May 16, 2013 — vol. 48, no 41
Thousands seeking refuge near Cape of Good Hope
One of South Africa’s most famous beauty spots is now a scene of disgrace. Just out of sight of the tour buses that flock to the Cape of Good Hope, more than 2,000 foreigners are crammed into a makeshift refugee camp on the shores of the Atlantic, seeking protection from xenophobic attacks that have killed more than 50 people across the country and devastated South Africa’s image as a haven of stability.
Nearly 19,000 people are in shelters after fleeing Cape Town over the weekend as the violence spread from Johannesburg to the so-called Mother City, which prides itself on tolerance and is the jewel in South Africa’s tourist crown.
“These attacks threaten to negate the gains we have made since the end of apartheid,” Chief Justice Pius Langa told a somber crowd in Cape Town’s cathedral on Tuesday.
“Are we as a society going to allow ourselves to be sabotaged?” said Langa, who like many in the congregation wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the word “foreigner.”
Cape Town authorities held an emergency meeting with representatives of the tourist industry and set up a team to assess the impact on bookings and cancellations. The fear is that photos of a burning Mozambican man that made front pages of newspapers around the world last week will displace Table Mountain as the face of South Africa.
Nearly 1 million people — many of them foreigners — work in the tourism industry in Cape Town. The city is one Africa’s most popular destinations, thanks to its iconic mountain, pristine beaches, spectacular vistas and rolling vineyards.
Tourism accounts for more than one-fifth of the province’s income, and it is hoped that will increase if South Africa achieves its target of attracting 10 million visitors by 2010, when it hosts soccer’s World Cup.
The xenophobic violence “will have an impact and it will remain with us for quite some time,” said Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, chief executive of Cape Town Tourism, a promotional agency. “The image of the destination will suffer, that’s beyond question.”
President Thabo Mbeki called the attacks an “absolute disgrace.”
