In May, xenophobic violence broke out in the Gauteng area of South Africa and quickly spread throughout the country. The result of rising tensions over shortages of jobs and basic resources like water and sanitation, xenophobia took root in communities that feared for their own survival in the face of immigration (both legal and illegal).

In neighboring Zimbabwe, the violence, political instability, and dire economic situation had forced many people to leave the country, most of them without proper documentation. Many Zimbabwean men had crossed the border to South Africa illegally, in search of work, so that they could return to their wives and children periodically to provide for them.

The violence that began in May affected these Zimbabweans harshly. People were beaten and killed, and many fled for their lives. They sought safe places to stay, like community halls in nearby communities, and in the process, lost their homes and jobs.

Recently Jonelle Naude, a South African coach, and Rafael Boker, an Israeli coach, co-led a workshop entitled “Heart of Peace,” which drew a number of these doubly-displaced Zimbabweans. Held in Phillipi in the Cape Flats region known for its racial diversity, an area that had experienced much xenophobic violence, Naude and Boker created an environment in which participants could tell their stories (many for the first time) and be heard and feel validated. Traumatized from their experiences of being victims of the violence themselves or seeing loved ones hurt or killed, the participants processed their experiences and then faced a choice: Would they become the next link in the chain of violence or the next link in the chain of forgiveness?

Naude and Boker invited participants to choose a heart at peace instead of a heart at war, and to take the first step toward forgiveness. The leaders helped participants see that they had a choice. In Naude’s words, “They could succumb to the urge to spread more violence or they could become leaders of peace.”

Participants courageously entered into a process designed to help them see the conflict from others’ perspectives, even stepping into the shoes of those who had hurt them and viewing the situation from their perspective. They then did “lands-work” to create a “land” where all would be welcome with one prerequisite: that a person enters this land with a heart at peace. Naude explained:

This approach to humankind would be something they could take with them wherever they chose to go: back to their communities, or maybe even back to their countries of origin. They could teach others to have a heart at peace. The participants found this notion empowering and freeing.

While the workshop did not bring relief to participants’ immediate needs for housing and jobs, it did provide them healing for their saddened souls and hope and a vision for the future. The experience of what a “heart at peace” could be provided them with an alternative to the violence surrounding them. And it provided them with the opportunity to take the first step and be role models for the South Africans around them.


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Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of "Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations," and "The Soul of a Leader," works with leaders in business, healthcare, churches, government and non-profits to help them develop spiritual leadership. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com. © Copyright 2008 by Margaret Benefiel.