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Migrants, refugees, activists and university students gathered in Observatory, Cape Town, to call for solidarity and build support for an August 8 march to Parliament against xenophobia.
By YASEEN BARDIEN
Scores of people gathered at the Jubilee Community Centre in Observatory on Saturday, July 18 at a rally calling for solidarity with migrants and refugees.
Organised by the SA Refugee-led Network (SARLN) and the Migrant Solidarity Network, the rally brought together organisations, community activists and university students to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention and build support for a planned march against xenophobia on August 8.
Throughout the morning, chants of ‘No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here’ and ‘Amandla! Awethu!’ echoed through the room as speakers and attendees called for unity and an end to xenophobia.
A banner on the wall read: ‘Building a solidarity movement, workers of the world unite.’
Tauriq Jenkins, a member of the Siyafana Sonke Action Campaign, described the gathering as a ‘very important first step towards a mass protest action to Parliament’.
He said the rally aimed to show solidarity with migrants and refugees while demonstrating that anti-migrant groups did not represent all South Africans.
Jenkins said he was pleased with the turnout and hoped an even larger crowd would join the action on August 8. Planning and community mobilisation would continue in the coming weeks, he said.
Speakers returned to the theme of Ubuntu, solidarity and collective action against xenophobia. Abdikadir Mohamed, national chairperson of SARLN, said refugees should be included in shaping policies that affect them.
Meanwhile, members of the African Inclusion Campaign (AIC) argued that South Africa’s social and economic challenges should not be blamed on migrants. They said that xenophobia begins with everyday prejudice and silence, and urged people to embrace Ubuntu and stand united ahead of the planned march on August 8.
Many of those attending had experienced xenophobia themselves. Several migrants spoke about fleeing conflict, rebuilding their lives in South Africa and the impact that xenophobia has had on their lives.
Among those was Esther Kashindi, who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and arrived in South Africa in 2019. Speaking to Muslim Views, Kashindi said she attended the rally after seeing an invitation.
‘All of us, we are African. So we must love each other,’ she said.
Kashindi said she had experienced xenophobia in South Africa. Both she and her husband are unemployed. She said returning to DRC was not an option. Kashindi lives with her husband and two children and hopes to find work to support them.
Jean Pierre Luyuka, who arrived in South Africa from DRC in 2001, said xenophobia had left him feeling like he no longer belonged.
‘It’s taking my sense of belonging away,’ he said.
Luyuka said he hoped the government would do more to educate South Africans about why refugees have come to the country and the circumstances in which they fled.
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‘They have to be helped so they can feel human again,’ he said, adding that his message to South Africans was simply, ‘love’.
After the keynote speakers, participants broke into discussion groups to explore ways of responding to xenophobia. Each group had two minutes to present its ideas. The groups agreed that combating xenophobia would require education, stronger community partnerships and sustained engagement in areas where anti-migrant tensions have been most visible.
The programme also featured a dance performance by participants who were called up on stage.
After the rally, Dano de Waal, president of AIC, told Muslim Views that the event gave them an opportunity to engage directly with migrants and refugees about their experiences.
‘Our purpose for today was to engage with the communities that we are fighting for. We wanted to hear from the people in terms of what they need from us and how we can support them.’
De Waal said she hoped Saturday’s meeting would be a building block in preparation for the march next month.
The rally followed a meeting held at Community House in Salt River on July 11, where a coalition of organisations agreed to coordinate a longer-term campaign against xenophobia.
Saturday’s gathering marked the campaign’s second mobilisation, with attention now turning to the planned march to Parliament on August 8.
