What a week! Unfortunately, I am experiencing writer’s block because of the brain trauma caused by events this week. It is at this time that I am in debt to what has been said by our forebears, starting with the titles of some of the writings of Nigerian novelist and writer Chinua Achebe, to explain this past week. This week of criminality and xenophobic attacks on fellow Africans and foreign-owned businesses, including those of South Africans employing foreign nationals in the trucking industry.
My reaction was immediately that now Things Fall Apart and clearly South Africa and the rest of the African continent is No Longer At Ease. There is no level of argumentation that can absolve anyone from the inhumane acts perpetrated against foreign nationals in South Africa.
The inhumanity that is visited primarily upon foreign nationals through the unabated and escalating acts of violence and displacement will never breed peace and humanity for anyone in South Africa. We are in the eye of the heat storm and only time will tell when the meltdown will occur.
A dangerous trend has emerged, with a heavy price, even for South Africans. It is economically, politically, legally, morally – and from a governance point of view – impermissible to allow the killing and ill-treatment of foreign nationals to continue.
As Africans, we are known to sing in times of happiness, in times of grief and in times of strife.
Allow me to use with great admiration the lyrics to West Wind – a timeless song sung by the late Miriam Makeba – to appeal to South Africa to remember that we are all brothers and sisters:
West wind blow ye gentle
Over the sores of Africa
My sons proud and noble
Here within my heart they lay
West wind with your wisdom
Gather all the young for me
Dark cloud hanging over
Nest that bosom strong and free
Make us free from exploitation and strife
Cause nothing is, is more precious in life
West wind with your splendour
Take my people by the hand
Spread your glory sunshine
Unify mother Africa
Unify my precious land
Unify us don’t divide us unify us don’t divide us
We don’t need it now lord, let us not fight over trivials
Let us learn how to love ourselves first because unification is the thing
I said unification is the thing
Unify us don’t divide us unify us don’t divide us
Do you hear me my friends? Do you hear me my brothers?
Do you hear me my sisters? Do you hear me mama?
Do you hear me God? Do you hear me everybody?
Unify us oh don’t divide us, don’t divide us unify us
We’re tired of poverty, we’re tired of dying
We don’t wanna die, we don’t wanna be poor
We’re tired, unify us
Unify us don’t divide us don’t divide us unify us
Unify us don’t divide us don’t divide us unify us
Unify us don’t divide us don’t divide us unify us,
Don't divide us unify us
DON’T DIVIDE US! DM
Comments
Scroll down to load comments...