By Njabulo
When Mandela became the first black South African President, after a protracted struggle with the Apartheid government, many people thought that a new dawn of peace in Africa had been born. In Europe he was perceived as an icon of rebirth of peace to the entire world. He also emerged as one of the great humanist that Africa has ever produced ,following the steps of other humanist like KK (Kenneth Kaunda) of Zambia and Julius Nyerere, just to name a few of them.
Most of these humanist were conceived of the philosophy that all humans are equal despite their race, ethnicity, gender and religious/political affiliation .Thus they condemned xenophobia, racism and discrimination of any kind. He, [Mandela] advocated for the eradication of all these including any other discrepancies or disparities that were a brain child of the former colonizers.
As he had promised peace prior to independence, during his candidature, Mandela fulfilled his promises by following suit of all independent sovereign states in Africa who upon attaining independence unleashed the policy of reconciliation. One ultimate aim of Madiba was to propagate the idea of solidarity in SA. Unlike Stalin and Hitler he did not carry out any perjuries among the former colonizers who had been so callous/diabolical by putting him in prison for twenty seven years.
The other issue akin to these, pertaining to the present unpalatable state of affairs in SA, was the introduction of an Amnesty policy, this was to give all illegal foreigners in SA the right to live and work in SA. This holy policy was to pave way for autonomy of foreigners to move freely in SA without being harassed by the police and it also gave them a leeway to access all public services rendered to the indigenous people.
Thus the policy of ill-treating foreigners by the police in SA was alleviated as many foreigners were living legally in SA. History has it that, prior to this there had been ugly scenarios which had bedeviled SA prior to the introduction of this policy. This among other forms of ill-treatment included the setting of dogs on foreigners when they were trying to escape police arrest. This was a dehumanizing act as human dignity is inviolable.
After being arrested, many foreigners were sent to Lindela where upon they awaited deportation or were deported to their respective countries. Some died because the conditions by then were not conducive, particularly to those who were sick. The appalling conditions were however improved after many complaints by other African countries and human rights organizations.
As is demonstrated above, it is so surprising and ludicrous for our people in SA to engage in Xenophobic attacks contrary to what Mandela has achieved and has envisaged to see taking place even when he has departed from earth. Mandela’s wish is to see what he has dubbed the Renaissance of Africa. How is this going to unfold and take place in Africa when Xenophobic attacks are polarizing the African people? This new paradigm or mind set among our people in SA is surely incompatible with Madiba’s maxim of RENAISANCE.
In order to fulfill his wishes, people should emulate him by living together in peace. There should be solidarity among all people just as there was solidarity during the World Cup. We all owe a duty of care to our neighbours even Jesus Christ told the story of the Good Samaritan, as a way of teaching people to love one another. Yes! SA is plagued by a plethora of social and economic problems, but that surely is not caused by foreigners.
People have been living in Umkhukhu’s [shanty buildings] for many years and that is an order which was created by the former colonizers but not by other Africans nor any other foreigners from abroad. It is not violence that can resolve the current economic and social dilemma that our people are wallowing in, in SA, but rather peaceful ways can be employed as advocated by Madiba. People can choose representatives from the areas where they reside to represent them on a forum to discuss such problems.
In doing this, foreigners should not be marginalized or left out in this as they are stakeholders in this. This is also to include religious leaders and MP’s and government representatives. The other point that people should note is that the current state affairs of attacking foreigners does not only destroy the hard work of Madiba, but it transcends to other countries abroad. This will result in the disdain of SA nationals abroad as this is indeed a human rights abuse which is condemned globally. There are many SA nationals working abroad, so there is that possibility that they will be perceived as very selfish, and aggressive people .
The Bible states it that, the same measure that you use against others shall be used against you. Our people in SA should know that the movement or migration of people in particular in Southern Africa has always been a common practice from time immemorial. This dates back to the time of WANELA, whereby labour for mines was recruited from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi. This used to extend as far as the eye can see, for example as far as DRC and Tanzania.
During this period in question up to the attainment of independence by SA, at no one given time were foreigners attacked by the indigenous people as they were seen as their brothers. The migration in discussion did not only take place to SA only, but to countries like Zimbabwe as well. In Zimbabwe, millions of Zambians, Mozambicans and Malawians great tracked to Zimbabwe to work in the Rhodesian Railways ,industries and farms.
This also included South Africans as Zimbabwe was the basket of Africa by then. Again, during this period there were no Xenophobic attacks which were noted. Today there are millions of foreigners from neighbouring countries who live in Zimbabwe, they have been assimilated through intermarriage or incorporated into that people. They have not been discriminated against nor belittled and they remain unscathed in as far as the demon of Xenophobic is concerned.
I give credit to the people of Zimbabwe for their hospitality and humility. Even the former colonizers, during the Rhodesian era, did not shun them in preference of their indigenous subjects. Lastly but not least, Africa has got to emulate Europe on the FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS POLICY whereby people who are nationals of other European countries have the mandate to work, live ,study and access all the services rendered to the public, to that particular host European country.
In as far this is concerned, we give credit to President Zuma for his ingenious, and he has scrapped the visa system which has been a remnant of the apartheid era. Now people from neighbouring countries to SA can travel to SA without a visa being a barrier. This is a step in the right direction for uniting Africa as this has made mobility of people in Southern Africa easier. Although the SA government is the custodian of its people it should not be wholly blamed for the xenophobic attacks obtaining in SA, as it does not condone this [a number of people have been arrested for this].
This evil activity is clandestinely organized by certain people who distaste foreigners. They use this state of affairs to appropriate the property of foreigners, this is anti-Madiba. Let’s all fight this evil contagious disease prevailing in SA .We can write articles that can enlighten those who are not enlightened on this issue. What we write can change the perception of the intending perpetrators of this unholy act or those that are engaged in it.
During apartheid in SA many authors enlightened a multitude of people through what they wrote about the evils of apartheid. You can also do the same to fight Xenophobia and racism lest nemesis will befall our people in SA, in future. Do not undermine yourself; you can make a difference in this matter. You can save lives. God bless you all.
[newsletter]
