South Africa’s president says he’s “deeply disturbed” at the abuse of foreign nationals working in the country. It is a particular problem in the township of Alexandra, which was at the centre of xenophobic riots in 2008. Some immigrants there have told the BBC they now live in fear.
“When they came here for the first time there were seven of them. They made us lie all down. They took the machines, hairdryers and sprays. We had no choice but to let them take them because they had guns”.
David – not his real name – sits nervously in front of me at his barber’s shop in Johannesburg’s Alexandra township.
The Mozambican looks down at his hands as he describes the numerous attacks he’s been the target of, simply for being a foreigner.
Imagine the headline if the South Africans were white.
