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Afrophobia a disgrace

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THE current wave of attacks on foreign blacks by South African blacks is a typical example of misplaced anger which should never be allowed to recur.
This violence is often misnamed ‘xenophobia’ when in fact it should appropriately be called ‘Afrophobia’.
In the present spate of this violence, just like previous ones, we hear targeted victims are nationals from Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria, among other nationals from Africa.
Seldom, if ever, do we hear of Canadians, Americans, Indians, Chinese and Japanese or any other nationals of the white race being molested.
But should this black-on-black violence be allowed to raise its ugly head from time to time?
The answer is a resounding ‘no’.
There are a good number of reasons which should unite blacks on the African continent.
For a start, the division of Africa into separate states is very arbitrary.
When the imperialists, at the Berlin Conference of 1884 -1885, decided to share colonial spoils by portioning the continent, they were not concerned about the socio-culturo-political effects this would have on the indigenes.
Despite this, there are still a lot of cases which show us that, as blacks, we should be united across borders; if not for economic benefits, then it should be for our very survival.
People in the SADC region, whose freedom came after protracted armed struggles against white imperialists, have very good reasons to love each other.
And this should be extended to the rest of the continent.
While Mozambicans sacrificed their lives to help see Zimbabweans free, Zimbabweans did the same for South Africa.
Houses were demolished and South African nationals were assassinated by the heartless apartheid regime of South Africa on foreign lands.
Just as the Mozambicans did for us, Zimbabwe’s liberation forces joined hands with SA liberation forces to fight the enemy.
The whole of the southern region of Africa is a common enemy of the West, led by the United States, because former liberation movements head their respective governments.
These are unlikely to turn into stooges of the West.
It then becomes shockingly absurd to see a black South African vandalising and looting a black businessman’s property just because he is from Mozambique.
Not only that.
We shudder at the number of killings of ‘foreign’ blacks by black South Africans.
There is poverty in South Africa.
Farming land, minerals, industry and virtually all means of production are all under the control of whites, who still regard blacks as people only fit to be drawers of water and hewers of wood.
That is the cause of African poverty in a land so full of natural resources and fertile land.
These white owners are greedy, and only prepared to pay their workers exploitative wages.
These are the people black South Africans should be angry with.
To attack fellow blacks just because they are soft targets and leaving the real culprits scot free is a display of dangerous cowardice.
South Africa should be ashamed of itself for these barbaric and primitive acts.
It was gratifying to hear President Cyril Ramaphosa come out boldly condemning the disgraceful behaviour by his nationals and taking swift steps to have it contained.
Retaliating by boycotting the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa being held in South Africa could be a wrong option
The meeting might prove to be more fruitful if African leaders share ideas on how to prevent ‘Afrophobia’ rearing its ugly head on any part of the continent.

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