Ethiophobia, Afrophobia: A shame

According to a BBC report, “kwerekwere” is a derogatory word in South Africa for African immigrants. In contrast, an article on Quartz says that white immigrants are treated differently, often referred to as “expats” or simply categorized as “tourists”. Therefore Afrophobia (as opposed to xenophobia) has become the preferred term to describe the ongoing attacks on foreigners in South Africa since the main targets are African immigrants. I include Ethiophobia because some of the latest victims are Ethiopians. The other African immigrants who have been largely affected by the violence come from Somalia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Malawi.

A South African pastor told the BBC that “[the afrophobic attack"> is sad because we are Africans…We are supposed to take care of each other. It is criminal the way we treat our own.”

In the Quartz article this question has been raised: “Why is it that a Somali man can run a shop in a township, get raided and beaten up, while a white immigrant in town continues to run a restaurant full of patrons?”

The explanation, according to the writer, goes back to the days of apartheid: the system that enforced black and white segregation, white supremacy and white privilege, isolated black South Africans from the rest of the continent and tried to erase their sense of African solidarity; and, practiced an immigration policy that favored and prioritized white immigrants who would live in places designated for whites only. South Africa opened itself widely to African immigrants after 1994, following apartheid's fall. The black South Africans (especially the poor and marginalized) were unprepared for the new wave of immigrants, their fellow Africans, who came in hoping for a better life and could live in the economically disadvantaged townships that new white immigrants would mostly avoid. The writer believes the Afrophobic attacks are “hangover from the past, fueled by present” economic and political problems that have made the African immigrants the unfortunate scapegoats.

Although that is understandable, can it justify the inhumane attacks on innocent African immigrants, including children: beating, stoning, stabbing, hacking with machetes, burning alive and murdering? It is a disgrace for the “new” South Africa, a country that Nelson Mandela once proclaimed that it would be a home away from home for all that sought its protection.

An African expressed his outrage against this shameful and senseless violence, which appears as displaced anger: “Simply put, Zulu South Africans have gone mad. Completely insane. Black South Africans ganged up to kill and steal from African immigrants claiming that other Africans are taking their jobs when they are yet to question their corrupt government and the whites controlling their economy.”

IBTimes UK reported: “At least five people have been killed in a surge of xenophobic attacks in South Africa on 14 April, where locals have been targeting foreigners – mostly African immigrants from Nigeria, Somalia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia – in and around the city of Durban, in the KwaZulu-Natal province.”

The report continued: “It is believed that violence erupted following alleged comments by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who said that foreigners need to ‘pack their bags and leave.’ Following the comment – which Zwelithini denied he had made – several South Africans took to the streets of Durban and attacked and looted foreign-owned shops and properties. The protesters accused foreign nationals of living in South Africa illegally and of stealing jobs and opportunities.”

TOOL FOR POPULIST POLITICIANS

Some argue that the xenophobic attacks are “tools for morally bankrupt populist politicians to mask their failings or greed,” a comment shared on Twitter. Those morally bankrupt politicians are said to be the current leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) party, South Africa's ruling party, which is accused of corruption and incompetent leadership. According to its critics, the ANC is exploiting the violence against immigrants to keep the public distracted from pressing issues.

The BBC reported that: “President Jacob Zuma has condemned the violence and has established a team of ministers to put an end to it. …The president, like many anti-apartheid activists, was hosted by other African countries while in exile. And there is some irony that that solidarity is not working the other way.”

However, Zuma’s passive condemnation of the violence has received intense criticism as he has not provided immediate and sustained protection for the African immigrants who are facing constant mob attacks. In fact, his administration has been accused of fomenting xenophobia, implementing by strict anti-immigration laws and policies that limit even the rights of legal immigrants.

The opposition MP Julius Malema, of the Economic Freedom Fighters Party, blamedZuma for his failure to stop the violent mobs and lack of sincerity to address the problem. He also criticized Zuma’s inability to control his son who has allegedly said that foreigners must be killed.

BEING UNGRATEFUL AND SOCIAL AMNESIA

The few black South Africans who are butchering and burning innocent people (and the ANC government that is doing little to stop them) must have become forgetful of their history and the role that their fellow Africans had played in helping them fight against the apartheid system that robbed them of their humanity.

Ethiopia was one of the first African countries that supported, trained and protected the young Nelson Mandela when the UK and other Western governments were quietly doing business with the apartheid government.

Nelson Mandela was grateful to Ethiopia that welcomed him with open arms during his time in exile. He was given a handgun (a gift that had meant a great deal to him and which may have been the ANC military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe's first weapon, according to journalist Allister Sparks) and an Ethiopian passport under the pseudonym David Motsamayi. Here is how he remembered Ethiopia's effect on him:

“Ethiopia always has a special place in my imagination and the prospect of visiting Ethiopia attracted me more strongly than a trip to France, England, and America combined. I felt I would be visiting my own genesis, unearthing the roots of what made me an African. ”

Nelson Mandela also recognized the global Ethiopianism movement -- a result of Ethiopia's decisive victory against Italy at the battle of Adwa in 1896 -- as an inspiration in the creation of the ANC itself. He made that said in a speech he delivered at the Free Ethiopian Church of Southern Africa on 14 December 1992:

"Fundamental tenets of the Ethiopian Movement were self-worth, self-reliance and freedom. These tenets drew the advocates of Ethiopianism, like a magnet, to the growing political movement. That political movement was to culminate in the formation of the ANC in 1912. It is in this sense that in the ANC we trace the seeds of the formation of our organisation to the Ethiopian Movement of the 1890s."

Ironically, today’s South Africa has become a country that treats Ethiopians and other Africans as enemies and can’t even deport them with some dignity.

Shame.

[Insert here this image: http://kweschn.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/wpid-img_20150416_0022112.jpg

History will remember this, South Africa. Next to Apartheid and Nelson Mandela.

Achille Mbembe, writing inAfrica Is A Country, warns South Africa:

“National-chauvinism is rearing its ugly head in almost every sector of the South African society. The thing with national-chauvinism is that it is in permanent need of scapegoats. It starts with those who are not our kin. But very quickly, it turns fratricidal. It does not stop with ‘these foreigners.’ It is in its DNA to end up turning onto itself in a dramatic gesture of inversion.”

Last but not least: it is important to mention that such tragedy should be a reminder for opportunist and populist politicians everywhere, including Ethiopia, that inciting violence against “outsiders” and exploiting gullible people’s emotions to achieve a narrow agenda is not only barbaric but will have a very ugly outcome. As someone who was internally displaced once — due to an ethnic (“go back to your land”) violence — seeing what happened in South Africa brings the horrible memories back.

* Elyas Mulu Kiros is an Ethiopian blogger.

* THE VIEWS OF THE ABOVE ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR/S AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDITORIAL TEAM

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