Enough is enough, it is the clear message sent by these Zambian students to respond to xenophobic violence in South Africa. There were about a thousand of them demonstrating outside the South African Embassy in Lusaka to express their anger.
Africa's backlash at the xenophobic attacks in South Africa
“I’m not happy with the behaviour of South Africans. They want to wake up every time and start killing people. Nigerians, Malawians, we are all Zambians, we are all Africans. We will not tolerate this nonsense. Enough is enough,” said Zambian demonstrator.
“We’re tired of getting beaten up every day. We are all in Africa. Why should we be afraid to go to South Africa? Which South African has already been beaten in Zambia? Which one? We want the ambassador to address us. We are tired. That’s enough! That’s enough!,” another Zambian demonstrator said.
The same reaction occurred in Nigeria, where violent demonstrations took place in Abuja and Lagos, where protesters attacked South African brands.
“We are all very angry, which is why we are out today to protest against these xenophobic murders, to stop them. We have South African citizens in this country, we left them, they didn’t leave. Their investments are so important here, we didn’t hurt them here. Then why do they have to hurt our people?,” said Widom Peter, Nigerian merchant.
South African telecom giant MTN is a victim of the anger, it has closed all its branches in Nigeria, its largest market with 190 million people. Xenophobic violence in South Africa has left at least 7 people dead.