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Background

We are gathered here today as workers, activists, professionals, researchers, community networks, international organisations and broader civil society forces to deepen our understanding of the crisis of xenophobia in order to generate synergy towards a concrete programme of action that will unite all workers and popular forces into action against the scourge.

We believe that our struggle against xenophobia is inseparable from the struggle against the capitalist system and its causes, because xenophobia is just one of the manifestations of the crisis of the system. Capitalism is a system based on extreme inequalities of massive poverty for the majority and massive wealth concentration for the few, hence the inevitability of social tensions and profound crisis and more importantly, the centrality of class struggle.

We explored the underlying social contradictions and their inter-connectedness. In particular, we explored the underlying forward and backward linkages between class inequalities, tribalism, racism, sexism and xenophobia as both elements and manifestations of the crisis facing the capitalist system in general, not least in our own country.

The legacy of apartheid and xenophobia as a crime against humanity

In our country, these crisis and social tensions that gave impetus to the xenophobic attacks and violence that affected working class communities in most of our big cities, largely resulted from both disappointed expectations of improved living conditions after the 1994 democratic breakthrough in the country and the deepening crisis in the sub-region, particularly the political and socio-economic crisis in Zimbabwe, Swaziland and the DRC as well as the socio-economic crisis in Mozambique and Malawi.

We recognise human mobility as a permanent feature of human existence and social development and believe we must develop ways to use to advantage our common commitment to confronting the crisis afflicting our common existence. Migration has always been a central feature of human development and social existence, as a result of the constant search for resources and means of livelihood in response to ever-changing social, environmental and natural factors

Being cognisant of the fact that the current boundaries within which we operate are not natural, but the artificial creations of colonialism and were imposed upon the people, in which case, they act as a barrier to the movement, interaction and unity of our people who have always shared a common history, culture, heritage and destiny. Migration must also enhance shared experiences and mutual benefit through the cross-pollination of lessons and responses to the urgency of changing the situation facing humanity.

We further recognised that we still live in a society that has not yet overcome the evil legacy of apartheid divisions, violence and the culture of impunity against perpetrators, institutionalised through years of systemic apartheid and racialised relations that fostered separation, competition and individualism in society. This was the primary and permanent feature of apartheid and still lingers on well beyond the 1994 democratic breakthrough, resulting in the structural and deeply rooted violence, particularly against women, children and other vulnerable groups in society.

Xenophobia is largely a scapegoat for frustrations arising from persisting socio-economic ills and lack of profound understanding of the root causes of the crisis facing people from other countries and how they relate to our internal situation. This begins to shape social relations in a way that takes the form of them and us or "outsiders". The lack of local and national capacity to heal wounds and reconcile communities contribute to the festering wounds and persisting issues in our society that consistently open up at regular intervals, hence the brewing tensions in communities.

We remain concerned by the lack of decisive leadership, ready and willing to acknowledge the magnitude of the problem and confront it. In some instances, political leaders and councillors ride on populist rhetoric that uses the scapegoat of foreigners to justify their failure to provide services to local communities. In this way, they remain fraudulently popular, whilst fermenting divisions and diversions from the real issues affecting communities. In this regard, certain elements within the law enforcement agencies and authorities have also contributed in the way they have positioned themselves on these sensitive issues. Unless xenophobia is treated as a matter of national urgency and priority, there shall be persisting tensions and even regular outbreaks of such occurrences. While xenophobia is a crime in itself, it has its own distinct and unique characteristics and should be punishable as such. In this regard, the xenophobic intentions can also aggravate the circumstances for acts of criminality. However, we also wish to acknowledge the role of some ANC branches, particularly around Gauteng who played an outstanding role in mobilising their members and social forces in their communities to confront xenophobia and denounced xenophobic elements.

We also note the destructive role that the media in general, particularly western and commercial media have played in the perpetuation of values that paint Africa in very negative terms and create a feeling of sub-human beings against Africans, which generate negative values and contribute to the internalisation of dominant stereotypes against Africans. This requires that we must deepen a feeling of hope and confidence in and amongst the people of Africa to change these attitudes and stereotypes.

We are now called upon to go beyond moral rhetoric to concrete steps and action. We must also use the lessons drawn from our struggle against apartheid, where workers and communities developed effective conflict resolution mechanisms that united the people against divisive tactics of the apartheid regime that set whites against blacks, coloureds and Indians against Africans, Zulus against Xhosas, Sothos and Tswanas against Ngunis, etc.

Declaration to make our workplaces and communities xenophobia-free

Migrants and foreign nationals as human beings are equally entitled to all the rights and responsibilities to which all people are entitled as enshrined in the constitution of the country and the Universal declaration of human rights.

We set ourselves the following tasks in pursuit of our common commitment to the fundamental eradication of xenophobia and its causes;
• Review of migration dispensation to care for foreigners
• Organising migrant workers to fight for and defend their rights
• Transformation of the justice system to cater for special needs of foreigners
• Fight downward variation of labour standards which undermine gains made over years
• Promote spirit of internationalism
• Promote working class unity and deepen popular consciousness
These elements mean that we must;
• Build local community structures that aim to unite workers and communities against all and every form of discrimination, particularly xenophobia, which includes;
o Creating community dialogue forums where experiences are to be shared on each other's background and history
o Organise meetings where such issues can be openly discussed and confronted in our communities

• Build popular consciousness against xenophobia, racism and sexism through workers education programmes. Amongst the most key aims of this programme should be to challenge the narrow, sensationalist and rightwing version of the issues, particularly the responses, which include false alarms about border closures and associating rise in crime levels with foreigners

• Support the self-organisation and integration of migrant workers to effectively bargain for their rights and create an atmosphere of welcome in all our activities and organisations

• Call for a profound review of the country's immigration dispensation to be progressive, humane and caring to people from outside the country, particularly Africans, who are worst victims of such occurrences

• Develop special support and legal assistance to deserving asylum seekers in order to regularise their situation and that of their families

• Create capacity for conflict resolution and mediation, particularly early warning systems towards that end. In this regard, we call for Xenophobia Monitoring system, that will include a hotline or call centre where incidents or even indicators can be reported before they become major occurrences

• Call upon political parties to put xenophobia as one of the critical issues in their campaign manifestos and to ensure that councillors in the coming local government elections must pronounce on the issue of xenophobia and commit to take decisive action against those involved in fermenting tensions against foreigners in communities

• We must popularise and promote African heritage in all our communities, including such affirming and positive values of ubuntu, to deepen and celebrate the rich history of struggle, unity and shared values amongst the people of Africa in general

• We commit ourselves to work with all sectors of our society towards the organisation of a Conference against Xenophobia, which shall outline a clear national programme towards the actualisation of the ideals set out herein. It shall have to include; business, government, labour, faith-based organisations, academics and civil society structures.
More fundamentally, there is an urgent need for a Comprehensive development Plan for the Southern African region and the continent as a whole to reverse the persisting problems of underdevelopment and growing inequalities that deepen poverty and social crisis, resulting in the forced migration of people. In the same vein, the struggle against undemocratic regimes and human rights abuses that force workers and people to migrate compounds the problem. SADC and the AU must timeously and decisively intervene in crisis situations to avoid massive outflow and migration of people due to political and socio-economic crisis. In this regard, we call upon the South African government to play an active role.

The primacy of our struggle is to defeat institutionalised xenophobia and all its manifestations in particular, as part of our all-round commitment to end all forms of discrimination and dehumanisation.

We also commit to seize the opportunity to engage government on these and related issues, given the presence amongst us of various government departments and institutions associated with the state, whose role and contribution in the meeting and generally, is a welcome step forward in this important momentum.

Finally, we commit to supporting existing initiatives and to partner with all organisations involved in this and other struggles for social justice in order to promote co-operation and unity in struggle. In this regard, we particularly note, Anti-Xenophobia Action (AXA) as an important network to work with in advancing this objective. We seek to draw in the active participation of faith based organisations, youth and students movements, NGOs and social movements, academics and other role-players involved towards full and effective joint programmes towards this end.