The union president, democracy activist, and engineer traveled three days by truck to what he thought would be a haven - South Africa. Now, six years later, he is again frightened - this time, not because of his advocacy for democracy or freedom, but simply because he is a foreigner. At least seven foreigners have been killed in xenophobic attacks across South Africa since April. In the most dramatic incident, two brothers from Angola, refugees from their country's intermittent civil war, were beaten up in their Cape Town home then set on fire. They say I'm taking jobs away from locals.
People are very hostile.
Nkongolo is taking part in one of several private and government programs to counteract xenophobia, which is a legacy of the country's isolation under apartheid. Under white rule, South Africa had little contact with its neighbors. Now, suddenly, South Africans are confronted with strangers from faraway countries they know nothing about. The rise in xenophobia parallels South Africans' increasing frustration with the slow pace of their country's post-apartheid transformation. Unfortunately, foreigners seem to be the scapegoat.