The Red Ants, state-sponsored mercenaries, have begun in South African cities a campaign of “beautification” before the World Cup. This means clearing away unsightly immigrant squatter camps.
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Waving iron bars and pickaxes, the Red Ants, marched into the slums. Immigrant women ran in panic towards their corrugated iron homes. “Grab the children,” they screamed. Their shacks on the outskirts of Johannesburg were razed. They were forced to watch as their few possessions were burnt.
This month, hundreds of Zimbabwean refugees were beaten and forcibly evicted by Red Ants in Johannesburg. Red Ants also flattened more than 100 shacks near the Mbombela stadium.
According to Braam Hanekom, chairman of Passop, a refugee rights charity, the Red Ants are doing the government’s dirty work. “They are a militia that ruthlessly displaces people from their shelters under government instructions,” he said. “They are notorious for their brutal and violent approach.”
The ruling African National Congress sees the World Cup as an opportunity to showcase its achievements since it came to power 16 years ago.
Attacks on immigrants in South Africa may intensify after the World Cup. Unemployment, already at 27%, is expected to rise as thousands of construction jobs disappear.
Attacks by the Red Ants and vigilante groups are nationwide. In Breede Valley, more than 1,200 Zimbabwean refugees struggle to survive in a camp built on a rugby field, victims of Red Ant, having been burnt out of their homes.
“I was among a few hundred Zimbabwean refugees taking shelter in Johannesburg when the Red Ants came and sprayed us with brown sewage water,” said Chenzera Ndbele, 14. “When we moved to a local slum, they came back with pickaxes. They made us watch as they burnt our belongings.”