Currently in post-production is Blood & Fire, a feature documentary from Mazibe Media Productions, directed by Charles Khoza, which examines the horrific wave of xenophobia that swept South Africa in 2008. 

The documentary will focus on Mozambican Ernesto Nyamuave, who was burned alive in the Ramaphosa informal settlement in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, in May of 2008; ti will further track Nyamuave’s life to see what made him leave his beloved Mozambique and venture into South Africa, only to be brutally killed.

In recent years, there have been attacks all over South Africa, in clashes usually between the poorest of the poor. Gangs of local black South Africans descend on informal settlements and shanty towns, armed with clubs, machetes and torches, and attack immigrants from neighboring countries.

Locals accuse immigrants of taking jobs away from them, among other grievances. Sound familiar? It's something that happens almost everywhere in the world, again, usually at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.

How many times have we heard that sentiment against immigrants right here in the USA? So it's certainly not a "South African problem." I just wanted to make that clear.

Dealing with the aftermath of the attacks has become a large problem for South Africa – prosecuting attackers, accommodating refugees, dealing with a labor shortage, political damage control, seeking to address root causes, and some soul-searching are all taking place.

Blood & Fire will be released before the end of the year, in South Africa.

Watch the trailer for Blood & Fire below (h/t Screen Africa):