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By Dave Wanless, WACC-Africa region
South African cities are recovering from increased tension following sporadic violence against refugees and asylum seekers. Cape Town - venue for Congress 2008 - avoided the worst of the violence, and city councillors are taking measures to respond to local concerns.
Among other things, this highlights the importance of WACC’s 2008 Congress theme: “Communication is Peace – Building viable communities.” As the month ends, the situation is being brought under control – attacks are ceasing, and the dispossessed are being cared for by the army, churches and relief agencies.
The process of rebuilding shattered relationships needs to be strengthened by every means possible.
The Ritz Hotel, where Congress will take place, is far removed from the scenes of violence, and the suburb of Sea Point is nowhere near the places of recent turmoil. This is partly due to the fact that South Africa’s residential areas are still largely, as a legacy of the apartheid policies, segregated along racial lines.
The overwhelming majority of South African have been appalled by the violence, and have rallied against violence and offered material and moral support to those dispossessed and those seeking to offer relief.
By October, things will have returned to normal, but delegates, in complete security, will have the option of visiting a church in Gugulethu, one of the suburbs where violence has recently been experienced. Local organisers hope that their presence will help in the process of building our society into viable communities of peace. |
