Current Events

[In this picture, police are firing rubber bullets at mobs and protesters. Rubber bullets are rubber made bullets that hurt as much as real bullets but do not go through the skin or enter to skin and "bounces off" the person, though it hurts like a real bullet]
Just recently in South Africa, there have been mobs and protests directed at the foreigners in Johannesburg. At least 22 people were killed in the small village at the mobs attacked at, and the Red Cross estimates that at least 3,000 more were displaced. The police also arrested at least 200 people for offenses including rape, murder, looting, and destruction of property.
"Police said those behind the attacks accused the foreigners of stealing jobs, criminal activities, and benefiting from social services -- such as free housing --meant to benefit South Africans. Police said at least one foreigner was burned alive over the weekend, while others had their houses torched, their shops looted and their possessions stolen. Many have sought refuge at police stations." [CNN]
They attacked those small villages "where locals are jobless, hungry and in need of basic services such as clean water, sanitation and housing" [CNN]. These attacks were meant to drive out the foreigners, like escapes from Zimbabwe from South Africa.
Its amazing that after everything that happened after the apartheid nationality is still a problem in South Africa.

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References

Mabuse, Nkepile. "Anti-foreigners violence kills 22 in S' Africa" CNN. May 19 2008. May 19 2008.
<http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/05/19/southafrica.deaths/index.html>

South Africa: Current Events

A decade after the apartheid in South Africa, there has been many stories from both sides of South Africa.

"Life is still not good. It has changed for some people, not for others. Some people still have no jobs. People are hungry." says a young South African boy, interviewed by the BBC.


David Romano from Gauteng says, "I am a primary school teacher but crime is the main worry for me. Three weeks ago thieves came into my house and fired guns. A week ago they came back, broke a window and then took my stereo.I've now installed burglar bars and an alarm so economically it is killing me. The police do not care about my file.My kids are very scared.I was happy when I voted 10 years ago, but today I am sad." His experience through this apartheid was only changed because of people who don't agree with integration in South Africa with the whites and the blacks.

We look at wikipedia and we see that big cities that South Africa has produced, but what they don't say are people's opinion on the matter of the apartheid. What is said in wikipediia articles about South Africa is just the people who benefited after many years of change. But for others, their voices aren't even heard.

I guess I've found my role here on the AfricaQuest. Not to just listen to the people who are the ones having good lives in South Africa, but the people who need to money and need help and need jobs.