Xenophobic Negrophobia?

By Nhlanhla Mkhize, Richard Mukuka, & Ngunyi Wambugu*

In the past three weeks we have witnessed a wave of unprecedented attacks against non-South African Africans. The country that is internationally renowned for its peaceful transition to democracy and the co-existence that followed thereafter, aptly represented in the iconic image of Dr Rolihlahla N. Mandela, has stooped to the lowest level of intolerance ever witnessed in Southern Africa post independence. Ironically, this is one of the countries that have given the world concepts such as ubuntu/botho; the same country whose indigenous customs oblige us to be kind to the stranger, as aptly captured in sayings such as isisu somhambi asingakanani, singangenso yenyoni (literally, the stomach of the traveler is not that big, it is about the size of a bird's kidney), and the same country that has given us proverbs such as feta kgomo o tshware motho, exhorting us to preserve the life of a human being, should we be faced with a choice between wealth and the preservation of the life of another. The principles of mutual co-existence as well as the immanent belief in the inherent goodness of people, which not only sustained the African majority during the heinous days of apartheid rule but also enabled the transition to democracy, seem to have evaporated into thin air. Hatred prevails. We hereby unreservedly condemn the violence and unnecessary loss of life caused by the ostensibly xenophobic actions of some South Africans. Structures of society should come together to ensure that we will never witness incidents of this nature in the future.

We however remain cognizant of the fact that it is much easier for us, middle class intellectuals deeply ensconced in the ivory tower, to pronounce our denunciations from a distance, far removed from the existential realities of the victims of the attacks. After all, have we not witnessed the unfolding events from the comforts of our living rooms while drinking tea and coffee with our beloved ones, quite physically and perhaps even psychologically distanced from the plight of the suffering Other? Have our highly educated –some would say trained –tongues not been too quick to locate blame elsewhere, such as the squatters, the hostel dwellers and outright criminal elements? Have our highly esteemed media houses not been too quick to frame the attacks as ‘xenophobia’, a label that has opened up very particular psychological possibilities for copycatting? Have we not realized that the ‘situation’ would have been different had the fighting been labeled squatter wrangles, or crime, or faction fighting? Is this really xenophobia in the classical sense of the word? Alternatively, are we not seeing a people whose humanity has been denied, and so are willing to deny others’ humanity? Are these not black people who have grown up with the idea that the life of a black person is worthless and all right to dispose of? Have we not realized that what is happening to black non-South Africans is not possible for non-black foreigners in South Africa? Is this really about non-South Africans? Is this not Negrophobia, a case of mind-shackled black people denying the humanity of other black people?

This is by no means an attempt to soften our condemnation of the wanton destruction of life; rather it is a call for introspection so that we can come to terms with our complicity in the unfolding events. The saying umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu reminds us that we are fully human to the extent that we recognize and affirm the humanity of others. In South Africa, fourteen years after the transition to the new dispensation which arguably was facilitated not only by the patience and ubuntu of the majority but also the expectation that things would change for the better, a sizeable percentage of the black population continues to live under the most filthy and dehumanizing of conditions, where self respect and dignity are out of question. How can one explain, for example, the continued existence of hostels, constituting a marginalized community that is not integrated into society? Yet, we have remained oblivious to the plight of our marginalized communities of all kinds, fully content that things were OK so long as we and our nuclear families are happy. It is about time that we took umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu seriously by accepting our obligation to others that are implied in the saying.

While South Africa has obtained political emancipation, economic emancipation continues to lag behind. While this condition applies to a number of African states, it is perhaps more deeply felt in South Africa where the gap between the rich and the poor is not only rated among the largest in the world if not THE largest; the gap continues to widen. This has not been helped by the increases in the prices of petrol and other basic commodities. As such, South Africans are more conscious of their deprivation than ever before. Discontent and indignation are at their zenith. One can argue that foreigners have become a readily available target, present in communities where much of the suffering takes place, to shoulder the blame for on-going deprivation and poverty. The anger precipitated by deprivation and the perceived threat that foreigners pose in a context of limited resources may result in acts of violence against the latter. Indeed, structural injustices caused by years of colonial and apartheid subjugation remain unaddressed, landlessness being the prime example. South Africa’s political transition to democracy has exposed the unequal distribution of resources and wealth in the country. It is not by coincidence, therefore, that the conflict has expressed itself by way of access to resources, access to land on which to erect a shack being one such example. Structural injustice cannot be ignored any longer in South Africa; it is a problem deferred, a festering wound!

Added to the problem of economic emancipation is the bigger problem of mental emancipation or the absence thereof. The South African black population continues to define itself with reference to categories created by the West during the colonial/apartheid era, where South Africa, like Egypt, was excised out of Africa. Generally, black South Africans see themselves differently from their fellow brothers and sisters north of the Limpopo, the "real Africans." For example, it is not unusual to hear people saying they are going to Africa when they are visiting countries like Nigeria and Kenya! This is a remnant of the apartheid propaganda machinery, which flooded black South Africans with images of suffering, abject poverty and misery associated with the rest of the continent, the intention being not only to prolong white rule but also to render the yoke of oppression bearable to the African masses. In this vein, it can be postulated that the brutal environment created by Apartheid with its great emphasis on boundary maintenance has impacted on South Africans’ ability to be tolerant of difference. Apartheid insulated South Africans from nationalities beyond Southern Africa. Even the media has repeatedly perpetuated negative images of Africa and foreign Africans. It is no wonder then that the ‘xenophobic’ attacks have a negrophobic face; such has been the impact of colonization on the African psyche.

Having shared our thoughts on the problem, we would like to offer the following recommendations in both the long and short-term. While some of the ideas may seem utopian, we believe they are worth debating at the least:

1. The economic marginalization of the majority needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Government housing (RDP houses) need to be expedited and fairly allocated; defaulters should be brought to book and dealt with accordingly. BEE programmes need to be reconceptualized so as to reach the most needy at the broadest level possible. We believe that BEE should be targeted mainly at making quality education available and free up to University level.

2. Structural injustice, landlessness in particular, needs to be addressed. Many families are without land and remain easy prey to greedy landlords who house them like sardines with hardly any ablution facilities.

3. History and education: The curriculum needs to be revised to include not only Africa's contribution to world civilization but also to highlight the common African ancestry. To be covered is the history of the migration of the tribes from the Nile Valley to Western and Southern Africa, as well as the return of some of these tribes, such as the Nguni groups, back to countries now known as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique. To this date, people of Nguni ancestry are to be found in all the countries mentioned above and more. It was not by accident that one of the victims of the negrophobic attacks was a Ndlovu from Zimbabwe. It could have been a Zulu from Zambia!

In addition, schooling should not only concentrate on technical subject matter in order to prepare learners for the open labour market; it should also emphasize Afrocentric values such as Ubuntu and Ukama in order to cultivate umuntu, a being in solidarity with other beings. The interconnectedness of all life, human and non-human, should be emphasized, seeing that a technocentric approach aimed at skill acquisition and mastery promotes competition and not the co-existence that is so important for mutual survival. In the first instance, education should be about being-with-others, how to maximize ours and others' lives, including the lives of our surroundings. We need nothing less than an education system that is deliberately structured to unshackle the African psyche, not one that perpetuates Negrophobia.

4. It is about time that the national borders imposed by colonial masters and apartheid architects as they were partitioning Africa for their own economic interests, and without due regard to ethnic and other family loyalties, are revisited.

5. SADC countries should strengthen their political and economic muscle as a region and not as individual states. This goes hand-in-hand with revisiting national borders in order to facilitate greater freedom of movement in the region. In the first instance, this will necessitate that the countries work together to strengthen the economies of each member state thus allowing movement in all directions. A common currency should be the ultimate goal.

7. We wish to propose a common lingua franca for all of Southern Africa in order to facilitate communication and to forge a common identity. We propose adoption of Kiswahili for this purpose, seeing that it is not only spoken in a number of African states but also shares similarities with the languages of the Bantu, who are the majority in the region.

8. Heads of State of all the countries whose citizens have been involved in the current negrophobia should come together, with traditional leaders/healers and religious ministers, to conduct ihlambo, a cleansing ceremony so that we can seek forgiveness from God and the ancestors whom we have gravely offended by shedding the innocent blood of our fellow brothers and sisters. This should be a negotiated process involving all the parties concerned, not just a ritualistic exercise. Religious ministers and experts in Indigenous African Traditions should be consulted on how best to take this forward.

9. Compensation for the victims of these attacks should be considered.

10. Finally, the role of the media and other relevant structures in the spread of this cancer should be investigated. For example, would the violence have spread at the alarming rate that it did had it been labeled and handled differently and not sensationalized? Was the media ethically sensitive in reporting the events? Would the situation have been contained had a low key approach and decisive action on the part of the relevant authorities been taken?

Although public discourse has framed the tumultuous events that started three weeks ago in Gauteng as xenophobic, a label that has made possible copycat xenophobia, the initial form of these events has all the earmarks of negrophobia. Sadly, a denial of another person’s humanity points to a fractured ubuntu. Political leadership, social institutions, mass media, families, and individuals should prioritize one long and short term goal: unshackle the Afrikan psyche! Qaqumqondo!

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*Nhlanhla Mkhize is the Head of the School of Psychology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Richard Mukuka is a doctoral student in Psychology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Ngunyi Wambugu is a graduate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Head of Research at African Fathers’ Initiative. The views expressed herein are theirs.