Tanzanians safe in South Africa

TANZANIANS in South Africa are safe, the government declared in Dar es Salaam, disassociating the recent deaths of three Tanzanians in Johannesburg with the xenophobic violence.

“They died on grounds different from xenophobic attacks. We have been assured by both the Tanzanian embassy and the South African government,” the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe, affirmed.

The clarification came following rumours circulating that Tanzanians were among eight people who were butchered in the fracas.

According to reports that the government got from the South African government and the Tanzanian embassy, Mr Membe said that there are 23 Tanzanians who have camped at Isipingo in South Durban.

He noted that 21 will be evacuated back home any time from now after completion of clearance procedures by relevant authorities.

“According to reports we have, there are over 3,000 foreigners camping at Isipingo in Durban. Tanzanians are 23 and two of them said they were not ready to come back,” he noted.

The minister said that the government through its embassy has been closely following up the incident.

“These are just rumours. The official report is that no Tanzanian has been killed. This is the truth.

We have been assured,” he said. Clarifying on Tanzanians who died in the country, Mr Membe said that one of them, who has been identified as Rashid Jumanne was shot dead by police during a robbery attempt, 90 kilomtres away from Durban.

He named the other two as Athumani China who was jailed and later killed by fellow inmates following a fracas that emerged in the prison and Ally Mohamed who died of TB.

The minister also appealed to all Tanzanians who are in foreign lands to ensure that they all register in Tanzanian embassies in respective countries, regardless of whether they entered legally or illegally.

Mr Membe said that Tanzania was condemning such attacks in the strongest terms possible, saying that they were intolerable and those masterminding them should recognise that “Africa is one and must stay united.”

“African countries were praying for South Africa to be liberated. Now we are all free. We need to join forces and build Africa and not attacking each other,” he said.

He thanked South African President Jacob Zuma for swiftly responding to the attacks by forming a committee under the leadership of State Security Minister David Mahlobo to arrest the situation. According to the minister, the situation was already put under control.

A number of attackers have been arrested. The minister said that Tanzania also joined other African countries through the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to condemn the attacks that as of yesterday had left eight people dead.

Those killed in the attack are from Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Zambia and Swaziland. The President of Zimbabwe, who is the chairman of both AU and SADC, had issued a statement wondering how an African could attack a fellow African on African land.

“Mr Mugabe highlighted two things, he said it was saddening to see such attacks going on and targeting Africans. He also hailed Mr Zuma for swift response.

We support Mugabe for these remarks,” he noted. Violence against foreign nationals flared up on March 30 in the South Africa’s coastal province of KwaZulu- Natal, whose capital is Durban and soon spread inland to the country’s financial hub, Johannesburg, in Gauteng province.

South Africans have accused African immigrants of taking their already scarce jobs, undermining businesses owned by locals and contributing to a high crime rate.

It was reported that this year’s xenophobic violence started after Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini said at a recent gathering that foreigners “should pack their bags and go,” because they were taking jobs from citizens.

Available information says that shortly after his comments, violence against immigrants erupted in the port city of Durban. However his office denied the report saying he was misquoted.

South Africa has about two million documented and undocumented immigrants, which is about four per cent of the total population, according to a study by the University of Witwatersrand. Tanzanian government, however, said that it has no record of the number of Tanzanians who are in South Africa.

“We don’t have statistics on how many Tanzanians are in South Africa. It is estimated that in Durban and Johannesburg, there are not less than 10,000 Tanzanians,” Mr Membe said.

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