Christians@Rhodes celebrated Africa Day by holding a prayer service at the Rhodes Chapel on Monday 25 May.
Christians@Rhodes celebrated Africa Day by holding a prayer service at the Rhodes Chapel on Monday 25 May.
The service was to commemorate and raise awareness of those killed or injured in the recent attacks across South Africa against foreign nationals.
Zikhona Valela, Vice Chairperson of Christians@Rhodes said, “As the church we felt that it is appropriate for us to gather and reflect on what has been going on in South Africa.
"We had to acknowledge how foreign nationals have been treated and do something about it.”
Fezokuhle Mthonti, a guest speaker from the Politics department at Rhodes, shared her personal experiences of growing up in KwaZulu-Natal.
“I always had to prove myself because of the fact that I am dark in complexion. People would claim that I am a foreigner,” Mthonti said.
Mthonti said she felt very strongly that the state has not done enough to stop xenophobia.
“The implementation of structures such as Operation Fiela [for deporting illegal immigrants]does not bring justice and solve this issue of xenophobia," said Mthonti.
"Instead this operation implies that dirt is being swept way.”
Valela said the day's collection would be donated to organisations that assist victims of xenophobic attacks.
