Speaker, the African Peer Review Mechanism Monitoring Project has assigned the South African government's handling of xenophobia the lowest possible rating. The monitoring project report notes that the government has failed to prioritise the issue, and that there is an element of denialism.
In the first quarter of 2011 the Human Sciences Research Council tracked 20 xenophobia-related deaths, 40 injuries, 200 foreign-owned shops looted, and thousands displaced. This is not much different from the appalling situation we experienced in May 2008, which many nongovernmental organisations have been warning is likely to repeat itself in the near future.
One would have hoped for concerted efforts in seeking to understand and address root causes. However, the Department of Home Affairs' Counter- Xenophobia Unit, launched with much media hype, appears to have died a quiet death. The Interministerial Committee on Xenophobia, set up after the 2008 attacks and chaired by the Minister of Police, is no longer active. The drafting of a national action plan to address xenophobia, started in 2009 in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, has still not been finalised.
The government's efforts are clearly fragmented and show no sign of the serious attention this matter deserves. The DA calls on the responsible Ministers to table a comprehensive plan of action for wide-ranging consultation and implementation as a matter of urgency. [Applause.]