Can the Overstrand set an example for overcoming Xenophobia?

With "that tournament" now done and dusted, it's time for us to get back to our old routines. That means time for us to be innundated with stories of violence, crime, poverty, unemployment and the rampant spead of HIV/AIDS. Those issues didn't just disappear once FIFA rolled into town - they were just knocked out of the headlines by a barrage of Jabulani balls.  the reality is that while most had a great time during the world cup, for many people life has been just as difficult.  And with the recent uprising of xenophobic threats, it's now time again for our country's visitors to wonder if they will be able to just get on with their lives or if their lives are at risk.

I found this definition of xenophobia:
 Xenophobia is the uncontrollable fear of foreigners. It comes from the Greek words ξένος (xenos), meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear." Xenophobia can manifest itself in many ways involving the relations and perceptions of an ingroup towards an outgroup, including a fear of losing identity, suspicion of its activities, aggression, and desire to eliminate its presence to secure a presumed purity. Xenophobia can also be exhibited in the form of an "uncritical exaltation of another culture" in which a culture is ascribed "an unreal, stereotyped and exotic quality".

Now, is it just me, or have we recently had a flood of "strangers" and "foreigners" in our country? you don't get much more culturally different than a Japanese or Slovenian supporter, do you? So with these hundereds of thousands of foreigners in town, why is it that only those who have relatively little money and come from the same continent are being threatened with their lives?  Wasn't the "whole continent" on Ghana's side, willing them to get as far in the competition as possible? It's sad that this sense of unity can degenerate so quickly into irrational and senseless threats of violence against people who were a couple of weeks ago on the same team.

There are many hardships that our Overstrand communities face, but one of the advantages that we have over our big cities is that we have a close and connected society that has the capacity to work through its issues on a human level.  So let's see if we in the overstrand can set an example for the rest of South Africa to follow.  Let's recognise that we can achieve more by working together and talking about our differences than by blaming others for our troubles.  All NPOs, buinesses, the municipality, religious groups and institutions, and community leaders need to take a stand against Xenophobia so that we can avoid a repeat of what happened in 2008.  We've shown the world that we can host people who are spending lots of money - let's show them that we can host and care for those without much at all.