FNF Africa Regional Office: No to Xenophobia

Regional Director Hubertus von Welck, Nkosikulule Nyembezi and Project Officer Masechaba Mdaka On 22 July 2010, FNF Africa joined the ‘Unite as One’ campaign alongside the foundation’s partner Southern African Legal Assistance Network (SALAN) member organization Black Sash. Mr Nkosikulule Nyembezi, the Advocacy Programme Manager for Black Sash, paid a visit to the FNF office in Johannesburg to discuss the very important issue of xenophobic violence in South Africa.

Various government ministries, civil society organizations, non governmental organizations (NGOs) and religious leaders have been roped in to rally behind the ‘Unite as One’ campaign. The idea of this campaign is to create a wave of messages and a coordinated approach to raise awareness about the threats of xenophobia. Black Sash, alongside the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, the Sonke Gender Justice Network and PASSOP are leading the campaign. One of the goals of the campaign is to collect one million signatures before the African Human Rights Day on 21 October 2010.

The surge of xenophobic violence which occurred in May 2008 was mainly targeted against Zimbabweans, Mozambicans and Somalians, who work and trade mostly in the informal sector. The recent rumours of xenophobic threats seem to have more of a criminal background, being disseminated by people, who want to steel, rape and loot, using foreigners as a scapegoat for their criminal activities.

Mr Nyembezi said “the campaign seeks to identify the real causes of the rise of this type of violence, modify people’s behaviour and bring about social cohesion”. There are a variety of activities lined up to make it easier to engage with the broader South African community on discussions about xenophobia. The hope is that education will empower South Africans to be aware of the injustice of xenophobic violence, and to stand up and report xenophobic threats and acts of violence as well as breaking down stereotypes and barriers between South Africa and foreigners. Mr Hubertus von Welck and staff members at the FNF Regional Office in Johannesburg joined the campaign by signing the pledge.

For more information on the campaign, go to www.uniteasone.org.za, and www.facebook.com/unite.as.one

By Masechaba Mdaka and Feline Freier


Johannesburg Office

overview