges that African migrants increasingly face in the country. One particularly telling video shows a mob gathering to attack an African migrant.
The video depicts two men targeting the migrant – one throwing punches directly to his face while another using a stick and physically attacking him amid encouraging cheers.
Another video also shows a migrant being attacked by an angry mob. They notably demanded to see his documents. When he produced them, they questioned their authenticity and attacked him with a stick.
The situation has sparked frustration and concerns across Africa and within the larger international community. Many have urged Pretoria to end the barbaric attacks on African migrants.
Ghana has recently summoned South Africa’s envoy to the country over the acts of intimidation and harassment targeting its citizens and other African migrants in a country that often broadcasts itself as the paragon of contemporary Pan-Africanism
Reports said officials from Ghana met one of the men that were subject to physical violence to offer him support.
The Ghanaian government has also urged citizens living abroad to continue being law-abiding.
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It further shared its concerns over the xenophobic incidents against foreigners.
Ghana’s foreign ministry stated that such conduct undermines the “dignity and rights of law-abiding citizens.”
Reports show that this recent wave of anti-African xenophobia is not an isolated incident in South Africa.
Xenophobia has “long been an issue in South Africa and has been accompanied by occasional outbursts of deadly violence,” the BBC reported.
Despite the world’s frustration, many continue to demand the return of millions of foreigners to their home countries, regardless of whether they are documented or not.
The website Moneyweb has brought to light a statement from a group calling itself the Concerned Citizens and the Voters of SA, who are calling for a countrywide shutdown on May 4.
The protest seeks to end the presence of foreigners in the country.
“This appears to be the latest of several groups – among them Operation Dudula, and March and March – calling for the repatriation of foreign nationals,” the report says.
The groups also proudly declare themselves as “xenophobic,” stressing: “We want all foreigners, documented or not, out of this country as a matter of urgency.”
Several reports in South Africa also highlighted South African authorities’ surprising silence over the escalating situation, criticizing the absence of any public official reaction to the unfolding episode of anti-African violence.
Many African bloggers have lambasted Pretoria, describing the silence of the South African government as a form of tacit approval of the ongoing wave of anti-African sentiments.