Ladies and gentlemen
Friends and comrades

Allow me to add my welcome. When I read the list of people who accepted our invitation to enter into a dialogue, I was struck by the sheer diversity of those of us here today. I cannot list everyone, but these include representatives of communities where the recent violence occurred; civil society groups, including community-based organisations; human rights non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and law clinics; academics; the media; representatives from various chambers of commence and industry; religious and traditional leaders, politicians and representatives of international organisations.

Allow me to pause and say that I am very aware that most, if not all of you, are not the sort of people who just come to talk about problems. When the terrible attacks broke out a few months ago, all of the groups I have referred to responded to the crisis by taking action. You worked hard to provide assistance and support to those who were traumatised and displaced by the violence. You also worked hard to build peace in the communities from which many thousand of people fled, and this work continues.

All three spheres of government are represented at this dialogue - both by the executive and officials. And most importantly, we welcome representatives from migrant communities - people who have come to South Africa with the intention of making this their home (immigrants); those who were forced to flee their countries due to civil war or political persecution (refugees) and migrants who have come here to trade or to work for a short time. I applaud you for your bravery in accepting the invitation to come and talk when your wounds are still raw.

I am aware that the word 'xenophobia' - the fear or dislike of foreigners - has been in and out of the public discourse in South Africa since the late 1990s. Over the last decade, conferences and public awareness campaigns, public hearings, movie festivals and training programmes for government officials have taken place to counter this phenomenon. Nevertheless, during my interaction as Minister of Home Affairs with people living in South Africa - citizens and migrants - I became aware that pockets of hostility continued to exist within our community. I became aware that this hostility went beyond the pressure brought on poor people who have to compete for scarce resources. This fact was brought home to me in a very real way during my visit to Atteridgeville in March this year when I interacted with the community and realised the extent to which we were "talking past each other". A complex construct of perceptions, realities and feelings seemed to be behind this failure to respect the dignity and equality of those who were 'different'.

It was after this engagement that I announce my intention to call for this indaba or social dialogue. Tragically, a few weeks later events overtook the planning for this dialogue as the Department of Home Affairs, together with other government departments, provincial and local government, responded to the displacement of tens of thousands of people after attacks with claimed the lives of sixty people, South Africans and foreign nationals.

Apart from the National Day of Remembrance, communities affected by the violence have engaged amongst themselves, and although hostility continues in a few communities, the vast majority of those displaced have been reintegrated. In the Western Cape, the process was facilitated by trained mediators who were deployed almost immediately to the affected communities. It is important to note that although reintegration is an important objective for government, it could never be possible, or sustainable without the commitment of communities and their leaders, and the support of the broader society.

Although the reasons for xenophobia, and more so the recent violence are complex, it is clear that xenophobia damages the victim community and perpetrator community, as the dignity of both is affected. It will take time for the wounds to heal and wisdom and hard work to ensure that this does not happen again. There is no room for arrogance in this debate and during the next two days we must be very careful that our words serve to heal and transform rather than cause further hurt and division.

Much of what took place was pure criminality, in some cases fuelled by alcohol and in others by organised crime, where mostly young people took advantage of the vulnerability of foreigners and looted their homes and shops and destroyed property. The so-called 'normalisation of violence' and the lack of social cohesion, particularly amongst the youth, may be issues on the fringes of our dialogue, but they are nevertheless important. In understanding the events of the past few months, we must appreciate both the contribution made by foreigners to economic development and cultural enrichment, as well as the challenges faced by poor South Africans, and the pressures placed by immigration and in particular, illegal immigration in an environment where unemployment is high.

The purpose of this dialogue is to engage with some of these complex issues. The purpose is also to see how we can foster tolerance and an appreciation of the wonderful diversity of the people of our country and our continent.

Much of our time over the next two days will be spent in commissions where we will be able to listen to each other more carefully. We will have an opportunity of sharing our own experiences and insights, and to engage with the ideas shared by the panellists. We are aware that the panels do not deal exhaustively with all the issues, but we trust that the panellists will provide food for thought.

As with the participants, the panellists represent an impressive variety of opinions and interests. Some panellists will be well known to those of you who have followed the debates on xenophobia over the years, and others will provide new and I am sure, refreshing perspectives. I would like to thank the panellists in particular for your contribution to this dialogue.

Although leadership at all levels is important, it is only through commitment to dialogue, followed by action at all levels of society that we can be able to restore and build social cohesion. I look forward, as I hope you do, to a productive two days.

Issued by: Department of Home Affairs
18 August 2008