We Need To Unite As Africans

During the dark days of Apartheid many South Africans were not able to freely express their political views and were subsequently forced to seek refuge in neighbouring African countries.  Knowing that the political climate in South Africa was not in line with basic human rights, our brothers and sisters to the north of the Limpopo accommodated us for years on end.  Political refugees were able to establish political structures in other African countries, and some even established families.

Now that South Africa is politically stable and the ‘gem of Africa’ (a situation which our neighbours in Africa indirectly contributed to) we are quick to forget that we were once in trouble and needed the help of our brothers and sisters north of the Limpopo.  The tables have turned and our fellow Africans now seek a better life here.  Instead of reciprocating the Ubuntu which they showed us, we replicate the pain and suffering which the evaded back in their troubled lands.

Before 2008 the word “xenophobia” was a word which was found only in dictionaries.  Today xenophobia is not only a dirty word, but has become an act, which black South Africans use to chase makwerekwere (derogatory term for foreigner)  back across the border.   The people, who during the dark days were brothers and sisters, have now been reduced to second class citizens, who are said to “steal our jobs”. 

Former South African President Nelson Mandela emphatically stated “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.”  The very South Africans who were oppressed under the Apartheid Government have become the oppressors— oppressing fellow Africans.  It boggles the mind that Africans would turn on one another, especially given the history of oppression on the continent.

Regardless of the circumstances in South Africa there is no way to justify the heinous acts of xenophobia; it even goes against the fundamental teachings of African community.  African culture speaks about caring and sharing, and accommodating those who need help, especially when their circumstances are dire.  This is not evident as Africans from across the continent face the danger of  brutal beatings as they walk the streets, the streets of another African land.

Xenophobic acts are at the core of the South African psyche, which has manifested from an ‘unafrican’ way of thinking which says “we as South Africans are better than the rest of Africa”.  We as South Africans were allowed to take from fellow Africans, now when it comes to giving back we respond with barbaric acts.

How many more fellow Africans will have to be assaulted and killed before the situation receives the attention it deserves?   

As Africans, we face the same struggles, and the struggles will only be overcome when we realise that we should not be fighting one another.  The common enemy is poverty and we can only conquer through unity as Africans.