Alex NPOs to engage in peace-road drive

The recent looting and destruction of local and foreign-owned shops in various parts of Gauteng has spurned some NPOs into action.

The turmoil in Alex affected street traders whose items were stolen or destroyed.

Refiloe Khunou of cultural NPO Botle BoAfrika said the unrest should be a talking point for all Africans. “Seeing African citizens and their brothers and sisters from elsewhere against each other made my heart bleed. It was shameful and we need an African solution and not finger-pointing,” he said.

Referring to the isiZulu adage, indlala idala ulaka (hunger causes anger) Khunou urged for open dialogue on the issue. His organisation is partnering with NPOs, Family Federation for World Peace Unification and Cultural Development Programme Centre to promote peace as an ‘everyday practice’. The initiative will take the form of the street to street cycling events in the province.

“It’s our contribution to the annual global Peace Road drive for tolerance, harmony, deeper understanding and knowledge of the shared inter-linkages between communities. Most [communities] often get into conflicts, become enemies and need assistance to live in peaceful co-existence,” Khunou said.

He added that conflicts and migration go back in history referring to biblical times of Egyptians expelling Israelites, and Nigerians and Ghanians expelling each other from their countries to protect their national interests. “South Africa finds itself in a similar situation where xenophobic or criminal assertion, unfortunately, pits Africans against Africans for access to limited resources. It’s a natural human tendency and reaction to want to protect and benefit from what belongs to you before you can share the excess with anyone else.”

South Africans, he said, could have been on the receiving end if they had gone going en masse to other countries. Khunou added that the incidents were further compounded by angry citizens feeling betrayed by the government due to broken promises on service delivery.

“There is a perception of non-citizens allegedly having it easy through corruption, allowing them illegal residence and businesses that may likely not pay the tax… Also, some among the undocumented are said to be involved in serious criminal activities knowing they can slip away.”

Khunou said the conflicts affected mainly the lower social classes of both citizens and migrants who feel unprotected by the state when they trade on the streets. “They are all of a subsistence nature and the locals feel they shouldn’t be competing with migrants.”

He sees the tensions simmering and flaring up occasionally if the government remains lax in enforcing by-laws. Khunou questioned if the government had official records of all migrants and urged for stronger border controls and stricter immigration policy.

He dismissed the argument that other countries had given refuge to South Africans during the struggle saying those who went into exile weren’t involved in economic activities as they were put up in camps.

Khunou sees their peace initiative and dialogue as a step to restoring understanding between locals and migrants.

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