Atavism reloaded?

The past couple of days of listening to radio discussions on xenophobic attacks has been quite illuminating. As leaders are saying “Please stop. Please stop the violence now. This is not how we behave. These are our sisters and brothers. Please, please stop,” in yet another excellent illustration of how violence escalates unless decisively handled, one person has already been killed for hiring foreigners, and there was a report on radio of a man entering an office to ask the woman at the reception whether the company employs foreigners. She (of course) said no. He said he’d be back later to double check.

On to the radio discussions:

• Last night foreigners were calling in to radio stations to report how community meetings were being held to plan how to rout them from communities. Better yet, some government officials admitted that “We knew that there were certain meetings held, statements made, decisions apparently arrived at. But that that would lead to the kind of situation that has developed wasn’t fully anticipated, nor the speed at which it has spread … particularly the rapid escalation we’ve seen over the weekend was not fully anticipated. Otherwise we would have taken the necessary pre-emptive action.”
• The attacks are an illustration of the national problem-solving model. Everyone, in their private and public lives solves problems using violence. This is how the problem of apartheid was solved. This is the way in which children are taught (from watching their elders) to deal with conflict.
• There is a class issue at play here. Both in terms of stratifying black south africans, and in stratifying the foreigners.
• (The usual tirade against government. I say this because this tirade has been ongoing for as long as I can remember, and it gets to a point where your mind switches off as soon as yet another person complains that government is doing nothing). This includes the fact that there are no more apprenticeships or proper technical training that would make the youth productive if they do not go to tertiary education institutions. There is no proper way or infrastructure to absorb the large numbers of refugees and immigrants; they should not be allowed to mingle in townships with south africans who are also in need. Government moved from “the original Reconstruction and Development Programme [to] the current dog-eats-dog economic policy” so why is anyone surprised that this happened?
• A young man from Alex calls in. Says he’s seen all the events with his own naked eyes. Says he cheered on the mobs (made up of mostly youth) initially, but as it has escalated, he’s seen that it is wrong and will serve no constructive purpose.
• There is a large group of black south africans who love africa and africans. They believe in ubuntu, and that we are all brothers and sisters, kept apart by our colonized thinking. This group calls in to express their sorrow at what is happening. Cannot get their minds around why anyone would burn another. One person says there were women, mothers (said with incredulity), who were laughing at the burning man and telling passers-by how he had met that fate.
• Another says that they always thought South Africa was a special country (especially when seeing all the fighting ‘up there in africa’), but they now realize that it’s an african country after all.
• Most of the callers express their fear that the situation will escalate. One woman says “last week it was makwerekwere, this week it’s shangans and vendas, next week it will be xhosas and sothos”. Another person mentions that a couple of months ago, in Zeerust, tswana children were telling xhosa children to “go back to your home.”
• The mining industry, which has traditionally drawn a large part of its labor from southern africa (visit the Apartheid Museum to understand that progression, and that apartheid grew from mostly economic considerations) is very concerned. They fear the situation will deteriorate to what it was in 1992 when people in the hostels (where the mine workers reside) were being targeted for being non-south african. Now, with industry already hobbled by power cuts, along comes xenophobia and violence to further cripple production and by extension, the greater economy.
• Some in the property/construction industry chime in to say that it will also affect them because their labor force consists of some foreigners. Something about them being more skilled because the SA education institutions have failed to provide apprenticeships to citizens.
• The bad precedent was set in the past. When the people sang mshini wami at the court, when they sang it (while booing leaders) in Polokwane, no one stopped or censured them. Why then are we complaining when they sing mshini wami as they attack foreigners? (you can also buy a ring tone of the same )
• Oh, and how we dare forget to behave, otherwise we’ll damage tourism? (though I hear people in some areas have refused to engage in the ’spontaneous uprisings’ because they don’t want to chase away their tourists)
• Someone brings to our attention the fact that the Chinese, though present as a relatively well-to-do immigrant community, have not been attacked. This brings forth hypotheses that it’s because they are not integrated into the local community, so they’re not really taking people’s jobs, housing, opportunities. Someone else (who has something many of us lack, historical perspective/memory) weighs in to dispute this hypothesis. Back when the Somalis were being attacked, people had said that they, rather than Nigerians and Zimbabweans (and other Africans), were being singled out because they had not integrated into the local communities. Today, we can see that even those integrated Nigerians and Zimbabweans are being targeted. They conclude that it has to do with race, something about negrophobia, and because you can’t attack/grievously harm yourself as you might wish, you project that violence on whoever looks like you.

Many good solutions and places to start are articulated in the course of these radio discussions (mostly education, education, education, and raising of self-esteem). I wonder if those responsible for social development in government are listening (to radio with notebook and pen handy)? Probably not. Because, on this continent, government will not bring the solutions we seek. We need to come up with new models of problem solving. I know many Kenyans were busy quoting how decentralization has helped south africa. All policies look great on paper. The rub is in their implementation. Right now, all south african provinces are not equal. Some are paying more attention to development than others which are busy making corruption their mainstay. Give it another 10 years of this trend and you’ll have a right proper ethnic situation, and how it develops will be determined by how this current situation is handled.