South Africa has broken the hearts of many Africans in recent weeks.
The lynching of other Africans by mobs with police collaboration or indifference, the denial of care to pregnant women from other African countries by South African women, the half-hearted legalistic, ritualistic expressions of regret and empty pledges from South African leaders have put paid to our dreams and fantasies of Pan-Africanism!
What is the point of granting unrestricted travel to other African countries when the very governments extending such courtesies would permit your lynching by their citizens?
Not even Trump’s American or Netanyahu’s right-wing Israeli government would permit such treatment of foreigners by its citizens. And for this to come from South Africa is particularly galling!
Heck, my OKESS friends and I swayed to Sonny Okosun’s “Fire in Soweto” when it came out after Steve Biko’s death and discussed how we could sign up for the anti-apartheid struggle.
And we all had crushes Miriam Makeba! When Mandela took the oath of office, we all belted out “Nkosi Kelele Africa” as the South African airfoce flew overhead in salute and this is our reward? Not even Botha’s apartheid government would have stood for this nonsense.
How can we call out the distant slave-holders and colonialists when we tolerate this inhumanity from our own, to our own, on our continent? Wasn’t it South Africa that took Israel to court for its genocidal conduct in Gaza to global applause only a few months ago? Ghana and Nigeria are doing the right thing in evacuating their citizens, but the response across Africa has been too restrained.
If this were being done to us in America, Canada or Britain, our condemnation would be louder. South Africa needs to be condemned, shamed and ostracized more forcefully. It is this kind of hypocrisy that make us condemn the genocide in Gaza more than the one in Sudan! We behave as if black lives don’t matter.
South African International Relations Minister Ronald Lanola’s bluff must be called. Let’s see them in court, just as they saw the Isrealites in court and expose their hypocrisy.
With the exception of President Mbeki, Malema and a few others, South African leaders have been brazenly disappointing. Africa deserves better from them.
While on the subject of hypocrisy, I am baffled by how the government and business leaders can have jobs for those evacuated from South Africa when our stay-at-home youth have been suffering massive unemployment for all these years.
I understand the parable of the prodigal son, but shouldn’t the few jobs we have go to our youth who have been looking for jobs all these years? Long live Ghana!
As the Osagyefo said, “Africa Must Unite!
Aluta Continua!
