20 July 2010, 12:00 p.m.

Fears of an outbreak of xenophobic violence, following the end of the 2010 World Cup has caused large groups of Zimbabweans to leave their homes and camp out next to the highway in the hope of getting a lift back home or to Johannesburg to catch north-bound buses. 

In 2008 more than 60 people were killed and thousands were displaced in a spate of xenophobic violence in South Africa’s townships. 

The head of disaster management in the Western Cape, Hildegard Fast, however said that the people who are leaving are only “responding to rumors” and that government was not going to intervene at present. 

Braam Hanekom, spokesperson for refugee rights organisation Passop, told reporters yesterday that it was "really, really sad" that foreign nationals could feel so unprotected, and that they were prepared to "displace themselves" on the basis of rumours. 

In order to prevent a repeat of the 2008 Xenophobia attacks that made headlines worldwide, the Police in the Western Cape re-established the safety forum and police station commanders have been placed on notice to make the reporting of any xenophobic violence easier.  

Provincial police commissioner, Mzwandile Petros, also requested civil society organisations to help calm people. 

Meanwhile the South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) will be meeting with an inter-ministerial committee on xenophobia. 

“We have met with Police Minister, Nathi Mthethwa, who is chairman of the Cabinet inter-ministerial committee, on Monday to discuss these threats and we are planning an urgent high-level meeting with relevant departments on how they were effecting the commission’s 2008 recommendations,” the commission’s deputy chairman Pregs Govender told Business Report last night. 

The United Nations (UN) was reported to have said that they were on standby and waiting for government’s instruction if any help is needed should xenophobic violence flare up again. 

“It is difficult to say at this stage that the threats are genuine but our entire UN systems are waiting for the government’s approach,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokeswoman Pumla Rulashe told Business Report. “It is the primary role of the law enforcement agencies to protect everyone and if people feel that they are being threatened, we will expect them to step in. I just pray it (the 2008 violence) doesn’t happen.” 

Meanwhile the Zimbabwean media reports that the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum has written to the South African government requesting it to protect foreigners by putting adequate security measures in place.  

The Zimbabwe Standard quoted Gabriel Shumba, the ZEF executive director, who said his group was “deeply disturbed by reports received from Zimbabweans based in South Africa who have been warned by locals to flee the country after the World Cup.” 

“We kindly request your respective departments to take pre-emptive and preventative measures that will ensure that foreigners will not be attacked in what will be a repeat of the 2008 xenophobic violence that engulfed South Africa,” Shumba wrote in his letter to government.  

Other groups such as Amnesty International (AI) and the Consortium of Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA) have also expressed concern about possible xenophobic violence following the 2010 World Cup. For more information on organizations in South Africa that can assist xenophobia victims please see the dedicated Xenophobia - South Africa website.