The part we play in Politics

By Riaz Dhai

It is no secret that the country is currently being ravaged by a moral dilemma. This dilemma of xenophobia has unfortunately erupted into a wave of unnecessary violence and the displacement of over 100 000 “foreigners” in South Africa. As a result of this we commonly read passionate articles and newspaper headlines that sum up the so called feeling of all morally upright South Africans: “ I am ashamed to be a South African today.”

In the midst of all this chaos it is important for us to sit back and reflect on the cause of our current dilemma. The reason for this reflection is not to provide immediate solutions to the problem. The immediate solution is an exceptionally complex and almost impossible task. The best we can do in the short term is expend as much of our available resources to helping our fellow brothers and sisters in need. On a political front, our leaders need to acknowledge (which they only very recently did) that we as South Africans are entirely at fault and that we will do all that is in our power to ensure the safety and well being of those “foreigners” on our soil.

We should reflect on the underlying causes in an effort to provide long term solutions that will not only help the displaced African brothers and sisters, but prevent similar such events affecting other South Africans. It is no secret that there has been a single, underlying thought that has echoed in the minds of most intellectual, academic, professional and somewhat intelligent non – Black South Africans: “Is this going to happen to us?”

There is absolutely nothing wrong with thinking about this. It is a perfectly valid thought for an individual to reflect on in uncertain times such as this. More so because other newly democratic nations in Africa have experienced crises and genocides wherein local residents of a different race were instantaneously expelled from what they thought was their homeland. The important step in this thought process is for us to question what we as the local residents have done to incite such behaviour.

The lesson we learn from the recent xenophobic attacks is a valuable one. There is a strong theory that South Africans are not being hostile to other Africans simply because they are taking their jobs and earning more money. The theory seems to indicate that South Africans are fed up with poverty, poor service delivery, unemployment and crime and are taking it out on those who they perceive are responsible for many of these atrocities.

Kicking out “foreigners” is by no means going to solve these problems. And if these problems continue to remain, how long will it be before the man on the street realises that the majority of members of another race are not suffering as he is? And once he realises this why will he act any differently to how he treated his fellow Africans?

This article is not written to incite racist feelings. It is written to question what we, as privileged non Black South Africans have done to alleviate the plight of our less fortunate brothers and sisters. In fact, we have done quite the opposite. We oppressed them extensively during apartheid. Even if we did not physically beat them or shout out the horrible “K” word, many of us benefited from a fantastic education, high quality public services and solid employment while they were academically stifled and forced to remain a nation of backward individuals.

Granted, we may have been unable to fight the apartheid government in its prime, but what have we done to make up for our previous incapacity in the 14 years after democracy. We still continue to benefit from a high class education because we can afford private schools. We still continue to get the best medical services because we can afford a medical aid. We still have no problems travelling around the country despite the poor transport infrastructure because we can afford nice cars and the incessantly high fuel price. And to top it all, do we even spend a fraction of our time or wealth on the development of those who are still so disparately unfortunate?

If this is the case, are we then not guilty of a similar crime that South Africans seem to accuse “foreigners” of? And if so, are they not justified in taking some action against us? And are we not educated enough to realise that sometimes that action is in the form of violence or expulsion from their country? Although such violence can never be justified, at least it is visible proof of action in their minds.

The only way for us to prevent something similar from happening is to recognise that it is time for us to get off our high horses and roll up our sleeves when it comes to people development. Our country has the potential to become something truly wonderful. Instead of spending our time filing out nails over coffee at the local hotspot and whining over how we might become the next Uganda with Jacob Zuma in the role of Idi Amin, let us help to constructively build this country. Because if we only seem to take and not give back, surely someone is going to get fed up somewhere along the line and explode.