Johannesburg—Moe was always loud and jovial when you spoke to him on phone. He would tell you jokes and stories that would make you laugh until tears oiled your face. But, today, his voice reeked of fear; there was no joke today, and, today’s story was about deaths and hatred.
His friend, in Durban, South Africa, just escaped the jaws of death by a whisker, he retorted with a low tone, as if the use of words was now a hard chore. Since 14th of April 2015, some South African locals have been targeting foreigners—mostly immigrants from Nigeria, Somalia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia—around the city of Durban. Moe fears that this tsunami of hate might flow to Johannesburg and, more importantly, he is worried about the safety of his two boys, who, ironically, have a South African mother.
The manifold upheavals of xenophobia in South Africa are insane and unfathomable and stems from the other side of humane—bestiality. According to reports, more than five people have been killed in the wake of the attacks, over a thousand have fled their homes and some foreigners have promised to fight back. This is another crest of barbarism on humanity and a shameful display of irrational actions.
The recent upheaval, it was reported, started after one Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini announced that foreigners in South Africa should “pack their bags and leave”. His remarks birthed a spate of xenophobic nuisance. This nuisance is often cloaked with silly excuses—immigrants steal jobs and opportunities and foreigners live illegally on “our” lands. Therefore, the solution is usually to harm another human being.
Most reasonable South Africans, however, have blasted their Zulu’s puerile comments and have, invariably, taken to the streets to fight against hate. BBC reports that over ten thousand South Africans marched in protest against the xenophobic attacks. They have also taken their peaceful protest to social media with hash tags: #notinourname #peacemarch and #africaunite
These hash tags serve as a rude reminder that peace and unity in Africa and the world, needs to be preached consistently. It also points to another chilling reality that Africa still suffers from division and what is often called black-on-black-hate.
Then the question remains: how long shall we, Africans, continue this long walk on the street of Division?
Mandela once said that it was not enough to cast off one’s chains of slavery; he advised that Africans live in a way that enhances the freedom of others. It seems strange and surprising that the whole idea of promoting freedom has taken a walk out of the minds of certain individuals.
The President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, condemning the attacks, said: “we therefore urge our people to treat those who are in our country legally with respect and Ubuntu”. The statement, indeed, had to be released by the president but begs a big question: what or who represents “our people”?
In Europe, Africans battle against racism daily. To bear it in Africa is both devastating and disgusting.
For many Africans living in South Africa, Ubuntu is not yet in South Africa. It is, in fact, non-existent. Moe ended his conversation with a cogent question: “why is the black man like this?”
I argued that hate is not a black thing. It is a human thing. However, we can learn to burn hate with love; we can, as humans, heal the sickness of hate with the balm of love.
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