Foreigners fear violence

Johannesburg - As South Africa's World Cup euphoria dies down, immigrants say they are worried that the nation's willingness to embrace foreigners could also run out.

"It's calm but I'm scared," said 39-year-old Patricia, a Zimbabwean mother of two living in a shantytown outside Johannesburg.
She's among the foreigners living in South Africa's poorest neighbourhoods who say that they've received threats in the wake of the World Cup, two years after a wave of anti-immigrant violence left 62 dead across the country.

"They say they give me a week and they'll come to me and do something," she said. "I'm scared but I'll fight back."
Only a handful of incidents have been reported since the July 11 final, and gleaning a trend is hard in a country where poor neighbourhoods suffer most of the country's violent crime.

But authorities are worried enough about the fears that they've repeatedly denounced the threats, unlike two years ago when an official silence was seen by some as tacit approval.

Ministers for police and defence visited Cape Town last week, after Zimbabwean migrant workers said they fled their homes because of the threats, which authorities worry are taking on a life of their own.


News24