South Africa, xenophobia and the African genocide

By Adetola Adepoju

The eyes sometimes wish they could unsee some things but can the mind forget? I cannot begin to imagine what was beamed from South Africa to the world in the last two weeks. In this article, I have had to suppress most of my nationalistic fervour in order to write dispassionately.

South Africa, the shining light of Africa, the Rainbow Nation, one of the few places in the continent where you can find a fluid interspersion of people of different races passionately supporting the same flag.

South Africa, the birthplace of Nelson Mandela, an imperfect man but an icon; who taught the world how to forgive and maybe forget. The land of Miriam Makeba and Brenda Fassie, beautiful African women with distinct yet sonorous voices. South Africa: Africa’s sporting bastion, shaming Europe and the rest of the world in rugby, cricket, swimming, athletics and even winter sports. South Africa, a country seen by many as the real Africa, the part of Africa that never lies down when beaten and never stays still till it wins. Nkosi’ sikelel’ iAfrika! (Lord Bless Africa!)

It is therefore surprising what South Africans meted out on other Africans in the name of what has been surnamed “xenophobia”. First of all let me clear the air on this putrid narrative of xenophobia. xenophobia is a mental condition, a form of fear (phobia) where one is scared of persons who are different from them or not like them. It is a very common global malaise and finds expression in some cases as racism, tribalism, hatred and mistrust of foreigners. This is NOT what happened in South Africa.

What happened in South Africa was borne out of economic desperation in South Africans who were out of jobs, financially deficient and felt that “the foreigners” had taken all the jobs and opportunities in their country. This is a sad development because in an epoch of globalization and increased interdependence, it is mindless for any citizen to think that it is possible not to have foreigners in their borders or that there will be reduced competition for employment and that their governments can successfully create a prosperous economy in a closed border kind of scenario.

This thinking is however not peculiar to South Africa. The anti-foreigner angst is alive and well in Europe and most Western nations. Their governments however initiate measures to tackle unbridled immigration, provide jobs for citizens as well as give income support in some cases. This reduces the xenophobic drive to an extent although it is an everyday issue that you have to deal with if you have been a foreigner sojourning in these parts.

What is strange is that this “South Africa for South Africans” angst degenerated into a scenes of barbarity, illegality, disrespect for international conventions protecting the lives of foreigners and aliens outside their home countries. South Africans chose out of all the foreigners resident in South Africa, to take on the ones that looked like the majority of them. That is definitely no fluke or happenstance. They took the line of least resistance, eschewing to take on Europeans, Westerners and Asians etc., which could have huge economic consequences for their country but rather take on other Africans within South Africa, expecting that little or no consequence will result.

South Africans unleashed violence on other Africans in the full glare of the South African police forces. A gruesome step-by-step picture of how South Africans killed Emmanuel Sithole, a Mozambican, in broad daylight even made the news (Mozambique shares a common border with South Africa).

This South African barbarity has no place in the 21st century and is the closest thing to a continental genocide, to put things in proper perspective.

It is possible to assume going by the docile and irresponsible behaviour of the South African police, that this South African genocide against African nationals, had the blessing of the South African government. The South African government’s relative inaction in the last few days since this madness, doesn’t make this unlikely.

In the aftermath of this South African genocide, a few things have become clear. One is that the African identity is but a myth. One cannot afford to look to an African identity to keep him/her safe in Africa. It is best to stand next to your national flag for a degree of certainty of that. At the moment, it would terrify any “African” to wake up next to a South African.

We can also safely conclude that the African Union (AU)’s plan to ensure free passage for Africans within Africa will certainly fail to materialise, since Africans cannot be certain of safety within the continent in the wake of blood-thirsty nationalists like South Africa has proudly produced.

It is now evident going by the fact that these kind of killings are unsurprising in Africa, that the value for human lives is at an all-time low here and that Africans perhaps are a primitive and maybe uncivilized lot and South Africans the worst of them.

In order to stop this South African genocide from becoming another tag that Africa has to take on and a recurrent trend across the continent, a few things need to be done. Countries like Nigeria whose citizens were targeted and killed by South Africans should immediately cease all foreign relations with South Africa: recall her ambassador and send South Africa’s ambassador to Nigeria back to her, as well as terminate all trade deals in place with South Africa for a minimum of 12 months till the South African government can reasonably demonstrate that it can run the country safely, show respect for constitutionality and ensure the safety and dignity of Nigerians within her borders.

The AU must also send out a strong message by suspending South Africa from the organization for a minimum of six months and impose tough sanctions on her to set out a precedent and clearly state what will constitute acceptable acts and responsible behaviour by member governments and their citizens alike. Anything short of this, will be a disgrace and show the AU off as spineless.

While I have had decent South Africans as colleagues and friends, at the moment it may be best to take a step backwards and assess if carrying on with a South African allegiance is a sensible move. If South Africans wish to be alone within their borders, their wishes shouldn’t be denied them.

South Africans however should be careful what they wish for.

Adepoju holds an MA in international relations and development studies.