In March, these refugees from Zimbabwe protested against a xenophobic attack on Somali refugees in Worcester, a city roughly two hours outside of Cape Town in the Western Cape.

Just before I left Cape Town, everyone was talking about the recent spate of xenophobic violence near Johannesburg that left dozens of people dead, hundreds injured, and thousands displaced. The short story is that hundreds, if not thousands, of Zimbabweans have fled their home country these past 3 months due to post-election violence there, creating an even tenser relationship between black foreigners, (Africans from across the continent), and poor South Africans who feel that these foreigners have better access to social services and jobs than them. A number of my friends and acquaintances worried that they would be singled out for their appearance or accent, and that since violence erupted in Gauteng, tensions would erupt in Cape Town, too.

Eventually, they did. The Mail and Guardian is reporting that there are 18,000 displaced people just in and around Cape Town.

The whole thing is a bit complicated, and once I feel one way about it, I read something else that changes my mind. This BBC story does a great job of putting this story into its historical context. Also this blog logs the conditions refugees lived under at the Desmond Tutu Hall in a nearby township called Khayelitsha, where more than 500 people sought shelter following the attacks.

With the presidential runoff in Zimbabwe slated for later this month, it’s unlikely we’ll be hearing any less about this issue, although from here, it seems like things have calmed down since I left.