EFF condemns the state-sponsored war against black foreign nationals
15 August 2019
The EFF condemns the state sponsored Afro-phobic war against black foreign nationals. It is a fact that the South African government is fuelling hatred and violence against foreign nationals over the past two weeks.
Unable to resolve the poverty, inequality and unemployment conditions facing black communities, government is engaged in a program to blame and sponsor anger at black foreign nationals in the Johannesburg CBD, which is now spreading to townships.
This morning, the residents of Soweto woke up to loot shops Of foreign nationals, taking the lead from the full on attack that the state led in Johannesburg CBD last week. This phenomenon will likely spread across the country started by the orgy Of violence by the government in the name of counterfeit goods.
We condemn it as a reactionary and short-sighted self-hate driven mass violence against our own. Had it been white people who were harassed by police in mass arrests; the whole world would have already called it out for what it is: human rights violation. However, black lives do not matter even for a black government like in South Africa.
It is a fact that most Black People who have to deal with the police and home affairs officials regarding immigration documentation are met with systematised corruption: they are forced to bribe SAPS, custom duty officials or JMPD. It is also impossible to attain legal documents on anything from the South African government if you are a black foreign national. This is because the illegality of foreign nationals allows government officials to continue benefiting from corruption.
In addition, whilst counterfeit goods are bad, the targeting of Black People fuels the Afro-phobia that is already deeply entrenched in our communities. It entrenches the idea that crime embedded with black foreign nationals when in fact is far from the truth. All people are engaged in crime, white and black, foreigners and citizens. What allows crime to flourish is a corrupt government that makes illegality the only way of surviving.
The EFF refuses to join in the reactionary and self-hate driven program against our black brothers and sisters. We call on all EFF members and branches to work hard against the Afro-phobic violence that is on the rise. We must educate our communities that Africa is one, it was always one and its economic success and sustainable peace depends on it being Finally, we call on police not to open their guns against vulnerable people in the name Of "undocumented foreign nationals".
It is dear that the South African government is turning its back on the history of its own freedom. For no country in the world benefited from the solidarity of its neighbours like South Africa, for attainment of political freedoms. In Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and many Other counties in Africa, many paid with their lives for the freedom of South Africa. We are last people in the world to be so hateful of black foreign nationals; it must stop and it starts with the government.
Issued by Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, National Spokesperson, EFF, 15 August 2019
