FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rural Women Condemn Xenophobic Attacks
Unite and Build Common Humanity!
South Africa, 16 April 2015. The Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA) is a regional movement of rural women that works across 9 countries in the SADC region. We work and struggle side by side with the rural and urban poor to challenge hunger, poverty, landlessness and inequality in the region and globally.
Our slogan is “We are the Guardians of land, seeds, life and love” because we understand that as the poor our task is to unite and build a common solidarity and a common humanity that can struggle and build a resistance to the 1% that control the wealth of the world and our countries.
It is in this vein that we condemn the violence against our sisters and brothers from across the region. We also condemn those leaders and small business communities that stroke this type of violence and hatred. Presently, South Africa is witnessing the loss of humanity for our brothers and sisters across the continent. To date, 5 people have been killed in the xenophobic violence that has flared up in KwaZulu Natal and we urge everybody to stand in solidarity against this atrocity.
The Barbaric nature of these attacks serves to underline real social tensions and a breakdown of social cohesion arising from growing poverty, unemployment, inequality and a sense of despair in South Africa.
We know that underlying the xenophobic attacks is high unemployment and poverty in our townships, especially amongst black working class youth.
We must STAND UP against these attacks on our brothers and sisters! We must MARCH against the system which divides us! We must UNITE and build a common humanity!
South Africa is a country that has reached a tipping point. The government of South Africa must face the responsibility of closing the gap of social injustice and political grievances coming from its citizens. We must join hands to fight the system that forces people to trek thousands of kilometres to seek a “better life”.
The country and government welcomes and accommodates those foreigners who invest in companies, buy farms and extract and repatriate wealth, steal our taxes and are not chased, instead government welcomes them and makes concessions to draw them to South Africa.
Already, the government of Malawi will evacuate its people that have been affected. In Zimbabwe, MPs have delivered a petition to the South African embassy in Harare in a call to stop the violence.
We call on all concerned to STAND UP! MARCH and show SOLIDARITY with our African brothers and sisters.
AFRICA UNITE!
UNITE AND BUILD COMMON HUMANITY!