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PAV Editorial Vol. 11, June 2008

 

South Africa and the Obligation to Repay a Good Turn

 

Of all the sordid  images that made the rounds on the internet, the scene of a helpless brother burning to death in the presence of a couple of police men with one having a grin of sorts on his face will be engraved in the minds of many for a long time. Few are those who would  have thought that at this time and in this age, Africans will act so savagely towards other Africans. No matter the circumstances, the treatment meted out to fellow Africans by our South Africans was disproportionate and uncalled for. Coming from South Africa, the macabre scenarios were all the more chilling considering the huge efforts and sacrifices that virtually the entire continent of Africa furnished in the struggle to dislodge apartheid.

 

Yes Africa especially south of the Sahara put up a heroic fight alongside South Africans to bring down apartheid. The kind of impeccable brother hood manifested by neighboring countries like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and others remains a source of pride to Africa. Countries like Nigeria and Tanzania led the charge. Young School kids in so many parts of the continent grew up knowing that apartheid existed in South Africa and was a very bad system .Music was used by artists all over the continent to call for the liberation of Nelson Mandela and other African National Congress activists jailed for standing up against apartheid.

 

The release of Nelson Mandela was considered as a huge victory for all Africans, the emergence of democracy with Black majority rule was seen by many as a very positive development not only for South Africa but the entire African continent. South Africa had little difficulty integrating itself within the continent in all spheres. A concrete example is in the domain of sports where the new post apartheid South Africa was granted the right to host the African Nations Cup by the Confederation of African Football, a tournament eventually won by them.

 

Nelson Mandela himself set the bar high for the continent by serving just one term of office despite the opportunity to seek an additional term. Many are those who thought that the emergence of a strong South Africa will augur well for the emergence of a stronger Africa as well. South Africa furnished great efforts in ambitious continental programmes like the New Partnership for African Development NEPAD, the Peer Review Mechanism, and served alongside another African giant Nigeria in many international forums as the voice of the continent. It was a strong contender for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council prior to the still birth of reforms for the body. When it came to Africa’s to host the soccer world cup for the first time, the choice fell on South Africa.

 

From the summary above, South Africa did not only benefit from tremendous support from the continent to break the shackles of apartheid but has benefited from very high esteem since then. The shock of seeing fellow Africans treated so shabbily is so strong. Have our South African brothers forgotten so soon the good turn that the rest of the continent did for them? Was there 

no better way of sending away people they do not want? A hall mark in many African cultures and traditions is the strong sense of welcome. Yes strangers and visitors are often received graciously but South Africans showed the contrary. The damage is so strong, the humiliation just so terrible and with ramifications at plenty.

 

For a country that many look up to for vital leadership in the continent at a critical moment in its history, the xenophobic behaviour of South Africans sends the very wrong signals. If there show such hatred for their African brothers, what guarantee is there that the country will serve as a worthy leader for the continent? What about the much talked about issue of continental unity?  How serious are we about the issue of a United Africa when such vicious hatred comes from the people of a country which is suppose to show the lead? When one takes into cognizance the fact that Africans received similar treatment from Libyans, a country whose leader professes to be a champion of continental unity there is every reason for people to express reservations.

 

The South African government is trying to stem the rising xenophobia but at what time and with what impact? A lot more needs to be done by them to reassure Africa that South Africans are better than the unfortunate incidents make them to appear. Moral authorities like Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and others who may know better about the contributions of Africa to the liberation of South Africa must speak out strongly against the calamitous actions of their compatriots. One good turn we are told deserves another. Africa showed a good turn to South Africa in its hour of greatest need and support and deserves better treatment. With two years left to the hosting of one of the greatest sporting events in the world-the soccer world cup by South Africa, pouring such venom on fellow Africans is the very wrong thing to do.

 

The incidents in Africa should also serve as a wake up call to some African governments which have done very little to make life comfortable and worth living for their people. Democratic and accountable leaderships which place premium on the well being of people will go a long way to curb the movement of people to other countries for greener pastures. Many of the people who were victims of the violence in South Africa did not go there because they wanted to but because they were forced to because of the difficult conditions in their own countries. 

 

Whereas South Africans are putting up a show of shame, the rest of the world and precisely the United States of American is sending a radically different message with the election of Senator Barack Obama as the flag bearer of the Democratic Party in the November 08 presidential elections. It is the first time that an African American is achieving that feat. The son of a Kenyan father and an American mother Senator Obama has proved himself to be a veritable phenomenon hailed all over the world today. His message of hope serves as a source of inspiration to many, and his eloquence attracts admiration even from his adversaries .Africa definitely needs to learn from such amazing experiences so as to catch up with the rest of the world instead of excelling in the kind of xenophobic antics that were witnessed recently in South Africa.

 

A source of consolation lies in the fact that the continent is endowed with enormous resources, that it is it is full of hard working and dynamic people, that there are a lot more people who do not think the kind of xenophobia that took place in South Africa will provide lasting solutions to the problems of the continent. We have seen a country like Equatorial Guinea chase out nationals from Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad etc in the erroneous believe that they came in to share the spoils of their new found oil wealth, yet this is a country which relies on the benevolence of its neighbours to feed its population when . We are not in any way encouraging illegal immigration but few are African countries where you do not have non nationals, go to Cameroon you will find Nigerians who own huge shops, Senegalese who own provision stores, Chadians who repair shoes, go to Nigeria you will find people from the Republic of Benin who thrive in the tailouring industry, go to Ghana and the Gambi
a you will find Nigerians and others who run impressive business entities. The examples are many; most of them pay taxes and contribute in the general development of the host country and Africa as a whole. Sure there may be some who indulge in criminal activities but there certainly are in the minority   and the Law can take care of that.

 

It is our fervent hope that the unfortunate incidents in South Africa do not persist or spread to other parts of the continent. There are unnecessary distractions to the pressing challenges that Africa has to grapple with. May be we are expecting too much from South Africa but it has every reason to  act decisively in addressing these unfortunate developments before there completely get off hand.

For more on this subject, visit www.panafricanvisions.com

 

 

 

 

 


PETER W.VAKUNTA
DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN 
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON
602 VAN HISE HALL
1220 LINDEN DRIVE
MADISON WI 53706-1525
U.S.A
Office  608 262 4067
Home    608 442 6089
Cell    608 381 0407

"The day will come when history will speak... Africa will write its own history... it will be a history of glory and dignity." - Patrice Lumumba

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