We all South Africans
WE ARE ALL SOUTH AFRICANS
By
Toyin Falola
President, African Studies Association
The University of Texas at Austin
For over three weeks now, South Africa has been mired in another round of violent xenophobic attacks—indeed, the worst of its kind since 2008 when over sixty foreign nationals were brutally murdered. Reports show that the current attacks have left about five people dead with many shops and houses owned by foreigners looted and completely razed to the ground. This is horrific and unacceptable!
The world continues to watch in utter disbelief and shock as arsonists burn their fellow human beings alive, but sadly, seeming to enjoy this horror, this unfortunate spectacle. These dastardly acts must be condemned in the strongest terms. With South Africa being a constitutional democracy, we expect more from the ruling government and the security agencies to act decisively to stop the carnage as well as to arrest and prosecute those who have directly or indirectly instigated these inhumane and barbaric actions, and, in the end, to ensure the safety of innocent lives and hard earned property.
From available information, the angry rioters are generally poor, unemployed black South Africans to whom the much celebrated liberation from the oppressive apartheid regime has not meant much in terms of improvement in living conditions and possibilities for social mobility. Their grievances are often stated in terms of deprivation of losing to foreigners even low-paying jobs such as cashiers, parking guards, and bar attendants.
Furthermore, the rampaging South Africans are also angry that the operation of community of shops, commonly known as Spaza, that have previously served as their means of livelihood have been taken over by foreigners from Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria and other parts of Africa. While these concerns may be legitimate, they should not be used as either the excuse or pretext for killing fellow Africans or any human being for that matter. It must be realized that most of these migrants often come to South Africa to pursue political freedoms and economic opportunities unavailable to them in their home countries. In turn, those from other African countries must show greater respect and sensitivity to long-standing inequalities endured by South Africans.
We are aware of the historical factors that continue to keep the majority of black South Africans in abject poverty and penury. Therefore, xenophobic attacks in South Africa are manifestations of past deep historical injustices and the failure of post-apartheid political leaders to design and implement appropriate policies that can help in correcting these past injustices. We therefore, call on the government of South Africa to move faster with carrying out fundamental programs that can touch the lives of previously disadvantaged groups. Issues of land reform, access to education and skills development for capacity building as well as job creation for the purpose of supporting families should be given higher, urgent and sincere priority in order to prevent any further breakdown of law and order. The South African government should also ensure that it does not encourage xenophobia, through careless or unfortunate utterances and policy positions, even if inadvertently. The relevant agencies of the South African government would also do better in ensuring that illegal migration is properly controlled. The South African government can learn from the many people in South Africa who have condemned attacks on our brothers and sisters—people who are also undertaking tangible actions to assist victims of this horrific crime.
It should be remembered that, in the spirit of African unity, solidarity and brotherliness, African countries stood firmly with South Africans through the deployment of massive human and material resources to end apartheid. Escaping state persecution in their homeland, South African exiles were forced by circumstances to be scattered across the continent. Terrorist attacks and military conflicts occurred in Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique and other African countries due, in part, to these countries’ support of the anti-apartheid struggle. Today, South African companies enjoy high patronage and profits in different parts of Africa. Given these historical and contemporary realities, it behoves on the South African authorities to reciprocate by treating migrants with understanding and trust, decency, dignity and decorum. Immigration rules should also ensure fairness, firmness, and balance between security concerns, economic diversity, skills requirements, and tourism.
As someone who visits South Africa on a regular basis, I can attest to the long-standing good nature, goodwill, and friendliness of our brothers and sisters in this great country. South Africa has been at the forefront of the final liberation of the whole of the African continent. Former President Thabo Mbeki is one of the leaders who tirelessly pursues efforts for the further renewal of the African continent, and he is a strong believer in the Africa Renaissance, as well as a committed Pan-Africanist. The current South African President, Jacob Zuma, was politically groomed and cultivated with the same ideals of Pan-Africanism that Mbeki voiced. This notion of Pan-Africanism strongly undergirded the anti-apartheid movement both of which Mbeki and Zuma participated. In the late 1950s, then Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah made the famous remark that his country’s independence in 1957 was to be incomplete without the liberation of the rest of Africa. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) played a critical role in efforts to end apartheid. We all rejoiced with the liberation of South Africa. Nelson Mandela is our collective ancestor, the hero who links our fate together.
Whether as Ethiopians, Nigerians, Malawians, or South Africans, irrespective of the countries of our birth, we are all struggling to win the political kingdom on the African continent so that the economic kingdom can follow. Let us build the economic kingdom together, let us reclaim the political kingdom, so that Africa can emerge as one strong continent, a people united by a common identity, shared values and aspirations. We must overcome the unfortunate historical experience that resulted in carving our continent into different boundaries and countries.
We should allow South Africa to emerge as a source of our collective strength, not of weakness. In the process, South Africa should be the arrowhead of our march to the creation of the United States of Africa. As sisters and brothers, we are all Africans! South Africa is as much African as Nigeria and Zambia and Algeria and Kenya; and Africa will indeed be less in all ramifications without South Africa.
WE ALL ARE AFRICANS, INDEED!
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