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Thread: ALEX - The New Frontier!

  1. #11
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave A View Post
    Is it as simple as frustration being expressed, though?
    Probably not, but I am sure that the instigators of the violence fiddled the right tune. Whatever the cause of these specific events, there appears to be major underlying tension which is being exploited, and which needs to be urgently addressed.
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  2. #12
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    That is a real poser!

    I don't really know how the MOBS can identify quickly a Shangaan from Giyani or one from Mozambique. Is it a recipe for open tribal warfare?

  3. #13
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
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    Unfortunately we have to contend with yet another disturbing Fact-a-day,

    81% of urban South Africans agree with the statement 'South Africa should severely limit immigration into the country from troubled African countries.' (FutureFact 2007)
    But on a slightly lighter note...
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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  4. #14
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
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    A separate task team was announced by President Thabo Mbeki this weekend to deal with the attacks, but has not met yet. The team will comprise representatives from the departments of safety and security, intelligence, social development, defence and the Presidency.

    According to Siobhan McCarthy, this team will look at long-term, sustainable solutions. The terms of reference are still being decided on, and the team will be led by the director general of home affairs.

    Apart from this, the government is continuing with its johnny-come-lately approach.

    "Our primary concern now is that people under attack, making sure they have food and somewhere to stay," McCarthy said.

    The provincial leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) is congratulating itself on playing a pivotal role in stopping the violence in Alexandra and Diepsloot townships.

    Provincial ANC spokesperson Nat Kekana said the party had convened meetings with the community shortly after the attacks started. "There the community took a decision that this things has to stop."

    The ANC also sees "a pattern emerging" in the attacks.

    "They all start in the hostels and the people living around the hostels are the ones who are in danger. The criminal elements use these hostels as havens. From the pattern we can deduce there is a hidden hand."

    Full story on M&G Online
    The hidden hand in this story is the government's - where is it? 5 10 days on and the panel hasn't even met yet. The lack of urgency is quite sickening.
    Last edited by duncan drennan; 21-May-08 at 07:52 AM.
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  5. #15
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    That cartoon is classic!
    According to Siobhan McCarthy, this team will look at long-term, sustainable solutions. The terms of reference are still being decided on, and the team will be led by the director general of home affairs.
    Yet another two-years-to-reach-a-conclusion committee in the making. And the department of home affairs' track record on delivery is less than encouraging too.

  6. #16
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
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    Yet another fact-a-day,

    69% of urban South Africans agree with the statement 'Immigrants are a threat to jobs for South Africans, they should not be allowed into the country.' (FutureFact 2006)
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  7. #17
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    So Thabo has authorised military deployment now
    As violent xenophobic clashes that have claimed at least 42 lives spread from Gauteng to Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, President Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for the "involvement" of the military.

    "[Mbeki] has approved a request from the South African Police Service [SAPS] for the involvement of the South African National Defence Force [SANDF] in stopping ongoing attacks on foreign nationals in Gauteng province," his office said in a statement.

    SANDF and SAPS operations members were in a planning session on Wednesday night on when to deploy, said Director Sally de Beer, spokesperson in the office of the police national commissioner.

    Defence Ministry spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi said there would be a military presence in the strife-hit areas "as soon as all that needs to be done is complete".
    full story from M&G here
    Play time is over by the looks of things.

  8. #18
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
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    "Because we believe there are forces in this country and outside who continue to refuse to accept that we are capable as a people to rule and govern ourselves, that we are capable as Africans to set an agenda that seeks to uplift our people from the shackle of poverty visited upon us by the colonial past."
    I find this statement very disturbing. It is just too much of an echo of things we've heard from up north.

    There are also plenty of other disturbing things in the full article (worth a read) on M&G online.
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  9. #19
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Spoken from a "they're out to get us" mindset by the looks of things. I'm leaning towards it being driven by opportunistic rabble rousers rather than a concerted plot.

    I tend to agree with this, though:
    He said there were challenges in service delivery, and corruption, especially in the allocation of housing.

    Part of the reason people took it out on foreigners was that they discovered that though they were on a waiting list for a home, a foreigner who had taken advantage of corruption in the system might be renting out as many as four homes.

    "Because people sometimes do not find channels to raise their complaints, they resort to [violence]."
    It is the root powder keg that has been tapped into. And gov needs to accept their responsibility for those conditions being there.

  10. #20
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    I had a quiet moment to chat to my ground floor grapevine today. And here's the word according to them:

    The issue is about the employment of illegal immigrants who are prepared to work for substantially less than the locals. The "immigrant owned" enterprises being attacked are employing fellow immigrants (mostly illegal and thus vulnerable to exploitation) instead of South Africans. This very cheap labour not only denies employment opportunities for the locals, it is allowing these enterprises to undercut SA local enterprises, causing even more unemployment and hardship for the locals. The immigrant owners are still prospering quite nicely in the middle of all this, so we can add envy/jealousy to the mix.

    Now that sounds like a perfectly plausible cause to me.

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