Zimbabwean migrants and their supporters took to the streets of Cape Town, South Africa, on Feb. 7 to protest a police raid targeting a Methodist church. South African police physically assaulted the 1,500 Zimbabwean refugees sheltered there as they arrested them on Jan. 31.
“The raid is reminiscent of the apartheid era,” said Braam Hanekom, coordinator of an immigrant and refugee rights group that helped organize the protest.
Many Zimbabweans have sought refuge in South Africa, fleeing the hardships of economic underdevelopment that so often plague former colonial subjects. Food shortages and sky-high inflation have been compounded by sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States.
Despite the historical defeat of South Africa’s racist apartheid regime, the oppressive features of capitalism remain in place.
