Jun 29, 2010 3:46 PM | By Sapa
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The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) hopes that rumours of a resurgence in xenophobic violence after the World Cup are "just a threat", chairman Lawrence Mushwana said.
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A Zimbabwean mother and child at the community hall in De Doorns, to which they were moved after an outbreak of xenophobia in the Western Cape.

He said a reaction unit had been assembled to respond to any attack on foreigners, although threats that there would be a recurrence of xenophobic violence after the World Cup had no basis.

Nevertheless they were taking them seriously.
“We are more than ready. There will be an effort much better than 2008,” he said during the launch in Johannesburg of a project aimed at dealing with discrimination and xenophobia.

The SAHRC and the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights signed an agreement to help the SAHRC follow up on recommendations it made after the 2008 xenophobic attacks.
The US100,000 (about R763,000) project would run from July 1, 2010 to June next year.

Regional representative of the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, Yanine Poc said a task team would monitor the implementation of the agreement.
The team would offer a liaison platform between the UN, its regional representatives and the SAHRC on matters involving human rights.

Mushwana said the money would be used to benefit South Africans.

Amongst others, the money would be used to strengthen the education and legal services of the SAHRC so that it could reach people in rural areas.
The SAHRC had instituted an investigation into the 2008 xenophobic violence that left thousands of foreigners displaced.

In its report the SAHRC found that the security forces were unable to prevent the spread of the violence to other areas.

The attacks started in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg and spilled over to Diepsloot and Tembisa within five days.
During the outbreak of the violence South Africans accused foreigners of “stealing” their jobs.

They argued that foreigners were employed because they were prepared to worked for less money than South Africans.
The SAHRC made recommendations to government departments directly affected by the xenophobic violence.

Recommendations included ensuring that all social conflict disaster plans and reintegration plans included a clear and transparent policy on repatriation.

The commission also said shelters for displaced people should not be closed before every avenue for safe integration into South African society had been exhausted.
The commission made recommendations to the police, the departments of home affairs, education, co-operative governance and traditional affairs, social development, justice as well as the Independent Complaints Directorate.