The Xenophobic Attacks In South Africa

The extra-judicial killings in South Africa, also known as xenophobic attacks, are a sad commentary on the failure of leaders to moderate or weigh their utterances, especially  when they are capable of negatively inflaming the emotions of their subjects. What could have prompted the South African Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini, to tell African migrants in South Africa to go home because they were no longer welcome in that country? And the son of President Jacob Zuma, Edward, poured petrol into Zwelithini’s barbaric war cry by echoing what the king said.

Since these utterances were made by persons whose opinions are held highly by the citizens, hell has been let loose in South Africa as non citizens from Nigeria and other African countries have been attacked and killed while their shops have also been looted in the wake of the unrestrained orgy of violence. The South Africans killing Nigerians and other  Africans do not have a sense of history. If they have, they won’t be killing the people whose countries made a lot of sacrifices to end the evil called apartheid in that country.

Most of those spearheading the xenophobic attacks were products of apartheid system which did not allow them to go to school in the 80s at the height of the segregation system that did not allow black South Africans to mix with the white South Africans. Apart from being busy in the struggle to end apartheid, the blacks were not allowed to attend same schools with the whites just as they were deprived from enjoying the most basic necessities of life the white South Africans took for granted during the white minority rule.

Thus most of the South African blacks  now carrying out the attacks could not go to school and as such could not be employed when apartheid crumbled in the 90s. Now they have transferred their aggression on other Africans, accusing non South Africans of depriving them of jobs and other economic opportunities in their own country.

Is this the way to reward other Africans whose countries committed huge resources to fighting apartheid till it was defeated in the early 90s? South African leaders should call their subjects to order before the killings rupture the cordial relationship that had existed between other African countries and South Africa before the xenophobic attacks. Over sixty people were killed in 2008 when similar attacks took place in that country and there is no guarantee that the xenophobic attacks won’t occur again in  the future.

The African Union, the United Nations and other agencies should intervene and end the attacks before citizens of countries being attacked avenge the killings in their own countries. Our world in this 21st century should have no room for the likes of King Zwelithini and President Zuma’s son who ignited the barbaric act. President Zuma himself and the security forces in South Africa should ensure the safety of non South Africans in that country and if their safety can no longer be guaranteed, Nigerians should be evacuated immediately.