Our xenophobia is becoming a stick for Africa to beat us with

THE wave of attacks on foreigners that started in Soweto a few months ago, and which occasionally erupt in other parts of the country, if not checked, will have serious diplomatic consequences for South Africa on the continent.

For centuries a strong army or military force was the linchpin for a country to get its way in the world. Now, along with a country’s economic power, the moral high ground is a crucial commodity in the conduct of foreign policy.

South Africa has, since rejoining the international community, been trying to find its place in Africa, and has, on the whole, made a hash of it. It’s often been caught between two stools — whether to use its influence to advance its own interests or to collapse its efforts in an ill-defined and amorphous Africa agenda that may not always be in step with its own desires.

Its foreign policy, therefore, has appeared tentative, unsure and at times contradictory.

Nelson Mandela tried to sell — almost as a beacon to Africa — South Africa’s values of human rights, democracy and tolerance, but was largely undermined from within his own party.

Thabo Mbeki tried to frogmarch the country into a philosophical and spiritual identification with the continent and at one point was regarded as the leading voice of Africa and its diaspora.

Under Jacob Zuma, our foreign policy seems to be as clear as mud. And despite Mbeki’s efforts, South Africa is not everybody’s cup of tea on the continent. It is often viewed with suspicion, fear and even envy.

Which is why Nkosazana DlaminiZuma’s election as AU Commission chairwoman was resisted by many African countries. The reason South Africa has stuck by Robert Mugabe is the fear of being isolated by the rest of the continent.

South African businesses have fanned out across the continent, creating jobs and providing much-needed goods and services. But in some quarters this is seen as a new form of colonialism.

Xenophobic attacks are a blight on the country’s reputation. How can South Africa honestly conduct normal relations with other countries while their nationals run the gauntlet of our brazen looters and murderers?

It’s a monkey on our back that’s sure to be exploited by other countries. Already the Nigerians (who else?) are eager to rub salt into the wound. A few days ago at a discussion at the University of the Witwatersrand, Nigeria’s consul general, Uche Ajulu-Okeke, offered her country as an example that South Africa should follow, declaring that there was no xenophobia in Nigeria. It was an undiplomatic and condescending lecture.

Has the absence of xenophobia anything to do with the fact that Nigeria is an unattractive destination, even for economic migrants? Don’t take it from me. Here are Chinua Achebe’s immortal words: “It is a measure of our selfdelusion that we can talk about developing tourism in Nigeria. Only a masochist with an exuberant taste for self-violence will pick Nigeria for a holiday . . . No, Nigeria may be a paradise for adventurers and pirates, but not tourists.”

The suggestion that Nigeria could be an example for South Africa or any other country is frankly laughable. Nigeria has become a poster child for corruption. Its infamous 419 scams have tarnished its already tattered reputation.

Its people have very little to show for more than half a century of independence. It’s been a dysfunctional society, if not a failed state. A large swathe of the country is controlled by Boko Haram, which is engaged in the mass slaughter and kidnapping of civilians, seemingly at will. The country is struggling to hold elections as we speak.

Recently the Nigerian government dragged its feet on repatriating the bodies of South Africans who had died at TB Joshua’s church, in an attempt to blackmail South Africa into releasing money brought illegally into this country. That’s not the action of an exemplary country.

Ajulu-Okeke referred to what was happening in South Africa as “official xenophobia”. One would have expected Pretoria to protest at such a categorisation because that seems to suggest that it is the view of the Nigerian government that xenophobia is South African government policy.

But then this government’s idea of diplomacy is to turn the other cheek.

The bottom line, though, is that these attacks should be nipped in the bud. It’s intolerable that people minding their own business should be hunted and killed like animals.

Some local shopkeepers want foreign businesses out of the townships. They’re barking up the wrong tree. They should up their own game. And if foreigners are trading without a licence, that’s a matter for the authorities.

It’s the responsibility of the state to make sure people are here legally and that they, like other citizens, are protected from harm.

Otherwise such violence will sour our international relations and, like crime, become an ugly emblem for the country. Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.timeslive.co.za