Xenophobic attacks: Kenyans demand compensation for affected compatriots

Kenyans in South Africa were last evening demanding compensation after some of their compatriots lost property to looters in xenophobic attacks.

The Kenya Diaspora in South Africa (Kedesa) said it was working with the High Commission to formally ask South African authorities to compensate them.

ROWDY YOUTH

The demand came after it emerged that two Kenyans were among the dozens of foreigners who incurred losses to the violence that started in Gauteng Province, the administrative region where the commercial capital Johannesburg is located.

Kedesa said the victims were law-abiding people running businesses in the area of the city known as Malvern when a mob descended on their establishments, looted and burnt them down.

“One of us has lost his stock of clothes worth about 200,000 rand (Sh1.4 million). That was his entire source of income. Another lost a portion of it, but what is left equally destroyed; it is charred. This was also the end of the month when they would be making good sales,” Kedesa chairman Godfrey Kamatu told the Nation by phone.

“What we are seeking as an association is compensation for our members. We are working with the High Commission to speak with the authorities on how to compensate for the losses.”

Johannesburg woke up to violence on Sunday as a group of rowdy youth beat up foreign businessmen and looted their establishments. Kedesa said many other Africans either ran businesses in the area where the two Kenyans were attacked or frequented it. 

It was the first time the government was confirming that Kenyans had fallen victims to violence since the wave of xenophobic attacks began about a decade ago.

'TAKING JOBS'

On Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma, after confirmation from Kenya High Commissioner Jean Kamau, said Kenya was working with South African authorities to ensure the safety of its citizens.

“We welcome the strong condemnation of these attacks by the government of South Africa and hope that the ethos and values of pan-Africanism will prevail over narrow nationalisms, and be the bonds that glue us together, as African brothers and sisters,” she said.

Kenyans living in South Africa may report any incidents to the High Commission on +27 12 362 2249/51 or e-mail: [email protected].

The attacks were initially fuelled by claims that some Nigerians peddling drugs in local communities were enriching themselves while locals suffered. Yet the better known reason for the waves of attacks is the perception that foreigners were “taking their jobs”.

“We are not taking their jobs. Foreigners coming here always create their jobs; they open shops and sell their wares,” said Ahmed, a Kenyan in Johannesburg who requested that we use his first name only.

SUBTLE PROTEST

In the wake of Africa-wide condemnation, including Nigeria’s summoning of the South African High Commissioner in Abuja, President Cyril Ramaphosa held a series of emergency meetings to help stop the violence. But he fell short of decisive action.

“The people of our country want to live in harmony. Whatever concerns or grievances we may have, we need to handle them in a democratic way. There can be no justification for any South African to attack people from other countries,” he said.

“I am convening the ministers in the security cluster today to make sure that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them.”

The violence threatened to damage the country’s image as the World Economic Forum on Africa to discuss “Shaping Inclusive Growth and Shared Futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution” opened in Cape Town. Some countries reportedly decided to lower the ranks of their delegations to the forum in a subtle protest.

Though South Africa is Africa’s largest economy, it is often rocked by xenophobic attacks, with jobless youth venting their frustrations on foreigners mostly employed in informal jobs or running their own businesses.

NO WORK

Despite its wealth, it’s also one of the world’s most unequal societies. According to the World Bank, the richest 10 per cent of the population controls more than two-thirds of the economy, with the bottom 60 per cent holding just 7 per cent of the wealth.

A World Bank bulletin says South Africa, though above average on freedoms, must address unemployment, currently at 27.1 per cent among the entire population, but with more than half of job-ready youth unable to find work.

On Wednesday, calm was returning in most areas, Kenyans reported.

However, Dr Mustafa Ali, the chairman of the Horn Institute for Strategic Studies in Nairobi, warned against retaliatory attacks after South African businesses in Nigeria were forced to close to avoid being targeted.

“I don’t think anyone should retaliate … Not right. Peaceful boycott may pressure the SA government to be more proactive. We must all shun violence,” he said.