Fears That Xenophobic Attacks Will Pick Back Up After Cup

Officials in Gauteng Province are concerned that life after the World Cup could bring back the xenophobic attacks on foreigners within South Africa that resulted in dozens of deaths and thousands of displacements in 2008.

GCRO [Gauteng City Region Observatory] senior researcher Annsilla Nyar told Sapa she believed the end of the World Cup would leave many people, who had high expectations of material benefits, disappointed.

"Life will pretty much return to normal... The World Cup will end and then we will have local government elections in a few months' time.

"It creates a heightening of tensions... and these kind of tensions can degenerate into xenophobia. It's a real recipe for disaster."

Migrants fear attacks after SWC
News 24
May 27, 2010

Xenophobic Attacks Feared to Rise After World Cup

Migrants from Zimbabwe and other nearby countries who have flooded into South Africa looking for work are being threatened with violence by locals who say the foreigners are stealing their jobs.

This week, two years after the start of the 2008 riots that left scores dead across the country, a consortium of leading migration organisations said it had received reports by foreign nationals that they were being threatened with violence after the tournament.

"These threats are coming from many different people: neighbours, colleagues, taxi drivers, passersby, but also from nurses, social workers and police officers," said Cormsa, whose members include Amnesty International, the South African Red Cross Society, and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation . "Some of those making the threats believe that they have the support of senior political leaders," it said.

Warning of xenophobic violence in South Africa after World Cup
Guardian
May 17, 2010

Former Taxi Drivers Home Set on Fire in BRT Retaliation

the home of a Rea Vaya bus rapid transit driver in Johannesburg was petrol-bombed recently in what is being called an attack from the taxi industry. Taxi drivers in town are upset about the new BRT system taking their passengers. The owner of the home is a former taxi driver who recently took a job as a bus driver.

Four policemen guarded the house, which was cordoned off.

"This is about BRT," Mazibuko said when a police officer investigating the attack asked if he had had an argument with anyone recently. "But where do you get in? What does this have to do with you?" the officer asked, to which Mazibuko replied: "I don't know. Maybe it's just jealousy."

The attack took place on the last day of a two-day taxi strike against the implementation of BRT on feeder routes.

Rea Vaya bus driver's house petrol-bombed
Independent Online
March 18, 2010

Angola Attacks Have Little Impact on SA Tourism

Despite the recent attack on the Togo national team when they were in Angola for the Africa Cup of Nations, South African organizers are calming nerves as the country prepares to play international host during the World Cup. Tour operators say that the violence has not affected interest in visiting the country.

International tour operators confirmed however that there is still huge interest in the World Cup.

Juan Carlos, the co-owner of Fifa-accredited Pegazus Sport Tours in Spain, said while there had been some concern after the Angola attack, confidence remained high.

SA passes 2010 test
Independent Online
January 16, 2010