This violence is not the SA way

Xenophobic attacks, whichever way you look at them, are unacceptable, says Mahlodi Sam Muofhe

IWAS born and grew up in Soweto, in Tshiawelo — the old section of this township. At the time of its conception, the apartheid government forgot to designate this section into different ethnic groupings.

For decades until the dawn of our precious democracy, Tsonga- and Venda-speaking ethnic groups were known to be the main inhabitants of this township.

Fortunately, the old section of Tshiawelo was not only home to these two ethnic groups, but to many black Africans from the continent who had migrated south and settled here.

I grew up with children some 60-odd years ago, from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi and Uganda.

We were so integrated that I ended up knowing how to communicate in Shona and Nyasa, albeit to a limited extent.

The term “xenophobia” didn’t exist on our lips then, nor did we ever think of killing our fellow citizens from the north for taking our parents’ jobs.

Instead, Ntate Pike Thindwa, an elderly Malawian who was reasonably educated, made it a point to teach us, the black South African children in that section of old Tshiawelo, how to read, write and speak English.

When we were in Standard 2 (now Grade 4), we knew how to communicate fluently in English because an “African black foreigner from Malawi” taught us.

How we can turn our backs on our brothers and sisters from Africa in a democratic South Africa baffles me.

The rationale behind their original migration to South Africa was no different to the so-called African foreigners who have migrated to South Africa in large numbers since democracy.

Except for those who seek asylum because of political persecution in their countries of origin, these migrants come for jobs and business opportunities.

Today, in a democratic South Africa — the country that they assisted greatly on its route to achieving democracy — they live underground, like we lived when apartheid security forces were looking for some of us.

No amount of reasoning can justify our dastardly and unbecoming conduct as South Africans.

The inhumane violence meted out against African foreign nationals is unacceptable.

It is unfortunate that black South Africans who kill our kith and kin from north of our borders or destroy the property of “African foreigners” do so believing that the jobs occupied by such people will be freed up for them. How incorrect they are. The law enforcement agencies in our country ought to tighten their grip on these criminal activities and arrest the perpetrators.

They must prosecute them effectively, leading to incarceration in correctional centres.

A criminal offence, whether committed by a South African citizen or a non-South African, should be punished.

I refuse to agree with the notion that “African foreigners” are here to grab jobs and business opportunities meant for South Africans, nor with the thesis that propagates such “foreigners” as the only drug peddlers in our country.

We know too well as South Africans that drug peddlers and druglords live in our country, just as they are found all over the world.

These xenophobic attacks almost always occur in black townships.

South Africans — in particular black South Africans — find it easy to blame others for our own democratic, systematic failures.

The economy hasn’t been performing optimally for several years.

However, it is common cause that — often thanks to BEE initiatives — we have a thriving black middle to upper class, who failed the ultimate test of creating job opportunities for the many unemployed black people.

Our education system isn’t in sync with the requirements of our economy and most “foreigners” come here highly skilled and educated.

Our tertiary institutions and big corporates consciously attract them even from their country of origin.

For years, when no black South African university student could pass any actuarial science degree, we took pride in boasting that we had two black actuaries in South Africa, referring to the two who came from north of our borders.

Is there still a need for us as black South Africans to keep singing our national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, when we cannot pass the test of welcoming our fellow black Africans from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and elsewhere on the continent?

What happened to the late Sowetan editor Aggrey Klaaste’s doctrine of ubuntu? He must be turning in his grave. Mahlodi Sam Muofhe is an advocate of the High Court of South Africa

No amount of reasoning can justify our dastardly and unbecoming conduct as South Africans