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Consequences for 2010 of failure to nip in the bud xenophobic attacks |
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by Blackman Ngoro
Many Africans watch as the South African government dithers over what is going on amongst the poor of this country in their relationships with the poor of other countries with whom they have been living side by side in the same communities for years now.
It will not escape the watchful eye of the media from the rest of the continent where South Africa has been hailed as a becon of hope both for the role it plays in peacekeeping and as a source for investment capital.
Its icons, people like Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, who have embraced multi-racialism and preached peace must feel the heat of shame as their people go on the rampage stealing from hard-working foreign nationals whom they acccuse of criminal activities.
Lets take a long hard look at what happened in Zimbabwe during the violent land reform process. Pictures of whites dripping blood where broadcast world wide. There are very few people particularly those who identify Africa with grim-ness who will ever forget that this was done by black people on whites. This is a point emphasized by the BBC ad nauseum to its audiences world-wide.
Now lets take a long hard pause and look at whats happening in South Africa, the haven for freedom, and lets take a long hard look at what blacks are doing to fellow blacks, no matter the reason.
These images of death, these images of raped women, these images of burning dwellings, no matter how modest are images difficult to forget , images of crying babies with hacked ears, images of defenseless children victimised by mindless mobs baying for more blood, these are images that fellow Africans in different capitals on the continent are likely to keep in their heads and through them try to make sense of South Africa. The worst image, of a black man burning after being douzed with petrol and lit is something for which the perpetrators must face the death sentence.
Other Africans in African capitals will now debate this question, do they want to fall victim to this kind of thing when they visit South Africa for the World Cup? Afterall that is what it is about isn't it? The ideology of apartheid is such that blacks must hate their fellow men and fear white men.
The logic of the necklace, where burning tyres were put around the necks of sell outs during the apartheid era is now being revived.
Will a Black man from Zimbabwe ever trust his South African brother again? Will a Black man from Kenya ever trust his South African sister again? Will a Black man from Nigeria ever trust his South African counterpart again? Will a Black man from Ghana ever feel safe in South African again. One hopes so.
What will happen to South African businesses in these African metropoles?
The footballing nations of Africa watch this ugliness with great trepidation. Is the 2010 tournament going to be a tournament of people some Black South Africans fear and respect?
What happens to the Black football lovers for whom the South African Football Association (SAFA) claimed to have campaigned for in order to get the first world cup tournament on the continent?
No amount of public relations exercises will undo this damage to South Africa's image on the continent.
Journalism in South Africa has also let the people down. Independent Newspapers and other groups have all but forgotten what investigative journalism is all about. This is the legacy left by people like Pepper Green who discouraged it at the Sunday Independent.
Now we have journalists who write about events after they have happened and nothing about investigating whats going to happen in communities.
In any case black South African journalists couldn't be bothered. So far they haven't shown they are bothered by the slaughter taking place under their watch. Editors like Moegiesien Williams, Thabo Leshilo,least of alll tthose like Chris Whitfield haven't shown leadership in their newsrooms about how to approach this story.
As for some of us, when we practiced with the mainstream media, we did not hesitate to use the company's resources to undertake investigations in the service of Black South Africans and their security, for example in Mpumalanga when so-called weekend soldiers in Wakastroom, near Piet Retief, violated the rights of poor farm workers.
Why are South African journalists not looking the epicentre of this disgrace?
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Monday, 19 May, 2008
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