01/05/2015
It is a disgrace to the nation of South Africa and to Africa for the South African head of state to come out in his speech in a kind of way that seemed to be in conviction of immigrants that are in South Africa. In his speech president Jacob Zuma said I quote; “we may say the problem is for South Africa and allege that these occurrences were xenophobic but this problem is not a South African problem and requires the intervention of the African Union”, “why aren’t these people (foreigners) in their countries”.
For a man that has been a victim of racism during the apartheid, for a man who has been of sound age when we experienced the Rwanda genocide. I was a little boy but attentive to whatever happened in the day, I was of a sound and attentive mind when South Africa was faced with apartheid just as I was equally of sound mind with the Rwanda genocide which events happened almost concurrently.
It is a move of cowardice, condescension, and short sightedness; it feels as though the South African head of state has already forgotten the experience that were encountered at the time and his words seem to suggest that he prided in what the white people at the time did to all South Africans then, with his speech it does not surprise me that South Africans behaved the way they did or are behaving the way they are, it is quite clear that the government they worked with to give them a sense of freedom, fulfillment, security and happiness forgot about them. The poor South Africans are lost sheep without a loving shepherd. What we see in this day are reminders that ‘there is no great a human being that shall ever walk the face of this earth ever again, that will ever be equaled to Nelson Mandela.”
What the South African head of state forgot is that South Africa is not the holy grail of Africa, which is why we have South Africans here in Uganda, in Kenya, Egypt, Zimbabwe and so many more African countries. Your Excellency, the right thing to would have been to rise up and condemn those evil acts that were very much degrading of a nation that has been a good example to Africa until you became president and things started to go amiss, what you had to rightfully do is to apologize to those poor immigrants who you alleged to be illegal immigrants; you were quick to use such statements instead of being quick to monitor the entry of these clearly unwanted black people in South Africa, you have been the first president I have come across since apartheid to clearly portray to the world how much of a racist you are and how much you are lost for self-recognition.
Your Excellency, I personally have relatives in South Africa but they did not take your peoples jobs, they made jobs for them. They came down there and became entrepreneurs, they set up establishments out of their own sweat so people in South Africa white or black could make a living but you have not any manners nor are you fit to be a leader of a nation that still heals from the ravages of apartheid, your place is not at the helm because your mindset is that of a trailer not a leader.
I console all those who got affected by the xenophobic attacks as a result of poor mindsets and call upon everyone in Africa, South Africa and the world to condemn the actions of these evil men along with the South African leader for his lack of direction. You should not be misled to turn arms at South Africans in your countries because they are but victims of circumstances and the leading misfortune being their head of state.
Muliki Joseph Enock
