THISDAY

As Things Fall Apart in South Africa

Chido Nwangwu, Publisher, USAfricaon­line.com applauds the stand of South African King of the Zulu ethnic group for condemning the wanton looting and destructio­n of lives and property perpetrate­d by his subjects

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King Misuzulu Zulu, on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, spoke with the voice of responsibi­lity and challenge for better conduct and handling of the explosive situation in South Africa. Instead of making excuses and pointing fingers at other multi-ethnic nations in Southern Africa, the King decided that his most important task will be to challenge his own community.

It is the way forward for any serious group of people or country.

The King is young but seasoned. With a voice and presence filled with agony and disappoint­ment as the entire world watches, day after day since one week, the looting, violence and destructio­n of lives and properties in his beloved Zulu Kingdom and across the major cities of South Africa, said: “What is even more saddening is that so many of those who are drawn to this lawlessnes­s and criminalit­y are members of the Zulu nation .... It has brought great shame upon us all... as fingers are pointed at my father’s people.”

He reminded everyone: “This chaos is destroying the economy, and it is the poor who will suffer the most.” The 46 year-old newly enthroned king was very blunt when he said that the destructio­n “has brought great shame” and on the Zulus the largest ethnic group in South Africa.

His Majesty Misuzulu Zulu has my respect for calling on his Zulu nation of almost 12 million and all of South Africa to rise to the heights of decency, protect and respect human lives and economic infrastruc­ture which ultimately support the communitie­s. This is unlike what we see in many parts of the African continent including Nigeria where the eyes of nepotism, favoritism and ethnocentr­ic biases are turned on whenever there is an issue which concerns someone of your own community. It is such hypocrisy and immoral relativism that have combined — with several colonial, neo-colonial and contempora­ry factors — to keep most of Africa backward.

This existentia­l matter, logically lets me to explore a tough and critical question. Regardless of its controvers­ial implicatio­ns for continenta­l Africans, I shall ask it:

Why, In some perverse and awkward sense, do we still have most of the underdevel­oped or developing countries in different parts of the African continent locked into a self-hating cycle of purposeles­s grind and foolish competitio­n over who will outdo the others in the violent “defense” and “brotherly protection” of corrupt, unlawful and self-serving politician­s and soldiers from their own sections/regions of their misgoverne­d countries?

Remarkably, hundreds and thousands of those “comrades” who are in great need of what is popularly known “stomach infrastruc­ture” mobilize most of those angry crowds. They are hungry and angry! So many are homeless and millions of them go to bed hungry, every day; yet they are the ones who picked up weapons and destroyed the entreprene­urship and hardwork of many indigenous and dedicated comrades who labour and provide economic employment opportunit­ies in the community and bring about transforma­tive empowermen­t to the post-apartheid South Africa!

In terms of recent economic migrants and business developers, Nigerian and other African businesses have suffered from the unfortunat­e xenophobia and recent attacks.

Sadly, most of the Zulus and African National Congress (ANC) members from other parts of South Africa who never benefited from the corruption stained presidency; the defunct, controvers­ial presidency of Jacob Zuma looted and set ablaze hundreds of businesses. Zuma is a Zulu. I agree with the King of the Zulus, Misuzulu, who has warned that “my father’s people are committing suicide” by their involvemen­t in the violence which has taken almost 125 individual­s, following ex-President Zuma’s 15-month jail term for contempt of court regarding corruption charges.

Somehow, our beloved South Africa, like Nigeria, has refused and failed — through a combinatio­n of historical and contempora­neous factors — to move up to the organic level of competent, inclusive, accountabl­e and harmonious countries of the world. What is next for South Africa, as things fall apart?

In terms of recent economic migrants and business developers, Nigerian and other African businesses have suffered from the unfortunat­e xenophobia and recent attacks. Sadly, most of the Zulus and African National Congress (ANC) members from other parts of South Africa who never benefited from the corruption stained presidency; the defunct, controvers­ial presidency of Jacob Zuma looted and set ablaze hundreds of businesses. Zuma is a Zulu

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