By Paul Fauvet
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – Mozambican President Daniel Chapo plans to discuss the current wave of violence in South Africa against foreign citizens with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa.
A release from Chapo’s office said Chapo will visit South Africa on Tuesday, at Ramaphosa’s invitation, “to strengthen bilateral cooperation, with a stress on the security and protection of citizens”.
The two Presidents, said the release, “will deal with various matters of common interest, including questions of security”.
Unusually, the Mozambican government has made clear that its top concern is the mob violence against foreigners, mostly from other African countries.
There have been sporadic riots against foreigners for the past 20 years. The worst outbreak was in 2008, when over 60 people were killed, and pogroms on a smaller scale occurred in 2015 and 2019.
The current riots are more organised than those in the past, with the emergence of xenophobic groups calling themselves “Operation Dudula” or “Put South Africa First”, with its echoes of Donald Trump’s far right “America First” policy.
There have been attacks against businesses owned by foreigners (particularly from Nigeria and Ghana), and the South African police have been criticised for their apparent reluctance to defend the victims of mob violence.
“Dudula” is a Zulu word meaning “to push” or “to knock down”. This movement arose from the rioting in 2021 following the arrest of former South African President Jacob Zuma, and is widely regarded as a vehicle for a possible Zuma come-back.
The movement claims to target foreign nationals engaged in drug trafficking or businesses that hire undocumented migrants. It has frequently taken the law into its own hands, demanding that citizens present proof of their nationality.
Ramaphosa’s government has condemned the violence, while insisting that foreign residents must legalise their status.
There are thought to be about 300,000 foreign nationals living in South Africa. Some, such as those working on the gold and platinum mines, are well-organised and play a key role in the South African economy.
But many others work in the informal economy and are easily scapegoated for supposedly stealing jobs from South Africans. (PF)
