XENOPHOBIA IN DURBAN: KZN OFFICALS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DURBAN 000027

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/30/2018
TAGS: SF ASEC CASC PGOV PHUM PREF CG BY RW
SUBJECT: XENOPHOBIA IN DURBAN: KZN OFFICALS AND CIVIL SOCIETY
CONDEMN XENOPHOBIA AND CRITICIZE GOVERNMENT POLICY

REF: A.) PRETORIA 1088, B.) DURBAN 24, C.) DURBAN 26

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CLASSIFIED BY: UDDINSD, POL/ECON Officer, CG DURBAN, STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)
Summary:




1. (C) Beginning the week of May 19, local police, officials and
NGO's confirmed the spread of violence targeting foreign
nationals in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. By May 27,
while fearful foreign nationals continued to seek safety away
from their homes, no new incidents of violence against them were
being reported. Officials told us that the situation had been
brought under control. As many as 5,000 foreign nationals are
estimated to have sought assistance/shelter at local police
stations, churches, and diplomatic missions during the past two
weeks. Civil society has mobilized in KZN to offer assistance
to the displaced and those who fear xenophobic attacks.
Municipal and provincial officials condemned the events and
called for increased government action. Opposition leaders
criticized the government's immigration policy. Businesses also
reported assisting their foreign workers and spoke out against
the negative impact of xenophobic events on the KZN economy.



End summary.




2. (SBU) Local police confirmed the spread of violence targeting
foreign nationals from Johannesburg to Durban in South Africa's
KZN province starting May 21. No incidents of anti-foreign
violence have been confirmed outside of Durban in the rest of
the province. As of May 27, while fearful foreign nationals
sought safety away from their homes, no new incidents of
violence against them had been reported. Ahead of May 27,
several separate incidents were reported and confirmed in the
past week. A group of men from a local hostel attacked a
Nigerian-owned tavern and burnt a car. Two Congolese were
attacked at a taxi rank and told to return to their country. A
Malawian national was shot while waiting at a bus stop after
work. Two Mozambicans were killed and the Mozambican Consul
General believed those deaths were related to the xenophobic
attacks. Typically, people were going door-to-door telling the
Mozambican (and other) citizens to go back to their country and
then threatened them.



FOREIGN NATIONALS SEEK ASSISTANCE IN ANTICIPATION OF VIOLENCE




3. (SBU) According to numbers released by the eThekwini/Durban
Mayor's Office, approximately 1,750 foreign nationals sought
assistance/shelter between May 22 and 23. Additional foreign
nationals continue to seek assistance/shelter in anticipation of
further violence or xenophobic threats. Estimates of the total
number have run as high as 5,000. Information released by the
mayor's office indicated that most of the displaced foreign
nationals were Zimbabweans, Mozambicans, and Tanzanians. Many
of the displaced expressed a desire to return to their
countries.




4. (C) The Mozambican Consul General told us that in Cato Manor
and Greenwood Park (both within the eThekwini/Durban
municipality) Mozambican citizens had fled to police stations
for safety. The Mozambican Consul General confirmed that
transport arrangements were made to bus the displaced back to
Mozambique. The Mozambican government provided bus service to
361 of it nationals residing in KZN to return home on May 27.
During the previous week another 450 had departed via buses
organized by the Mozambican government. The Consul General
estimated that 32,000 Mozambicans have left South Africa since
the violence started in Johannesburg, many of them arranging
their own travel home. He also commented on May 29 that the
situation seemed to have calmed down.




5. (U) A group of foreign nationals from Burundi, Rwanda and the
Democratic Republic of Congo sought assistance at the Consulate
on May 27, 28, and 29 (Reftel C). On May 28, The Mercury ran a

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story that landlords in the Durban city center were evicting
foreigners from their buildings. The police was unable to
confirm this reporting since officers though that foreigners
would not report such incidents to them.



CIVIL SOCIETY MOBILIZES TO OFFER ASSISTANCE




6. (U) Civil society groups began organizing themselves on May
20 in anticipation of requests for assistance. The Diakonia
Council of Churches has led much of the effort to mobilize the
community against xenophobia and to assist the displaced. The
NGO community and religious leaders are also working together to
discuss policy solutions to the current situation. They would
like to be included in the government response in addressing
long-term issues such as the status of foreign nationals in
South Africa. Interfaith groups are currently providing shelter
and other assistance to foreign nationals. Many foreigners, who
went to police stations in anticipation of violence, are being
transferred to churches and other community groups for shelter.
However, Diakonia has expressed concern about its capacity to
support additional foreign nationals if the numbers seeking
assistance continues to grow. Interfaith groups and the Durban
Red Cross are collecting food, clothing, and monetary donations
to assist victims of xenophobia. University students are
running bread drives to assist civil society groups and the
University of KZN sponsored a Forum to address xenophobia on May

29.



GOVERNMENT RESPONSE CRITICIZED




7. (SBU) Durban mayor Obed Mlaba and senior provincial officials
condemned the events during remarks at the annual African
Renaissance Conference on May 23. They expressed ''sadness and
chagrin'' for the xenophobic attacks that took place in KZN.
They also planned to increase engagement in the communities.
The African National Congress (ANC) provincial officials did not
blame the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) for inciting the violence
at this event (Reftel A). The IFP councilor present at the
conference said that implications that the IFP was involved were
''wrong and irresponsible.'' Some ANC members have shared
similar sentiments with Consulate staff. IFP President Prince
Mangosuthu Buthelezi visited several of the sites affected by
xenophobia in Johannesburg and Durban last week.




8. (SBU) One municipal official was quite embarrassed by the
slow reaction and lack of engagement of his own party, stating
that civil society colleagues were screaming at him to have the
municipality get out and do things in certain neighborhoods to
ease the tension. It is perceived that the local police has
done a good job in responding to the outbreaks of violence, but
social workers and councilors have been noticeably absent from
the response efforts. Contacts at the local police reported
that on several occasions officers have had to go out and
purchase food for the displaced. The head of the province's
Community Safety Department told us May 29 that city councilor's
''disappeared'' when things turned difficult last week and the
police had to step in and take on duties that are not really
their job.




9. (U) IFP leaders urged the government for more effective
border controls and integration of foreign workers. The IFP
released a press statement on May 21 criticizing the national
government for the lack of a clear immigration policy. The
release noted that ''the refugee system, which remains
under-funded because of the dictates of the ruling Party,
frustrates any rational efforts to control immigration.''
According to the IFP, anyone failing to qualify for an
immigration permit can just apply for refugee status and the
government does not have the capacity to grant and monitor
refugee status effectively. ''In the end, asylum seekers are
allowed to stay in the country for years, even though they would
not qualify for an immigration permit.''

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XENOPHOBIA IMPACTS BUSINESSES AND TOURISM




11. (U) KZN businesses reported being negatively impacted by the
threat of xenophobic events. Many employers in the area
reported providing foreign employees with accommodations until
they felt comfortable returning home. Moyo Restaurant Branch
Manager Bianca Erasmus told the press that Moyo's security
company was providing daily transport to foreign employees who
felt threatened. Erasmus stated that about 30 percent of its
waiters at its Ushaka Marine World branch were from other
African countries.




12. (U) Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) CEO Ndabo Khoza held a
press conference in Durban on May 27 to condemn the xenophobic
violence and outline steps to curb the negative impact on
tourism in KZN. Khoza noted that Africa is South Africa's most
important source of foreign visitors and tourism income. He
added that ''in terms of spending per trip by international
tourists in 2006, visitors from Mozambique topped the list, each
spending R21,000 ($2,700).'' Spending by tourists from Angola
($1,660),India ($1,500),Nigeria ($1,480),and U.S. ($1,430)
rounded out the top five list. TKZN Chairman Seshi Chonco said
that ''after the domestic tourism market, Africa was the
province's most important source of tourists.'' The African
market accounts for 67% (6.8 million) of foreign visitors and
generates as much as R4 billion ($519 million) a year in
revenues. Fear is that continued violence of threats to
foreigners would keep African tourists (many who travel to South
Africa from the region for short shopping trips) away from the
province. Chonco described ''overnight tourists'' from
neighboring towns in Swaziland, Mozambique, and Lesotho as the
bread and butter for the KZN border towns and thought the
xenophobic incidents put that at risk. Khoza and Chonco hoped
to send a positive message to nurture the ''valuable African
tourism market.''




13. (C) Comment. The spread of xenophobic violence and
anti-foreign sentiments has several socio-economic implications
for the KZN. Tensions could rise in a region that has suffered
from a history of political violence if the ANC and IFP blame
political motivations for the flare-up of violence. It could
also mutate in a way that brings to the surface latent tensions
between the Indian and African communities in the province
(another area where there has been a history of sporadic
violence). There are no clear estimates of the number of
foreign nationals/refugees residing and working in the region.
Many foreign nationals, who had the resources to return to their
home countries, have already left South Africa. Many foreign
nationals who remain do not have the resources to leave or fear
returning to unstable home countries. If violence or threats to
foreigners increases dramatically, civil society groups in the
province will not have the resources to shelter or assist all of
the vulnerable foreign nationals. Continued violence could also
threaten progress the province has made in attracting foreign
investors and in modeling itself as a premier destination for
international tourists. End Comment.
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