Am I my (African) brother’s keeper?

I sincerely believe that some people who have moved to South Africa from around the continent believed that my beloved country would provide refuge from whatever adversity they are facing in their own country.

I’m also of the opinion that some people are here to work and contribute to the economy not because they are forced by some dire circumstance, but because they choose to be here.

The events in KwaZulu-Natal are frightening, embarrassing and to some extent confusing.

I am confused about what is happening and why it’s happening. Perhaps I’m simplifying a complex issue with social and economic implications, but what I find strange is that if foreigners are indeed stealing jobs, how would violence help make that go away?

From the quotes we read and hear in various news reports, the mob groups who are at the helm of the attacks, looting and killings seem to believe that foreigners have taken away opportunities that could have been used by poor South Africans?

I am battling to understand the thinking behind that. If there is a spaza shop owned by Somalis or Ethiopians, what has stopped people from providing that service prior to the arrival of the foreign shop owners? Like I said previously, I could be simplifying a very complex matter, but to me it doesn’t seem that way.

Watching families being displaced, business owners having their wares looted and human rights being violated in the most horrendous way makes me upset when I think of the hospitality I was offered when I lived away from South Africa briefly.

I also recall one isolated incident that has impacted my view of that country to this day to the point that I doubt I will return there even if it happened five years ago. I can only imagine how people who’ve been violated in the way we’ve seen recently must feel about South Africa and her people.

We can blame the recent events on ignorance and poverty, but at what point do we hold people accountable for their actions?

When I was in high school, we had a visit from a woman who fled her home in East Africa after violence had eventually driven her and fellow citizens out of their houses.

Her words still resonate with me and, although I cannot recall them verbatim, their message stayed with me: “I’m not in your country because I want to be here and live off your country. I’m here because I’m not safe in my own country, all I ask is a chance to live here and be safe and, when I can, I will return home.” SN