|
South African riots sparked by influx of migrants
Choba squatter camp, 20 miles south of the capital, Pretoria, has had 10 days of unrest in a throwback to the riots that occurred in the worst days of apartheid. Hundreds of thousands of desperate Zimbabweans have fled the economic crisis and repression of President Robert Mugabe's rule. Unprecedented numbers have poured into South Africa, competing for jobs and housing, and causing massive resentment. The scale of the influx is shown by the incessant deportation of illegal immigrants back home. Last week alone, South Africa sent back 6,000. Last year more than 97,000 were deported. Countless others slip through the net. Official figures released by Mr Mugabe's regime in 2004 suggested that 3.4 million Zimbabweans, one quarter of the population, lived abroad, with 1.2 million in South Africa. Many end up in slums like Choba, where at least 20,000 people live in shacks of corrugated iron and plastic sheeting. South Africans blame crime and unemployment on the new arrivals. "The Zimbabwean people steal, in the night they kill and they take money," said Timothy Mbanba, 57. "People here want to work for 60 rands (£5.60) per day. But the Zimbabweans will work for 30 rands or 20 rands so the businessmen hire Zimbabweans and they take our jobs." Unemployment in South Africa stands at 26 per cent.
Posted by: lotp 2006-01-12 |
||
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=139594 |