Fear drives migrants away from South Africa

From IRIN, a story on an escalation of attacks on foreigners living in South Africa since the conclusion of the World Cup.

John Muswere, 34, arrived four hours ago at the main bus terminus in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe, after making an unplanned journey with his wife, their three-year-old child and few household possessions from Johannesburg, South Africa, where he spent 18 months working as a mechanic.

"I am left with little money on me because I left South Africa in a hurry and before my employer could pay me. All the transport operators are saying my money is too little and I don't know how I am going to leave this place [the bus terminus]," Muswere told IRIN while his wife tried to pacify their wailing child.

The hasty trip was prompted by rumours that foreigners would be targeted once the FIFA World Cup finished, just as they were in May 2008, when 62 people were killed and more than 100,000 displaced.

Since the final game on 11 July there have been numerous attacks on foreign nationals and their businesses, mainly in Western Cape Province. The Forced Migration Studies Programme (FMSP) of the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, estimates that 1.2 million Zimbabweans live in South Africa, mostly arriving in the past decade after their country's economy collapsed.

"I will be starting from scratch, and at no time has life been so uncertain for me. I don't know how I am going to feed the family because it might be a long time before I get a job here," Muswere said. His uncle has offered them temporary accommodation.

The threats began a few months before the soccer world cup, and came in the form of notes pasted on the door of their one-room rented flat in the inner-city suburb of Berea, Johannesburg, "telling me that they would kill me and my family if I remained in their country after the World Cup".

The notes accused Muswere and other Zimbabweans in the suburb of "stealing their sisters, jobs and houses".

"I thought they were mere threats until they accosted my neighbour, who was coming from night duty at a local supermarket where he worked as a security guard, poured petrol on him and set him alight. Fortunately, he survived but he is still in hospital," said Muswere.

Grace Takawira, 46, arrived on the same bus as Muswere after travelling from Western Cape, where she had been employed as a domestic worker for the past four years. "I just packed my few belongings and hitch-hiked to Johannesburg, where I boarded a bus to Harare," Takawira told IRIN.

"I had seen several Zimbabweans and other foreigners being attacked shortly after the World Cup ended. Many foreigners who feared for their lives sought shelter at police stations, but I could not stand the idea of living as a refugee." She has decided to try cross-border trading to feed her three children.

"Hundreds of Zimbabweans are crossing back to Zimbabwe on a daily basis as they flee xenophobic attacks," said the bus driver, who plies the Harare-Johannesburg route but declined to be identified.

Burdening a weak economy

"Most of them are in a desperate situation, as they don't have enough money for bus fares. Some of them only managed enough money to come as far as Beitbridge [on the Zimbabwe side of the border] and are squatting in that town," he told IRIN.

"The South African government should improve on its policies, so that more jobs are created and there is greater literacy among citizens of that country," John Makumbe, a Harare based political analyst, told IRIN.

"It is clear that high levels of unemployment, widespread poverty, and low levels of skills are contributing to xenophobia among South Africans, who see foreigners as the main cause of their problems."

Innocent Makwiramiti, an economist and former chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, expected problems. "The economy is still weak and the return of Zimbabweans from South Africa will push up unemployment. While those that are returning might have skills in their respective professions, it will be difficult for them to start their own ventures because they don't have the capital."

Yes, Africa does have a middle class

A couple of good reports and a sporting event is helping the world to realize that Africa does have a middle class. Investment consultant McKinsey & Company told investors to "not ignore the potential" of Africa, while the World Bank told us Africa's economy will have 4.5 to 5% growth for this year and the next. Sure, the continent does have some problems but the African economy is one of the best performers in the world.

From The Guardian, writer David Smith combines all of the recient good news into one article.

"Africa is leading, believe it or not, global economic recovery in the sense of being such a strongly recovering zone compared, for instance, to Europe or the US," Ncube told the Observer. "If you look at the ranking, it's China, India, then Africa and then Brazil. That is the untold story about Africa."

He predicted that China will double its investment in Africa in the next few years, with the establishment of manufacturing parks likely to be the next big development: "At the moment East Africa is the shining zone: Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania. These are countries that basically rely on agriculture and services."

The Ethiopian famine that inspired Bob Geldof's Live Aid concert 25 years ago this week was the defining image of a war-torn continent, eternally hungry, helpless and dependent on foreign aid. But the ADB is the latest voice to argue that Africa is poised to become a serious global player. Many argue that, after failed socialist experiments, it is now embracing capitalism and reaping the rewards.
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Africa has huge mineral reserves, underexploited farmland and a booming young population. Trade and foreign investment have increased fourfold in a decade. Numerous problems, including entrenched poverty, political instability and an Aids epidemic, still cast a shadow, but Ncube estimates that one in three Africans is now part of a burgeoning middle class: "We do worry about the bottom of the pyramid in Africa, but there's something to be said about the middle of the pyramid. We say very little about the African middle class.

"These are your consumers and they want the same things. They want mobile phones, they want to travel, they want to send their children to the best schools. The issue now is capacity to live out and achieve those aspirations."

The opportunities that come with the World Cup

The World Cup brings with it a chance to get a temporary lift in the economic fortunes of many in South Africa. About a dozen women took the opportunity to sell meals to the construction workers building the new soccer stadiums. These enterprising women hope that the money earned from cooking will keep their children in school and help to grow their businesses.

From the Washington Examiner, Associated Press writer Donna Bryson tells us the story of one of these women.

Cecilia Dube's dream has taken her from dust-choked building sites to university classrooms, from the rubble of demolished food stands to cooking meals in a park in an upscale neighborhood where fans watch World Cup soccer on a giant screen.

The World Cup. Biggest sporting event on Earth. The host nation's month in the world spotlight. Tourists in their droves. A jolt of adrenaline for a sluggish economy. Or so goes the promise of mega-events such as these. For Dube, some of the rewards have already arrived, but for her and millions of her fellow citizens, the route out of poverty has so far proved fickle and arduous.

Her dream is a humble one — to one day run her own restaurant. But for now, she must suffice with the title of "trained food handler," tending a food stand at the park consisting of a table, two chairs and a gas cooker. It's a long way from owning a restaurant, but at least she's no longer up before dawn frying doughnuts by candlelight.
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Life for her and many like her is a constant struggle. Two decades after South Africa broke free of apartheid, being judged fit to host the World Cup is a huge achievement. But what it most desperately needs is more jobs, houses, clinics and self-starting, taxpaying entrepreneurs.

Dube would love to be one. After her husband's death left her without income, she worked at a fast food restaurant and traded in cheap clothes. She took extra work selling sandwiches in a tavern with no kitchen. When the tavern owner took over her business, she decided to strike out on her own.

South Africa had been picked for the World Cup and needed to build facilities. In 2006 Dube opened shop — in a shack, then a trailer — where the soccer authority's new offices were going up. The following year she moved to the nearby site of Soccer City, the main World Cup stadium. It was being renovated and there were hungry workers to feed.
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For three years she was one of a dozen cooks providing meals at Soccer City. They called themselves the Soccer City Traders. A typical day would begin before dawn with Dube barefoot and hard at work by the light of a candle stuck in an empty soda bottle, making triple-decker bologna-and-cheese sandwiches and frying vetkoeke, South African doughnuts.

Then, one morning last October, came a catastrophe. Police arrived and told the Soccer City Traders they were in the way of construction. The police broke up the stalls, loading the scraps of wood, cardboard and broken plastic chairs onto trucks.

The men and women immediately held a protest march and headed to Johannesburg City Hall. They were told they could open shop in another area near the stadium. The next morning, Dube was serving breakfast as usual. Catastrophe averted.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/world/out-of-poverty-for-south-african-woman-one-of-many-world-cup-holds-out-an-elusive-dream-96779349.html#ixzz0rUMuaNeh

Traveling to Lesotho is like going back in time

The country of Lesotho is one of the small countries that is surrounded by South Africa. With thousands of people heading to South Africa for the World Cup the tiny nation is hoping to have some tourists stop by. In Lesotho, the tourists will see a lot more poverty than in it's neighboring countries, some say it's like going back into time.

From the Guardian, writer David Smith did some traveling in Lesotho and also found out about the troubles of it's inhabitants.

I met some British expats who have another headache. "Every couple of months, my credit card gets blocked," one said. "The banks just can't work out Lesotho. One time they saw LS and thought it was Laos – what's he doing there? It doesn't matter how often I explain, they just can't accept I live in Lesotho."

But this is a small country in big trouble. Average life expectancy has dropped from 59 to 41 in a decade. Lesotho has the third highest HIV prevalence in the world. More than half the 1.9 million population lives below the poverty line.

Events in South Africa have triggered a social tsunami here. Historically many Basotho men migrated to work in South Africa's mines, earning enough money to come back and set up a homestead, but political changes across the border have restricted opportunities: the number employed fell from 127,000 in 1990 to 50,100 in 2007.

Instead it is now the women who go to work, in Taiwanese-owned textile and garment factories in Lesotho, earning a minimum wage that is only a fraction of what the men used to bring home. Many men are unemployed and at a loose end. The fundamentals of gender roles and social cohesion are being rewritten, with highly unpredictable consequences.

One of the last best hopes now is tourism. I met Tom Newton-Lewis, a young British entrepreneur who runs Lesotho2010, which aims to give the country a slice of its big brother's World Cup cake. It hopes to be an "add-on destination" for tourists in South Africa during the tournament and beyond, with a pitch including hiking, pony trekking and quad biking as well as village tours and the world's highest commercial single-drop abseil.

Lesotho2010 is also working with the football charity Kick4Life so that tourists can witness its educational work and even play against local teams. Kick4Life is planning a two-day HIV education and testing festival during the World Cup. In its office I found giant photos of Prince Harry, Fabio Capello and the England squad on their visits to the mountain kingdom.

AIDS and malaria awareness at the World Cup

The African continent will host it's first ever football World Cup this summer. Activists will use the world's biggest event to call attention to the problems on the continent. AIDS and malaria advocates will have halftime features, stadium events and more to tell people from around the world about their cause.

From this Associated Press article that we found at E-Taiwan News, writer Donna Bryson details some of the advocacy programs taking place at the World Cup.

South Africa, a nation of about 50 million, has an estimated 5.7 million people infected with HIV, more than any other country. After years of official denial and delay, the government last year embarked on an anti-AIDS drive, vowing to halve new infections and ensure that 80 percent of those who need them have access to AIDS drugs by 2011.

By the time the monthlong World Cup ends on July 11, fans will have had scores of chances to be tested at mobile units parked in stadium car parks, help themselves from baskets of free condoms, and hear their football heroes talk about safe sex.

Right to Care, one of the largest private providers of AIDS treatment, counseling and testing in South Africa, seized on an item that no South African football fan would be without: the plastic horns known as vuvuzelas.

The group's vuvuzelas are bright red with a message in white to "make noise for HIV!" _ a plea to break the silence and stigma surrounding AIDS. The vuvuzela, whose most subtle note is a blare, is perfect for the task.
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AIDS isn't the only cause on the World Cup health agenda. Campaigners against malaria, which kills 1 million people a year, have persuaded FIFA to include in halftime entertainment at the stadiums a video message about using bed nets and donating to buy nets and malaria medication for impoverished Africans.

It's not a competition among diseases, said Christina Vilupti-Barrineau, manager of the United Against Malaria campaign that brings together international aid, development and health organizations. Vilupti-Barrineau said that the overall goal is to strengthen health systems in Africa to better cope with malaria, AIDS and other crises.

And Herve Verhoosel, spokesman for the U.N. Roll Back Malaria agency, said football was key to the effort.

2010 World Cup could increase human trafficking in South Africa

U. S. Ambassador to South Africa, Luis CdeBaca warned that human trafficking could increase in the country with the coming of the 2010 World Cup. Already within the country girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation, while young boys are are forced into street vending or food service.

From South Africa's News 24, we read more of the ambassador's comments.

"With the 2010 we might see an uptake of prostitution and brothels moving closer to the sites... pimping of children is also on the cards," he said at a Pretoria briefing on human trafficking.

He said 12.3 million people across the world had been victims of trafficking, according to a 2008 report released in June this year.

"Most of the victims were lured by traffickers offering jobs, once in a foreign country they were abused and left with no protection."

He said destitute men, women and children were kept as slaves, or worked as domestic workers or farm labourers, and at times were forced into prostitution to earn money for their traffickers. He said law enforcement agencies need to work with civil society to combat human trafficking.

"Police concentrate on prostitution and not trafficking... these women were first victims of trafficking and forced into prostitution."