Monday News: "Looking Ugly"

The xenophobic violence in South Africa dominates my Google Reader this morning. Foreign refugees and workers are either fleeing the country or setting up makeshift camps--and are not only rejecting public apologies, but are vowing to fight back if attacked again. Local, provincial, and national governments are grappling with the best way to deal with both the displacement and imperative the end the violence and ensure long-term peace. President Thabo Mbeki, who remained silent on the growing crisis for nearly two weeks, called the violence an “absolute disgrace” in a speech marking yesterday’s Africa Day commemoration.

Newspaper editorials from around the African continent provide compelling critiques of the violence: The Monitor, a newspaper in Uganda, writes, “South Africa is looking ugly again,” and blames the ANC for creating unrealistically high expectations for change under democracy and majority rule. (Perhaps a new indicator for democratic consolidation should be the degree of skepticism citizens have towards politicians’ campaign promises.) While the editorial notes that the ANC government has made strides in post-apartheid economic growth, it also warns that, due to the massive scale of poverty, special attention should be paid to the urban poor in order to ward off disgruntlement-turned-violence.

The East African, out of Kenya, seems betrayed at South Africans’ rejection of their continental brothers and of the ideals of their own Rainbow Nation. The editors write, “The black South African is generally a bitter person, emotionally scarred by the brutal apartheid system. It could indeed take a generation or more for South Africans to recover from the after-effects of apartheid. But attacking fellow black Africans will not bring about quick healing; instead, it will alienate the Rainbow Nation from neighbouring countries to which it owes so much in the fight against apartheid.”

In Zimbabwe, our good friend Bobby Mugabe told a ZANU-PF rally that Zimbabwe will “never be a colony again,” invoking the same rhetoric he uses every time his rule is under attack. (Seriously, if you read his speeches from throughout his career, you’ll find new meaning in the phrase ‘broken record.’) The implication is that the MDC is back by Western interests, and a MDC electoral victory would amount to the reinstallation of colonialism. Mugabe also promised land to Zimbabweans living in South Africa if they return…and I’m wondering, after decades of his land ‘policies,’ if there’s really anyone left to steal it form?

Violence continues to two fronts in Sudan, with fears of renewed civil war between the North and the South, and government retaliation against Darfur for the rebel attack on Khartoum.

Uganda set up a special war crimes court with a mandate to try the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army for atrocities committed during its 20 year insurgency. LRA leader Joseph Kony has repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of an International Criminal Court indictment before he will sign a peace accord.

Slow progress, but progress nonetheless, continues in Burma, as representatives of 50 nations met in Rangoon to discuss international access and aid to cyclone victims.

Need something slightly more positive? Check out this UNICEF article on efforts to help Chadian refugee children living in camps in Cameroon.