South African religious leaders condemn xenophobic killings
ENI-08-0391, By David Wanless, Cape Town, 16 May 2008

Many South Africans have been shocked by a wave of violence directed against foreigners living in poorer areas around Johannesburg, the country's largest city, during the past week, with condemnation also coming from religious leaders.

Homes have been looted, people have been attacked and killed in what police have described as "orchestrated anarchy". Despite a visit to the Johannesburg suburb of Alexandra by a high powered delegation of provincial and national government leaders, the violence has continued and spread to other areas around the city.

In a statement on 15 May, the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches, Eddie Makue urged people to desist from violence. "As people of faith," he said, "we strongly condemn the use of violence and intimidation, particularly insofar as it is targeted against strangers and uprooted people.

"Throughout the apartheid era, many of our neighbours welcomed those who had been uprooted by the turmoil in our own land," said the leader of the SACC, which represents Orthodox and Protestant Christians and South Africa's Roman Catholic bishops. "By the grace of God, we are now in the position to do the same for those who have been displaced by contemporary social, political and economic upheavals."

Unofficial estimates suggest as many as four million undocumented foreigners, mainly from people fleeing from hardship and oppression in Zimbabwe, may be living in South Africa.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies urged foreigners to be treated with "ubuntu", a philosophy of reaching out to those nearby. It said on 16 May it was dismayed by the xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg. "As a people who have been the target of hate crimes, genocide and prejudice for centuries, the Jewish community appeals to all citizens of South Africa to treat the strangers in our land in the great spirit of 'ubuntu'," said Owen Futeran, the chairperson of Cape Town's branch of the Jewish board.

Residents of affected areas have complained on television and radio, and in press interviews, that "foreigners are stealing our jobs". There have also been some allegations that immigrants have bribed officials to get state housing ahead of South Africans. Authorities have suggested that criminal gangs might be taking advantage of the political upheaval.

Local churches and South African police stations have given refuge to those who have been displaced, and church leaders have called for justice and peace in the affected areas. Leaders from SACC member churches in the central Gauteng province are working with local church leaders in Alexandra to provide assistance to those worst affected by the violence, and to address the underlying factors which have given rise to these acts.

The Rev. Gift Moerane, ecumenical secretary for the SACC Gauteng region, referring to the problems of rapidly rising food and fuel prices, urged South Africans not to fall into the "easy trap of making foreign nationals, or any other equally vulnerable group, scapegoats for the difficult and complex problems they are compelled to face". [508 words]