Reactions to the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini’s comments about foreigners by South Africans manifested in the most irrational way that the greatest irrational being can never rationalise; an attack on a foreign black community by a black community who were and are still socially oppressed and economically abandoned by their White compatriots and their government. South Africa; a country of estimated 54million people with 80% of its population being Black Africans and a GDP(PPP) of $13,077 per capita. Yet nearly 30% of the labour force are unemployed and live on less than a dollar and 25cents daily. Inequality and poverty remain widespread in the country just as illiteracy has become systemic in the country’s Black population. South Africa is notorious for having gross income inequality. Its GINI coefficient–a standard for measuring income inequality–is one of the highest in the world. The World Bank computed it at 63.1 in 2009, with zero being absolute equality and one hundred absolute inequality.

     In eastern Johannesburg, about 200 foreigners took refuge in a nearby police station as foreign-owned shops and businesses were attacked and looted as series of xenophobic attacks continue. The call for peace and condemnation of these attacks by President Jacob Zuma has gone unheeded as these xenophobic attacks continues. With jobless South Africans accusing foreigners of taking their jobs, police have had their hands full using rubber bullets, teargas and live ammunition to quell the xenophobic attacks which started in Durban and has spread to other parts of the country claiming five lives and thousands displaced. The last time such xenophobic tension occurred in South Africa was in 2008 and around 60 people were killed.

     It has been reported that locals from Jeppestown and Cleaveland blocked roads with rocks and burning tyres, demanding foreigners leave their country. What is confusing is that; despite unemployment being the major root cause of these emotional outburst against foreigners, foreign-owned businesses and shops that decreases unemployment rate in the country by employing workers from the local population are being attacked. It is unfair to blame people whose jobs description is an impossible task for you to fulfil or too lowly that you rejected it for your unemployment crisis.

     Though Foreigners and South Africans have regarded these attacks on the former as xenophobic attacks, the South African government has refused to acknowledge that the country is experiencing xenophobic attacks, preferring to call them criminal acts. As peaceful protests against these xenophobic attacks which attracted thousands of attendees were held, some South Africans expressed their solidarity stance but refused to participate out of fear of being recognised and attacked by compatriots thereafter. President Jacob Zuma has offered to repatriate foreigners who wish to go back to their home country but this has only draw more criticisms from other African countries, accusing him of avoiding the responsibility of securing every life and property existing in the territory of South Africa.

     Underlining these xenophobic attacks is the inequality that is paramount in the country with Black South Africans being the victims of inequality, unemployment and poverty. Though it was glaring that the seed of anger in Black South Africans that have been planted and watered by extreme deprivation and marginalisation will soon germinate. What was not glaring was that the fruit of the anger will be fed to other Africans whose countries backed Black South Africans fight against nationalists during apartheid. The anger was nurtured by the social injustice done to them by their government and white population.

    Under the careful eyes of the ANC led government in South Africa for over two decades; unemployment level amongst Black South Africans have declined from 43% to 40% since apartheid, African income levels has only grew to about 14% of White per capita income since apartheid, 9% of the White population is richer per capita income than the 80% that are Black, and the education system has failed to ensure that equalised public spending on schooling translates into improved education for the Black population of South Africa. Obviously, Black South Africans have mistook foreigners as the target of their hatred instead of their ANC leadership and White compatriots.

     The South African discrimination against Black South Africans have been there before the time of apartheid but became rooted constitutionally in the aftermath of negotiated settlement of 1985-1990 between P.W. Botha and Nelson Mandela. The disappointment the meetings between Mandela and colonial-apartheid regime yielded was expressed by revered late ANC President; Oliver Reginald Tambo, as “Prisoners can not negotiate their freedom.” The same Tambo believed Mandela and some other senior members of the ANC compromised, and this belief was validated by the compromise that Mandela struck with the nationalists.

     The supposed Freedom Charter drafted to guide the ANC after they must have fought their way into power, have enshrined in it that; “The national wealth of our country, the heritage of south Africans, shall be restored to the people; the mineral wealth beneath the soil; the banks and monopoly industries shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole; all other industries and trade shall be controlled to assist the well-being of the people.” This never get to manifest, rather,  the comfort of the monopoly White capitalists was soothed in a bid for them to continue to enjoy. The consequence of this is the continuous regard of Black South African to be less worthy in their home country.

     In the self pursuance of political glory by Mandela, a crucial battle of economic power was lost to the nationalists despite that De Klerk has vowed never to be negotiated out of power. Political power without economic power is like a tree without water and the nationalists knew this, but Mandela did not. Owed to this ignorance, the ANC agreed with the nationalists; to grant the South African Reserve Bank which is South Africa’s Central Bank an autonomous status consequently putting the Bank in the hand of the Whites, to protect private properties which prevented the Blacks  from laying claim to their stolen lands, to retain the Finance Minister; Derek Keyes under whom the National Treasury will be, among others. All these agreements sealed the fate of Black South Africans economically wise.

     It is based on this that I will conclude that these attacks and emotional outburst directed at foreigners will soon find their appropriate targets. When this happen, it may be too late to stop and it might lead to the collapse of the South African State. To avoid this, the ANC leadership must correct all mistakes regarding the economic sector, educational sector and every other sector that fuels this social injustice and systemic classification of Black South Africans as second class Homo sapiens on their own land.

     Much remain to be done to further improve the livelihoods of South Africans especially in terms of significant disparities that still exist between the “rich and poor” which is interchangeable with “White and Black”. However, these xenophobic attacks must be stopped to avoid reprisal attacks in African countries whose compatriots are victims of these attacks especially when this hatred is a misdirected one.

     Abiola Akintunde

     The writer blogs on www.abiolaoakintunde.wordpress.com, can be reached via paulakintunde@gmail.com and he is @AAbiolat on twitter

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates