Thousands of people, including South Africans, are expected to stage an anti-xenophobia peaceful march in Johannesburg on Thursday as violence targeting foreigners intensifies in some parts of the country.
Representatives of the South African government are also expected to join the march, which will start at Hillbrow township – home to thousands of foreigners.
This comes at a time when some civil society organizations are calling for an end of the violence, which they describe as afrophobia instead of xenophobia since blacks are attacking other blacks.
The other aim of the march is to enforce the re-integration of frightened foreigners into South African communities. Observers say this re-integration process needs to take into account the history of Africa’s fight for independence from colonial rulers.
For perspective, Studio 7’s Gibbs Dube spoke with Sabelo Sibanda, a member of a community initiative, Uphondo, and Diana Zimbudzana of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum.
Sibanda, who is also a member of the School of African Awareness said a lot of care is needed to implement this re-integration.
