This is the way the world ends

The first thing I notice about the people lining up for food is their eyes. They have those eyes. The eyes that TS Elliot spoke about in his poem The Hollow Men.

“The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms”
– The Hollow Men, Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965)

As I speak to the Zimbabweans taking refuge, all I can say over and over again is: “I am sorry. I am sorry.” I am in an old tyre yard in Marabastad, Pretoria, with the Institute for Islamic Services who has been feeding these people daily, and caring for their basic needs. When I was packing earlier in the morning I was concerned that the foam mattresses I was taken with were slightly soiled. Arriving at the old tyre yard I learn that people have been using the old tyres to keep themselves warm. That or cardboard. They are lucky. They have relative shelter. A corrugated roof to keep the rain out, although the yard where they sleep is exposed to the elements.

Alongside the tyre yard there’s a field. More Zimbabweans sleep here in make shift tents, shelters or simply under a sheet of plastic on the floor. In the tyre yard I speak to Tawanda, who says he was living in Atteridgeville when he started hearing rumours of pending attacks against foreigners as far back as two months ago. “People went to attend a rally with Jacob Zuma early this year, and at the rally he said he was not going to accept foreigners in South Africa because they are committing crime and taking jobs,” he says.

Tawanda

“After that there were rumours that foreigners would be attacked. Then in the night we heard people coming. They were singing Umshini Wam (Bring Me My Machine [Gun]). They came to my place and set it alight. I took my radio and ran. From a distance I watched them loot my place. I saw the sticks and panga’s. I saw my home burning. There was nothing I could do. I lost everything. Like everyone here I lost everything.”

While writing this piece, I scoured the net for references of the African National Congress (ANC) president speaking out against foreigners in Pretoria. Jacob Zuma gave his first major speech after taking the helm of the ANC on January 8 at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium in Pretoria. However none of the media reports reference anything about him speaking out against foreigners. The speech largely focused on unity following derision within the ANC.

At the old tyre yard where Tawanda is staying with sixty or so other Zimbabweans there is a broken toilet and access to a tap. However at least there is some shelter, unlike his fellow countrymen who are living in a field a couple of hundred metres away. Martin and Shalom are two of the victims of violence who are sleeping out in the open. Their only comfort, a piece of plastic sheeting and some blankets.

open field

They sleep under the sheeting with a friend in the rain and cold. They ablute in the open field and wash in a stream nearby. A bank teller, Martin fled Zimbabwe to escape the violence there. He is studying at Unisa and believes that he will one day become an accountant. When asked what he thinks started the violence he says: “Poverty, joblessness and crime. But don’t worry, God is with us. This is life. This is just life.”

kids

“This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
– The Hollow Men, Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965)

The Institute for Islamic Services is looking for blankets for victims of xenophobic violence. If you are in the Pretoria area and can help please call them on Yusuf Mustafa on 012 374 1584 or 072 158 4088.

If you are a member of the media or are blogging about victims of xenophobic violence, please feel free to use the photographs here. They are free for commercial and non-commercial use with attribution.