Zonke Majodina in Alex - denial, incompetence & prejudice at the SAHRC

In this SABC video Zonke Majodina, is in Alexandra. Next to the police station where women and children are cowering after having been chased from their homes and some raped.

Zonke Majodina, Deputy Chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission is completely unsuitable for her important job.

No wonder the SAHRC has had such a terrible record of addressing racism and equality in South Africa over the last few years. A toothless Chapter 9 institution (Of the SA constitution) if ever there was one.

Why? What did she say?

They came up with a number of strategies to address the violence she says. Asked who's responsibility this is? Ms Majodina says its the International Red Cross, and the United Nations and the City of Johannesburg's responsibility.

The people can't come back she says because the locals don't want them to; But not to worry, they will set up a mediation team Ms Majodina says.

And this is the clincher, the coup the grace: "Of course we will come out with strong media statements condemning this."

Fantastic, that's sorted then.

The SABC interviewer asks "do we understand why the attackers were so brutal to make women bleed, women with children?"

Then Majodina tells us that this had been taking place for so long, and there has been no concrete solution.

And then comes the socio-babble laced with prejudice.

"When we talk xenophobia in this country, you have to look at the socio-economic status that influences the way xenophobia plays itself out.

Socially we can't expect South Africans to immediately embrace foreigners, you know. If we do so we will be ignoring or denying the most elementary facts of our history.

And so its understandable to some extent... and then we have the problem of unemployment and poverty and where people are seen to take jobs from South Africans."

An exasperated SABC interviewer asks "yes press statements, yes the government, but what about the people here?"

"You have got to understand" she says, "the xenophobia has a perceptive element to it.

People have fears, prejudices, it's racially motivated in the sense that we don't perpetrate xenophobic attacks on white immigrants, but we only do it to Africans."

Zonke Majodina has been with the SAHRC since 1999.

Update

Meanwhile this has been going on today in Alexandra. Zwelinzima Vavi has warned that if the situation is not adressed we will have many more Alexandras. Can we put him in charge of the SAHRC?

Update 2
The Times report that there has been some incidents of shooting in Diepsloot Soweto.

Late last night, Metro police spokeswoman Superintendent Edna Mamonyane confirmed that men in several bakkies, apparently from Alexandra, drove to Diepsloot and opened fire on residents.

She said: “ It seems like it is the same thing that is happening in Alexandra.”

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