The blogosphere is dominated by the “xenophobic attacks” against foreigners in South Africa [mainly Johannesburg, but other cities have also experience violence in the past 6 months]

Turista Africana

Turista Africana a Kenyan academic living in Johannesburg has written two of the most comprehensive pieces on the violence in the past couple of days.
In the latest post she covers the radio discussions with comments ranging from those cheering on the mob violence to those who believe in Ubuntu and love “all Africans”. Comments also from foreigners and businesses - one woman was asked if they hire foreigners! (presuming they did they would become targets?)
“Many good solutions and places to start are articulated in the course of these radio discussions (mostly education, education, education, and raising of self-esteem). I wonder if those responsible for social development in government are listening (to radio with notebook and pen handy)? Probably not. Because, on this continent, government will not bring the solutions we seek. We need to come up with new models of problem solving. I know many Kenyans were busy quoting how decentralization has helped South Africa. All policies look great on paper. The rub is in their implementation. Right now, all South African provinces are not equal. Some are paying more attention to development than others which are busy making corruption their mainstay. Give it another 10 years of this trend and you’ll have a right proper ethnic situation, and how it develops will be determined by how this current situation is handled.”

Groogle
http://groogle.co.za/2008/05/18/does-burning-an-alive-human-being-constitute-a-crisis-thabo/

Groogle asks Thabo Mbeki whether burning people alive constitutes a crisis – a comment on what he views as Mbeki’s “denialism” both on Zimbabwe and the state of South Africa and writes.....
“I am ashamed to be associated with this image. I am ashamed that there are people out there with no sense of humanity. I am ashamed, I am angry; I am actually fucking pissed off! This image better be a wake-up call to the South African government, to our very own president, who has so far left his people in the lurch, and has left those fleeing from his quiet diplomacy to burn in hell, literally!”

Nigeria, What’s New
http://nigeriawhatisnew.blogspot.com/2008/05/violence-against-immigrants-south.html

Nigeria, What’s New wonders what happened to the “my brother’s keeper” tradition that is supposedly part of “all Africa”? He goes on to say that immigrants have become the scapegoats of all South Africa’s problems...
“Its high rate of unemployment, a shortage of housing and one of the worst levels of crime in the world. But then again this is not new. In 1983, Alhaji Shehu Shagari's government expelled more than one million foreigners, mostly Ghanaians, saying they had overstayed their visas and were taking jobs from Nigerians. History repeating!”

African Loft
http://www.africanloft.com/south-africans-burn-the-welcome-mat/

The xenophobia in South Africa is well documented and no African foreigner who has visited or lived there comes away without experiencing it first hand. However when presented with a historical list of events on which anti foreign violence took place in post independence South Africa, the violence seems even more disturbing.

Black Looks
http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/05/more_thoughts_on_anti-immigraton_violence_.html

Black Looks tries to go beyond the violence by dwelling on the fragility of South African society and the failure of the post apartheid government to meet the expectations of the masses. This does not in anyway justify the violence but does put it in a global context of poverty and social injustice.
“The reasons given by indigenous people for their dislike of immigrants is the same whether in South Africa, Britain, France or the US. They are taking our jobs, our women, they are responsible for increases in the crime rate, they walk off the plane / boat / bus and into a flat, they undermine our labour. Sit on a bus in London and watch when a Somali woman gets on with a pram and a toddler. The hostility is so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife and it’s not just white people who are hostile. The reality is so far from the myth, so how does the myth begin to dominate and feed the hostility and violence?

* Sokari Ekine blogs at www.blacklooks.org

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

Mawuli has just hit the nail on the head in his article . I'm a TV talk show hostess billed to discuss women involvement in this year's elections on my talk shows, but I'm very heart broken. Heart broken because our men are just fighting to get the few women in parliament out. The parties are now on their primaries and eliminating those few women (about 22). How can we progress as a nation with this behaviour? God help our nation!

Regarding : please create a petition on one of the popular petition sites to facilitate a louder voice than a few emails; This issue applies to many civil war torn countries and should be made public to the widest public to get the support it deserves.

is one of the best articles. This is reality and should be considered as it is very informative. Thanks to the author!

It seems, SACP did not yet get corrupted by power, could resist stalinification and never got subjugated . Correct historical analysis (like this article) does not get supressed. The deputy general secretary of SAPC speakes out against ZANUfication of South Africa and pulls its hypocrite and powerfull protectors into focus. YCL and COSATU seem to be the South African hope for democracy and solidatity. I salute to all these people of sincerity and human dignity.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/372/48212zimbabwe-police.jpgAr… that Mugabe has been "talking left" while "walking right" Grace Kwinjeh analyses Zimbabwe through regional, African and global capitalism.

The post election crisis in Zimbabwe and the SADC region is a manifestation of much deeper, complex issues to do with global capitalism and its vampire-like tendencies.

At the root of the problems is the failure of our nationalist governments to deal with these dimensions of the global crisis: food shortages and price hikes; oil speculation; financial meltdowns and higher interest rates. These manifest themselves as rising inequality and unemployment and competition between very poor people in places like Alexandra, Tembisa, Diepkloof and the Johannesburg inner city for scarce resources.

It is only by addressing these issues that we can meet the aspirations of the masses for freedom and decent lives.

Forces both local and global may seem to be worlds apart in the definition and context of the Zimbabwean struggle but we African citizens are all in an awkward position.

GLOBAL CAPITALISM

While we are fighting the Robert Mugabe dictatorship, we Zimbabweans have not been spared from the negative impact of global capitalism on our livelihoods especially in poor communities - as we are currently witnessing, in the current xenophobic attacks against us in South Africa.

The xenophobia exposes not only working-class people's fears of lower wages, higher crime and new cultural influences, as is the explanation at first blush. In addition, we can see in the attacks on non-nationals the duplicitous role our national elites play in pushing us further to the mercy of capitalist forces while they label us in the opposition – puppets of the West.

The attacks are being condemned by progressive forces in SA, including COSATU Secretary General, Zwelinzima Vavi, who said: "I want to send out this message: It is not the Zimbabweans (exiles) that cause the problems (of the poor)".

He cited the capitalist system as the problem and argued that South Africa should focus on building an economic system that could: "seriously eradicate poverty".

The same position reiterated by the Anti-Privatisation Forum:"Let us not forget that it is South African corporate capital – through the framework of NEPAD – that has, over the last decade, moved into other African countries, most often causing many local, smaller businesses to close down and thus contributing to a situation in which many poor people have lost their jobs."

THREE MILLION EXILES

There are over three million of us eking out a living outside Zimbabwe's borders, a result of the failure of our national leaders to deliver both politically and economically for us at home. The situation gets more ridiculous when looked at within the context of the aspirations spelt out in the reformed African Union, in the New Partnership for Africa's Development, and its dream of an African Renaissance.

These programmes are again full of empty rhetoric framed, more to attract international donor funds and less to deliver dignity to African citizens, negating our 'ubuntuness', which espouses values to do with compassion, value for human life, respect for each other and harmonious existence.

Even as Frantz Fanon prophesied back then on the dilemma of African Unity in post–colonial Africa: "Now the nationalist bourgeois, who in region after region hasten to make their own fortunes and to set up a national system of exploitation, do their utmost to put obstacles in the path of this 'Utopia'. The national bourgeoisies, who are quite clear as to what their objectives are, have decided to bar the way to that unity, to that coordinated effort on the part of two hundred and fifty million men to triumph over stupidity, hunger and inhumanity at one and the same time."

Fanon’s insight helps us understand the failures of Mugabe and his allies beyond their “leftist” rhetoric. They are forever trapped in the awkward “talk left – walk right” jive as they remain arguably the best custodians of capitalist/imperialist forces, in our countries.

Mugabe flirted with the US military for many years, and until 1998 was considered amongst the highest-performing of World Bank and International Monetary Fund puppets, earning a "highly satisfactory" rating from the Bretton Woods Institutions in 1995. Did he not use $205 million in hard currency in 2006 to repay the IMF for failed loans?

In Zimbabwe today those suffering under the yoke of Mugabe's oppression are us black citizens. We are the homeless, the jobless, the battered and the bruised.

MAJORITY NOT RESPECTED

We are in the majority of those whose vote is not respected, in a negation of that very national liberation struggle aspirations of 'one man one vote.'

At the moment, Zimbabweans are just as good as people who did not go out to vote. We remain at the mercy of the dictatorship, as Mugabe is determined at each turn to reverse our hard-earned victories.

The elections did not deliver change. Instead, the moment of triumph against Mugabe and his cohort soon turned into a nightmare. The opposition won against one of the most entrenched liberation movements on the African continent. We romped to victory with a narrow parliamentary majority, equal seats as Zanu PF in the Senate and a majority votes in the Presidential election count. It was a great achievement given the odds placed against any possible opposition electoral victory.

DEVASTATING RETRIBUTION

“One group grabbed a 79-year-old widow, yanked up her skirt, then lashed her bare buttocks with barbed-wire whips as two dozen terrified relatives looked on. The woman, Martha Mucheto, said she cried in pain and shame. ‘If none of you confesses, we will hit this granny until she's dead,’ Mucheto, a great-grandmother and former nurse's aide, recalled hearing. She spoke from a hospital bed in Harare.”

The story of Mugabe's retribution against innocent civilians gets more devastating each day – from abductions, torture to cold blooded gruesome murders.

Old grannies such as gogo Mucheto are not spared in this brutality. Young men are killed in cold blood. The latest case is of Better Chokururama who was shot once and stabbed four times around the chest area by Mugabe's thugs. Chokururama was buried on 17 May 2008, one of at least two dozen MDC members killed for their beliefs in recent weeks, and one of several hundred since 2000.

Most affected are the already-struggling and impoverished rural folks. Scores are being displaced our national leaders to deliver both politically and economically for us at home. The situation gets more ridiculous when looked at within the context of the aspirations spelt out in the reformed African Union, in the New Partnership for Africa's Development, and its dream of an African Renaissance.

MAJORITY NOT RESPECTED

We are in the majority of those whose vote is not respected, in a negation of that very national liberation struggle aspirations of 'one man one vote.'

At the moment, Zimbabweans are just as good as people who did not go out to vote. We remain at the mercy of the dictatorship, as Mugabe is determined at each turn to reverse our hard-earned victories.

The elections did not deliver change. Instead, the moment of triumph against Mugabe and his cohort soon turned into a nightmare. The opposition won in their own areas while others find their way to towns, many being victims of torture.

Zanu PF, the liberation movement that defeated the colonialists in a protracted struggle, somehow concluded that they should hold state power in perpetuity. The era of democratization has not yet arrived. The elites in Zimbabwe, like their despotic friends elsewhere in the world, disdain the notion that elections are the process through which people elect leaders of their choice.

Elections remain a privilege that is denied to the masses. As Zimbabwe prepares for a run-off on the 27th of June, we expect once again to be fed nauseating fascist propaganda on good citizenry and patriotism. Mugabe has declared war against the people of the world.

We have an obligation to organize ourselves and fight back. As Fanon advised: "…we must understand that African Unity can only be achieved through the upward thrust of the people, and under the leadership of the people, and that is to say, in defiance of the interests of the bourgeoisie."

The marches on 17 May 2008, led by COSATU, helped to strengthen people-to-people solidarity. The way our SATAWU comrades exposed and fought against the 'ship of shame' and stopped it from offloading its cargo of arms in Durban, is a show of solidarity that the people of Zimbabwe will forever remember.

Zimbabwe does not need arms. We are not at war. We want decent jobs, homes, schools and food.

*Grace Kwinjeh is an NEC member of the MDC and the Chairperson of the Global Zimbabwe Forum.

**Please send comments to or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

The United Nations is investigating allegations that its peacekeepers sexually abused children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), its mission in the war-scarred country said on Wednesday. The mission (Monuc) "is deeply concerned by allegations that surfaced recently of sexual exploitation and abuse against some of its Blue Helmets, in the province of North Kivu", spokesperson Kemal Saiki told reporters.

The World Bank says it is recalibrating its financing for anti-AIDS efforts in Africa, which shoulders more than two-thirds of the world's HIV/AIDS burden. Some 22.5 million Africans are HIV-positive, and AIDS is the leading cause of premature death on the continent, according to the bank. Hardest hit are productive young people and women. So much so, that many private firms recruit two workers for every job in anticipation of losing staff to the disease.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has urged the country's main opposition party to return to talks to break deadlock of more than a year in forming a power-sharing government in semi-autonomous Zanzibar. Talks between the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, or Party of the Revolution) and the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) faltered earlier this year, leaving the Zanzibar islands, where politics have often turned violent, in limbo.

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Political parties in Sierra Leone have underscored their commitment to holding peaceful local council elections in July at an inter-party dialogue meeting hosted by the United Nations. The main political parties in Sierra Leone have agreed to refrain from engaging in “any activity which is detrimental to the holding of a peaceful election.”

The United Nations refugee agency has expanded its repatriation operation to the town of Moba in south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by launching road returns this week from Zambia.

The United Nations has evacuated most of its staff from the Sudanese town of Abyei, located in a disputed oil-rich area, amid continued shooting between Government forces and the former southern rebels with whom they reached a peace deal in January 2005.

Imagine that it is May 25, 2063, the 100th anniversary of Africa Day, a day for reflecting on Africa’s successes and failures. The newspaper headline announces, “Last Remaining Oil field in West Africa’s American Territory Dries Up.” The article continues: “The last patch of rainforest will soon be empty land scarred by oil pipelines, pumping stations, and natural gas refineries. Wholesale pollution will be the environmental legacy for future generations.

Do ethnically dominated party systems affect the quality of democracy? This Afrobarometer paper measures levels of ethnic voting and tests its relationship to the quality of democracy. The evidence suggests that the extent to which party systems in sub-Saharan Africa are ethnically dominated negatively affects certain measures of the quality of democracy

Two years after a United Nations committee requested that Senegal prosecute or extradite the former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré, no action has been taken, six human rights organizations has said. Habré fled to Senegal after he was deposed in 1990. Senegal has an unambiguous legal obligation to prosecute or extradite the former dictator to face charges of torture, said a joint statement by several human rights groups.

When tens of thousands of people staged demonstrations in Mexico last year to protest a 60 percent increase in the price of tortillas, many analysts pointed to biofuel as the culprit. Because of US government subsidies, American farmers were devoting more and more acreage to corn for ethanol than for food, which sparked a steep rise in corn prices, says Walden Bello.