The past three weeks, South Africa has been labelled a country that has no tolerance for foreigners – particularly our African brothers and sisters who have come to this country in search of a better life.
This past week, I have read and watched with disbelief the speeches from other African countries expressing their anger about how their citizens have been treated in South Africa.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe expressed his “shock and disgust” at “horrible” xenophobic attacks in South Africa in his first public reaction to the violence that swept through parts of Durban and Johannesburg.
The Zimbabwean President also acknowledged the work the South African government was doing to put an end to the attacks.
Out of all the reports I have read about the attacks, the one that shocked me most is the Nigerian government recalling its South African ambassador.
Nigeria’s acting high commissioner in South Africa, Ambassador Martin Cobham, and the consul-general Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, were called home on Saturday, April 25, to brief the Nigerian parliament about the welfare of Nigerian citizens in South Africa following the anti-immigrant violence in Durban and Johannesburg.
Someone needs to tell Goodluck Jonathan and his outgoing cabinet to go find the nearest corner and never show themselves.
I find it strange that the Nigerian government would react this way because I personally feel that Nigerians are the safest foreigners, when compared to those coming from other African countries. I’m saying this because most Nigerians living in South Africa, if not all of them, have money and they don’t live in informal settlements.
I feel that Nigeria’s decision to recall its envoy is “opportunistic”. I think Goodluck Jonathan was so desperate to clean up his image that he simply could not leave office without trying one last time to revive his legacy, or what is left of it.
This is the same government that has failed to stop Boko Haram from terrorising the country. Boko Haram is practically running the country and the missing girls have still not been found and returned to their families, despite promises from the Nigerian government to find the missing girls. He is now out of office and the new administration will have to deal with mess Jonathan’s cabinet failed dismally to sort out.
I agree with what President Zuma said in his speech, and believe me I hardly ever agree with anything our president says. I felt such a speech was long overdue because we cannot continue thinking that the influx of foreigners into our country is not one of the causes of xenophobia.
African leaders, not just South African leaders, need to account for what happened. Most of the immigrants come into the country because of the different situations they face in their home countries.
Economies in most of the countries on the continent have collapsed because of the leaders who are only concerned about their own well-being. For as long as we have such leaders in Africa, we will continue to have people running away from their homelands in search of a better life in other countries. South Africa has its own problems, but unlike some of our neighbouring countries, we don’t have civil wars and terrorist attacks.
In his Freedom Day speech, President Zuma spoke out at governments who have criticised the South African government for the violence that has claimed seven lives. The president lashed out at “sister countries” for not providing a good environment for their citizens.
“As much as we have a problem that is alleged to be xenophobic, our sister countries contribute to this. Why are their citizens not in their countries and are in South Africa?” he asked.
President Zuma said a frank conversation on illegal immigrants needed to take place within the Southern African Development Community, as well as the African Union.
I fully agree with the president, dialogue needs to take place because pointing fingers at one another will not bring any solutions.
I, together with millions of other South Africans who are against xenophobia, do not want to end up with the same situation again in future. Enough is enough!
@JoburgJourno
