Kate Janse an Rensburg, Mikaela Erskog & Fezokuhle Mthonti, Daily Maverick
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| Picture by Kate Janse van Rensburg |
Rumours had been circulating that a bearded Muslim man was
responsible for recent murders in and around Grahamstown over the past year.
The unfounded rumours were exacerbated during a Taxi Drivers Association (TDA)
protest on that Wednesday. Mariam Iqbal, a local resident whose family was
threatened, said she received a phone call to tell her that members of the TDA
were protesting for better road infrastructure and the frustration had turned
to the issue of unresolved murders. She was warned to close her shop as foreign
nationals were being linked to the murders. A looting spree then swept the
town.
A Grahamstown local whose husband is a Pakistani national who
has been in South Africa for a little over 10 years, is one of many women
affected by the recent xenophobic attacks. Over 300 shops have been looted and
more than 500 people displaced. “My brother-in-law called my husband and told
him that they had started throwing stones outside the shop. He tried to lock
the looters out of one of the shops but was too afraid as the looters were
approaching,” she said
A young woman, visibly on edge, explained: “We lost
everything [in the looting]. My kids don’t have clothes or food … I am afraid –
I have heard people talking about attacking my friend. My body keeps shaking, I
have no appetite. I am not happy at all.” She worries about her young children.
She is not able to produce milk due to the stress. All the infant food supplies
and clothes were taken last week. After the family business was emptied out,
she has no means of income to support them.
“We nearly lost my husband’s papers [identity
documentation],” she added, worried about the legitimacy of their residency in
South Africa. She has not been able to see her husband, as male foreign
nationals were advised to stay in a separate safe house. Initially Islamic male
members of the community were targeted, resulting in evacuations to a location
outside the town.
Soon after, Hi-tech guards and some members of the community
stood guard outside the shops. Ayanda Kota, a member of the Unemployed People’s
Movement (UPM) was among the people who helped protect people’s property. “It
is only the UPM and the local EFF [Economic Freedom Fighters] branch that are
helping us,” says one woman. “The government must help us. They must step in.”
Interventions by South African community members have been
vital because they too are feeling the effects. Muriel Williams, who lives in
Extension 9, described how people in the affected areas are suffering: “There
is no bread. The shops are all closed since Wednesday. There is no money for
the [R16] trip to town to get bread. It is a struggle.”
While the current living situation is dire, what has been
equally troubling for many of the victims of the looting and xenophobic threats
are the responses of various police officers. Williams explained: “On
Wednesday, two ladies passed my house with bags full of [looted groceries and
household] things. Someone asked them what they were doing and they told us
that the police said that they can take it. How do police look after us if it
is them who are helping to take from foreigners?”
Distrust of the police is amplifying by the lack of
communication on definitive actions to end the violence. Failed communication seems
to have been a consistent problem with the police and municipality. Rabiah
Hoosin, a target of the xenophobic assaults, said: “The councillors knew a week
before about the dangerous rumours. They should have acted earlier … The police
also knew. They should have gone to the location and addressed the people. I
hear the councillors had meetings about it. They were supposed to tell people.
We have lost everything based on rumours.”
Many women have been targeted for their manner of dress,
especially their headscarves. “People are judging us by what we wear and swear
at us,” explained Hoosin. Another woman, Rehana Naveed, said: “They don’t
accept the way we dress. We are not going to change for them. We are human
beings, the same as them. They must accept it.” One of the women, however,
decided against wearing her headscarf and all other identifiably Islamic
clothing. “I wanted to see their faces, [and] know what they looked like,” she
said.
Grahamstown local Ali is growing increasingly anxious. Her
husband and son have been in Pakistan and have had to delay their flight back
twice. She fears that continuing xenophobic tensions will prevent her son
finishing his academic year in Grahamstown. “People really don’t understand the
impact that they are having on the development of young children. My child
might have to do an extra year of school as a result of this,” she explained.
Ali is also worried about the safety of her son and husband in Pakistan as
there have been reports of an earthquake.
Holding her daughter tightly, Jacqueline Khokam, the wife of
a Bangladeshi shop owner, reflected on the total chaos of the past week. “My
energy is gone. My energy is all used up. We just want everything to go back to
normal,” she said as tears began to run down her face. “Where is the ubuntu?
Where is the unity? What has become of Grahamstown? How can you do this to
other human beings? I am so disappointed in the community. Some of the people
looting were people we see every day. How must we feel? How would you feel?”
“We are brothers and sisters, not animals like they treat us.
We don’t have anything, not even a spoon,” said Naveed. “They took our
children’s clothing. Our children are crying. These people want to kill them
too. If they see a foreigner child, they want to kill them.”
But Grahamstown is home to those who have been displaced and
leaving is not an option. “I’m not going back to the past. I’m talking about
the present. We forgive you. Please just give us peace, harmony, respect and
love so that we can be united as one again,” Naveed pleaded.
