Xenophobic attacks near home

Violent attacks, abuse, and terrorizing against refugees occurred in close proximity to our stay in South Africa. Even though our fenced in house, private security guards, and round the clock protection made us safe – the world around us was at times crumbling apart. Though I had never taken the train that ran directly behind our house, other group members did. Conversation rose about taking the train back from Water Front (after our tour of Robin Island) which is usually a 70R cab trip, making it only 7R each. That same evening at 5 PM a Burundian refugee was brutally beaten in a Xenophobic attack on a train near the stop following ours, at Claremont Station. The refugee died in the hospital later that night. 1

Albert Mugabe boarded the train station from the city. He was attacked and killed by Xhosa-speaking individuals that forcibly removed him from the train. Witnesses stated that the group was yelling 'makwerekwere hamba, makwerekwere hamba' which translates to “get out foreigners.” Initially it appeared that the group was just talking amongst themselves, however, they soon began conversation with Mugabe asking him f he spoke Xhosa, where he worked, and how long he had been in the country. After Mugabe answered their questions- the train began to stop for Claremont station. The same individuals began to grab Mugabe and three other individuals that appeared to be foreigners. They began to attack Mugabe while the other three got away. An eyewitness, Nkundaniyigena said that when he looked up someone was banging Mugabe’s head against the train floor. 2 Imagine: in broad daylight and individual getting attacked simply because he or she is a refugee and is fleeing their country because of persecution.

In addition to such close attacks near our stay, I was surprised to learn about the proactive stance that the campus and community members of University of Cape Town took to the threat of Xenophobia. After reading the letter that the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Max Price sent to all of the staff and students regarding potential threats of xenophobic attacks. I did not cross my mind that many of the UCT students were from different African countries and could easily be viewed as a foreigner, and as a result be attacked. Though the majority of Xenophobic attacks are towards migrant workers - all foreigners must be on edge and take extra caution. The letter resembled many of our Public Saftey emails from F&M. It reassured the international staff and students that the college police officers were prepared to deal with any incidents that may have risen. Even though the xenophobic attacks seemed for far away, it was apparent that they were near us at all times. From the train station behind our house to the safety precaution that the campus was taking - xenophobic attacks to both migrant workers and other individuals (potentially students) are a huge problem that are being addressed.