AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - South African leadership is accused of xenophobia

Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) - New xenophobic attacks have been denounced by the local Nigerian community residing in South Africa's Northern Cape.
According to representatives of the expatriate community, some cars belonging to Nigerians were destroyed while several homes of Nigerians were attacked and looted by gangs of South Africans.
After the serious incidents of xenophobic in March and April (see Fides 17/04/2015), African Countries are questioning the attitude of South Africa towards the other inhabitants of the continent. "The Afrophobia that played out in South Africa crushed the dream of pan-Africanism", said the director of the African Futures Institute, Alioune Sall, during the 14th general Assembly of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, held in Dakar (Senegal).
According to the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian, several African scholars have highlighted the role of the South African political leadership in increasing a feeling of isolation in the local population against African migrants.
This is where violent xenophobic behavior stems from, fueled by the difficult conditions in which South Africans and migrants live.
Even tourist visas for African Country citizens is more complicated than for a European. "In a lot of ways, it is easier to come to South Africa from Germany than it is from the rest of Africa", said a speaker. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 17/06/2015)