Letters from South Africans to Minister Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Canada, on behalf of Brandon Huntley:I am writing to you in support of the Canadian decision to grant Mr Brandon Huntley refugee status in Canada, and I believe there are numerous South Africans looking to Canada to uphold this democratic decision. Please do not reverse this decision and bow to political pressure and interference from the South African ANC government. The ANC government has predictably labeled your country's decision racist and they are taking steps to make your country reverse this decision as they are embarrassed to be seen as oppressors after being championed internationally as fighters of democracy. Hypocritically enough, SA is currently the "refugee capital of Africa", with the ANC government opening the country's borders and accepting millions of displaced Zimbabweans and other African refugees into the country without expecting criticism of their decision, yet they want to dictate to your country which decisions you are allowed to make.
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Before we left South Africa 18 months ago, we were living in the most appauling conditions. My husband could not find work as an attorney due to aggressive affirmative action and even a job as a pizza delivery man was hard to find! We lived in a dangerous area where our old car was stolen and when we were borrowed another car, that too was stolen. The last straw was when our neighbour was burnt alive infront of us!
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Since 1990 I personally was on the receiving end of a number of attempted attacks all of them I could luckily repel as I am extremely alert and armed at all times. My daughter’s family was not that lucky when they suffered a armed robbery at their home. They subsequently emigrated to the USA as they were severely traumatised and did not wish to expose themselves to further danger.
In most of this attacks racial hatred was a seemingly motivation or at least a greatly supporting element. To what extent the racial hatred or the criminal motive outweighed each other I cannot say . What I can say however is that this racial hatred and abuse was definitely a component in most of the incidents. All attacks without exception were carried out by black persons and in all instances there was no provocations of whatever nature from the victims side.
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Dear Hon. Jason Kenney,
I am writing to you in support of the Canadian decision to grant Mr Brandon Huntley refugee status in Canada, and I believe there are numerous South Africans looking to Canada to uphold this democratic decision. Please do not reverse this decision and bow to political pressure and interference from the South African ANC government. The ANC government has predictably labeled your country's decision racist and they are taking steps to make your country reverse this decision as they are embarrassed to be seen as oppressors after being championed internationally as fighters of democracy. Hypocritically enough, SA is currently the "refugee capital of Africa", with the ANC government opening the country's borders and accepting millions of displaced Zimbabweans and other African refugees into the country without expecting criticism of their decision, yet they want to dictate to your country which decisions you are allowed to make.
I too am an expat South African citizen currently residing in Melbourne, Australia (as of January 2008). I too had to make the very hard decision as a single mother to uproot my two sons and leave my beloved country behind. My sons are currently aged 13 and 14. I am one of the lucky South Africans to have applied and found a job in a safe country, away from the constant crime and harassment that SA citizens experience on a daily basis.I can now breathe. Many South Africans do not have this opportunity. Mr Huntley has just basis for what he states in his application - just ask any of the million plus South African citizens (mostly Caucasian) who have also been forced to emigrate, taking their skills with them to build a new, safer life in their new countries (including Canada). After the demise of Apartheid, we had high hopes for our country. We were all part of the rainbow nation and looked forward to a bright future. Who would have thought that 15 short years later we would be sitting in other countries, keeping a weary eye on the demise of SA. South Africans live behind 6ft walls with armed response and panic buttons being the norm. The white population are mainly targeted by criminals as they are perceived to be soft targets, and this continues today due to the ineffectual policing and unwillingness of the government to curb the crime situation (50+ people are murdered daily). I had four acts of crime committed against me and my family (3 have police case numbers), with the most chilling experience being when our house was broken into as we lay sleeping. I was one of the lucky ones in that I wasn't raped or murdered (as is the normal outcome these days).I decided that night to leave SA before it was too late and I became another statistic.
The ANC government has failed the people of SA in protecting their basic human rights and now we have to look for these rights in other Western countries. If Canada reverses this decision, it gives the ANC government the international support it needs to continue with the genocide currently happening in SA. If you have the time then please visit the following website as an example of what is really happening in SA: http://afrikaner-genocide-achives.blogspot.com/
This has become a very emotional case to us expats as it represents David and Goliath. Our supportive voices of your decision aren't as loud as the ANC government's negative voice, but we hold out hope that justice will be served in this case.
Kind regards,
[name supplied]
Dear Hon. Jason Kenney,
My husband, five children and I are currently in Canada because my husband was offered a job as an attorney. He still has to complete the conversion and we are by far not "safe". There is a big chance that we might be sent back to South Africa.
Before we left South Africa 18 months ago, we were living in the most appauling conditions. My husband could not find work as an attorney due to aggressive affirmative action and even a job as a pizza delivery man was hard to find! We lived in a dangerous area where our old car was stolen and when we were borrowed another car, that too was stolen. The last straw was when our neighbour was burnt alive infront of us! My children witnessed this and my 10 year old daughter would not sleep in her own room for months. My husband was held at knife point and so was I. I have a 20 year old daughter who was attacked a week ago and she is unfortunately still there! She says that any black person who comes near her she fears and now she is afraid to go anywhere on her own.
When we arrived here our children could not sleep for days because we did not have burglar guards on our window. Now they are free and safe and all of then (even our six year old) has expressed fear of going back to South Africa.
Regards
[name supplied]
Attention Mr. Jason Kenney
Dear Sir
I am writing to you as a ( white ) resident and tax payer in South Africa in connection with the political asylum status that your country – correctly – to my humble opinion granted to Mr. Huntley.
Not knowing the criteria that applies to such a decision I nevertheless believe that this decision represents the values of humanity. I learned of the Huntley case through the media and have followed it since this news broke. I have been living and working in South Africa for forty years and want to bring to your attention my opinion and my experiences.
I am doing this because I sincerely believe that the events that Mr . Huntley claims to have happened to him are entirely plausible.
Since 1990 I personally was on the receiving end of a number of attempted attacks all of them I could luckily repel as I am extremely alert and armed at all times. My daughter’s family was not that lucky when they suffered a armed robbery at their home. They subsequently emigrated to the USA as they were severely traumatised and did not wish to expose themselves to further danger.
In most of this attacks racial hatred was a seemingly motivation or at least a greatly supporting element. To what extent the racial hatred or the criminal motive outweighed each other I cannot say . What I can say however is that this racial hatred and abuse was definitely a component in most of the incidents. All attacks without exception were carried out by black persons and in all instances there was no provocations of whatever nature from the victims side.
In the context of South Africa it is also totally believable that crimes are not reported to the police. If they are reported at all it is in many cases for the purpose of getting a case number that is required by the insurance in case lost items have been insured.
I personally have not reported any of the armed robbery attempts against me to the police , firstly because I was able to repel my attackers and suffered no loss and secondly because I consider large elements of the South African Police as totally disinterested as well as not able in doing their job and as result totally ineffective. Our crime statistics , however distorted and hidden most of the time, will confirm this.
South Africa has a great constitution and it is a tragedy that just about all organs of the state are partly dysfunctional at an ever increasing manner and therefore the noble spirit of our constitution bears no resemblance with the day to day reality of ordinary South Africans.
It is unfortunate that Mr. Huntley’s case has become a political football here and I sincerely hope that Mr. Huntley’s status is not revoked. Should he be send back to South Africa I sincerely believe that he would be running a greatly increased risk of political and racially motivated attacks as in order to escape South Africa he put on record some very inconvenient truth.
Lastly I want to assure you that I have never met Mr Huntley , or any of his relatives or friends, but I do feel deeply for South Africans in this predicament. Most of us white South Africans hoped that the new political dispensation that was achieved in the early 1990 by a great amount of goodwill will be one that respects human rights not only in words but also in deeds and that our country would be on the way to a equitable future.
I fear that we have failed and are failing some more.
Yours Faithfully
[Name supplied]
Source: I Luv SA
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