ANALYSIS| AS ONE ZIMBABWEAN was killed in escalating xenophobic attacks in Durban, South Africa, the Zimbabwean Government demonstrated incompetence by failing to evacuate its own citizens.
Army Helicopters which have been used by First Lady Grace Mugabe in her perry-personal rallies last year, were no-where to be seen yesterday with the government instead of sending an army, announcing they were rather in the long process of setting up a committee of ministers to attempt to deal with the crisis. The poor nation of Malawi overtook Zimbabwe in demonstrating responsibility when its officers launched into the dangerous neighbourhoods to begin evacuating their own people.
The Zim Govt instead announced through their broadsheet media they were proposing the setting up of an inter-ministerial team to facilitate the immediate return of those displaced by the attacks. Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said in a statement yesterday that reports indicated that the attacks were serious and close to 800 Zimbabweans had been displaced and fled to a camp established in Chatsworth, Durban.
“So far, it has been established that one Zimbabwean has died,” he said.
“As a result of these reports, Government decided that those Zimbabweans wishing to return home be facilitated to do so immediately.
“An inter-ministerial team has been put together at both ministerial and senior official level. The team is expeditiously putting in place the logistics as well as the resources necessary for this exercise in close liaison with the Zimbabwean Ambassador in South Africa and his staff.”
Minister Mumbengegwi said a number of Zimbabweans had expressed their wish to return home to embassy officials who visited Durban to assess the situation and discovered that it was tense.
This came as South African ambassador Mr Vusi Mavimbela said in an interview yesterday that his country lacked the capacity to deal with the flurry of xenophobic attacks targeting foreigners.
“The police, really, to be honest, if this thing spreads, the police don’t have the physical capacity to be everywhere and to arrest everybody who is involved,” he said.
“I know you watch South African TV you see things like service delivery protests that happen, flare up all the time in South Africa and the police have never been able to contain it.
“This xenophobic thing that is happening in South Africa you know if its spreading the police are going to be spread thin all the time and they can’t be at every informal settlement.”
Mr Mavimbela said the South African government needed to come up with a holistic approach in addressing socio-economic issues and immigration laws to reduce the competition for resources between South Africans and foreigners.
He spoke as the SA government warned foreigners against retaliating.
Zimbabwean Ambassador to South Africa Mr Isaac Moyo said in an interview yesterday that he was yet to confirm reports of the deaths of two Zimbabweans, among them a toddler.
He said over 2 000 foreigners, including Zimbabweans had been displaced.
Mr Moyo said the embassy, with the assistance of the host government, had started documenting Zimbabweans affected by the attacks who are at Chatsworth Camp in Durban.
“We met with South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, Mr Malusi Gigaba and the premier for Kwazulu Natal Province to get an appreciation of their plans to arrest the volatile situation and assist the victims,” said Mr Moyo.
“We are very hopeful that a solution will be arrived at soon.”
Mr Moyo said the embassy was encountering challenges in cases where undocumented South African women were insisting on travelling to Zimbabwe with their husbands.
He said about 10 undocumented South African women were insisting on travelling with their husbands, while 120 Zimbabweans had left their properties under the attack of South Africans.
Mr Moyo said the situation was dire in Durban given the cold weather persisting there and the absence of adequate tents to house the displaced people.
The Durban violence outbreak follows similar violence in Soweto where foreign shops were looted and foreigners displaced three weeks ago.
The attacks started after Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini said in a public speech that foreigners in South Africa should return to their countries and the remarks were widely viewed as having sparked the xenophobic attacks.
In 2008, in the worst violence to date against foreigners, over a dozen people were killed — some burnt alive through neck-lacing, a barbaric, painful slow-killing method in which a burning tyre, filled with petrol, is placed around one’s neck.
At the time, the then South African president Mbeki, horrified by the violence, said South Africans’ heads were “bowed in shame.”
9 Replies to “Useless Fatcats!… Zim Govt Fails to Evacuate Exiles as 800 Citizens are Displaced by Xenophobia”
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Mugabe dai afa satan
Mugabe dai afa satan
Mugabe dai afa satan
Uri dhara!!!!!!
Uri dhara!!!!!!
Uri dhara!!!!!!
Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, had the decency to strategies and evacuate its own nationals.Mozambique , soon after the previous attacks, launched a massive industrial drive to empower its people.Even if Zimbabwe sends 200 buses to ferry people back, I bet my last cent no one wants to be back.It is the situation back home that is more frightening than the situation abroad.It is high time that Zimbabwe gets its house in order.The problem is there is no political will, and the government has overstayed not because it has the muscle to do so, but the people are willing to let them stay.
If they shoot , let them shoot now because demonstrations in Zimbabwe are the only way to go now.Political settlements will never work with people like Moyo who instead of symbathising with the hungry masses, mocks them at his official station.
In difficult times, leaders are born.True leaders are born.Its a pity the calibre of Mutambara in his days at UZ is no more.Mugabe had succeeded in declaring a one party state but Mutambara said no.He was student leader.Riot police had to be called from all barracks around the country and seal the campus airtight.But the students escaped into the streets, with ladies infront.That was the spirit
Its time for a revolution.NGOs will never put pressure.They just get grants and buy expensive suits and hold seminars in hotels while ZANU PF takes affiliation audits among the chiefs and kraalheads.Its time to value one life lost as a thousand lives lost.Its time to take someone”s hunger as your hunger.Lets revive the spirit .And to tell you the truth , my boarder gezi crew friend says everday there are drills on how to stop demos.They know its inevitable and we have the situation ready for us.
Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, had the decency to strategies and evacuate its own nationals.Mozambique , soon after the previous attacks, launched a massive industrial drive to empower its people.Even if Zimbabwe sends 200 buses to ferry people back, I bet my last cent no one wants to be back.It is the situation back home that is more frightening than the situation abroad.It is high time that Zimbabwe gets its house in order.The problem is there is no political will, and the government has overstayed not because it has the muscle to do so, but the people are willing to let them stay.
If they shoot , let them shoot now because demonstrations in Zimbabwe are the only way to go now.Political settlements will never work with people like Moyo who instead of symbathising with the hungry masses, mocks them at his official station.
In difficult times, leaders are born.True leaders are born.Its a pity the calibre of Mutambara in his days at UZ is no more.Mugabe had succeeded in declaring a one party state but Mutambara said no.He was student leader.Riot police had to be called from all barracks around the country and seal the campus airtight.But the students escaped into the streets, with ladies infront.That was the spirit
Its time for a revolution.NGOs will never put pressure.They just get grants and buy expensive suits and hold seminars in hotels while ZANU PF takes affiliation audits among the chiefs and kraalheads.Its time to value one life lost as a thousand lives lost.Its time to take someone”s hunger as your hunger.Lets revive the spirit .And to tell you the truth , my boarder gezi crew friend says everday there are drills on how to stop demos.They know its inevitable and we have the situation ready for us.
Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, had the decency to strategies and evacuate its own nationals.Mozambique , soon after the previous attacks, launched a massive industrial drive to empower its people.Even if Zimbabwe sends 200 buses to ferry people back, I bet my last cent no one wants to be back.It is the situation back home that is more frightening than the situation abroad.It is high time that Zimbabwe gets its house in order.The problem is there is no political will, and the government has overstayed not because it has the muscle to do so, but the people are willing to let them stay.
If they shoot , let them shoot now because demonstrations in Zimbabwe are the only way to go now.Political settlements will never work with people like Moyo who instead of symbathising with the hungry masses, mocks them at his official station.
In difficult times, leaders are born.True leaders are born.Its a pity the calibre of Mutambara in his days at UZ is no more.Mugabe had succeeded in declaring a one party state but Mutambara said no.He was student leader.Riot police had to be called from all barracks around the country and seal the campus airtight.But the students escaped into the streets, with ladies infront.That was the spirit
Its time for a revolution.NGOs will never put pressure.They just get grants and buy expensive suits and hold seminars in hotels while ZANU PF takes affiliation audits among the chiefs and kraalheads.Its time to value one life lost as a thousand lives lost.Its time to take someone”s hunger as your hunger.Lets revive the spirit .And to tell you the truth , my boarder gezi crew friend says everday there are drills on how to stop demos.They know its inevitable and we have the situation ready for us.