Cape on xeno alert

Dorianne Arendse

The provincial government in the Western Cape said it is keeping a close on eye on the situation in the various townships in the province after several foreign owned shops were looted on Sunday. The spokesperson for provincial disaster management, Daniella Ebenezer, said 70 foreigners had sought refuge overnight at the Mbekweni police station in Paarl and 22 at the Wellington police station. Recent media reports have indicated that they may be renewed xenophobic violence in the province once the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup ends.

"The South African Police have reported to us that there was sporadic looting on Sunday in the Western Cape on shops owned by foreign nationals. They have also indicated that the situation is under control and that they are maintaining a high visibility in the most vulnerable areas. As provincial government we are monitoring the situation together with our municipal disaster centres and we are providing information to the police about any threats," she said.

According to Ebenezer, the provinces community development workers are playing a pivotal role in providing information to police on any threats. "The provinces community development workers have been instrumental to authorities in providing information on what is happening on the ground.

"We have provincial mediators who went into the communities last week who will continue their efforts this week. Provincial and local governments are on standby to provide humanitarian support should this be required. In addition to this the provincial disaster management joint operations centre established for the World Cup is still in operation, as is the City's joint operation centre and the South African Police," said Ebenezer.

She said that the faith based organizations in the various communities have been running workshops similar to the one which was held in Khayelitsha on Friday morning. The spokesman for the ministry of police, Zweli Mnisi said they are pleased with this initiative. He said the community had invited the Minster of Police Nathi Mthetwa to address the community. Last Thursday Mthetwa outlined a detailed planned to combat any outbreak of violence post world cup.

"We commend the community of Khayelitsha because we launched our plan on Thursday but by Friday this community had called to ask us to came and interact with the community- so that we as government was able to see what they were doing as community to combat xenophobia. They took the first step towards saying no to xenophobia, no to racism and not afro-pessimism. It was a community driven issue which as government we support this," said Mnisi.

In addition, Mnisi has called on the media to report responsibly on issues like xenophobia. This comes after media reports last week had indicated that scores of foreign nationals were seen along the national highway with their belongings and would be moving out of the province because of the rumours of xenophobic violence. He said the department had done their own research and had in fact spoken to the foreign nationals, who turned out to be seasonal workers looking for other employment.

"It brings me to another point of responsible reporting. The reports in the media last week were not true. The fact of the matter is that our intelligence has basic security on board. They then discovered that in the Western Cape there are seasonal workers who would leave in droves to find other employment. So for some of the media to give the impression that they were leaving because fears is irresponsible," he said.

He said that following the threats of intimidation to foreign nationals in some townships, the Ministers for Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu and the Minister for Police came to Cape Town today to get first hand reports from senior law enforcement officers. "Senior officers reported that criminal elements are threatening innocent foreign nationals and taking their goods and assts.

"The police reported that they had made arrests in a number of incidents. The Ministers has instructed law enforcement agencies to deal harshly with anyone who threatens any citizen in the country. Foreign nationals who are intimidated and threatened must report the perpetrators to the police," said Mnisi.