I went to a media briefing at the Alexandra police station yesterday. Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula spoke to journalists in a small conference. It was so packed that it was necessary to literally force your way inside. A bit of better planning on a bigger conference room would have made the whole exercise a lot easier.

The Minister’s points boiled down saying the situation in Alexandra was no stable, “…tense, but stable,” thanks to increased police presence in the area.

The new line by the government is that criminal elements are behind the attacks. From the Minister’s mouth:

…no amount of economic hardship and discontent can ever justify criminal activity and bigotry that these attacks represent… Any suggestion that poor service delivery and rising cost of living is to blame for these attacks must be rejected with the contempt it deserves.

While there is no doubt that the violence that exploded in Alexandra was exacerbated by opportunistic marauders to indulge in some looting and pillaging. It is still a fact the poor of South Africa are worse off (purely from an ecomomic perspective) then under Apartheid. And so they turn on a convenient scape goat – the foreign nationals who have sought refuge in South Africa and built lives for themselves.

Many of these foreign nationals are educated or trained in a profession. Whereas, getting a higher education is still very difficult for many South Africans. Not to mention the state of our secondary education where learners face apathy from teachers and second-rate facilities.

It seems a bit late for the xenophobia workshops that the government thinks will solve the problem. Perhaps there should have been a greater emphasis on delivering the service and resources that so many South Africans still desperately need.

There us an excellent article on Politicsweb which argues the blame for the current situation should still be placed at the feet of our ruling political parties and not “criminal elements” in the townships.

The minister said the xenophobic attacks had not spread to Diepsloot and violence in the area was unconnected. The times has uploaded a video that refutes this.