Demonstrators in South Africa are seen today singing songs and marching in the streets demanding for foreign nationals to go back where they came from. Surprisingly the foreigners they demand to go back are fellow Africans who are struggling just as them.
Largely the poor low income South Africans who have been attacking fellow Africans seem to either be ignorant of economic facts that majority of owners of wealth in their country are the white minority whom they seem afraid to approach. They rather choose to burn alive their fellow Africans who like them, are victims of poor governance, corruption, accountability and unequal distribution of wealth in the countries they come from.
President Cyril Ramaphosa inherited the xenophobia problem from the government of former President Zuma who failed to adequately address the issue which was a persistent during his time. There had been calls from all over Africa for the leaders in South Africa to educate their youths about their own history of their fight for independence and the contribution by the fellow Africans they are burning today and chasing from their country.
Calls have also recently increased in the African Union to deal with these xenophobic attacks once and for all.
The South African youths seem not to be aware of the sacrifices and contributions which were made during the fight for their freedom when freedom fighters were accommodated in neighboring and other African countries. There seems to be short memory it there is any, of how their neighbors stood with them and received migrants from South African into other African countries.
There had been questions as to why young South Africans find it absolutely easy to attack fellow African foreigners and never white people or any such other than blacks. Schools thoughts have posited that the young South Africans May still be struggling from self-hate and fear of the whiteman as a remnant if apartheid.
The real challenge for the current government of South Africa is to address the land issue in South Africa, wealth distribution which is still largely in the hands of the white minority and improved the impoverished and uneducated youths who are currently killing fellow Africans. The government of President Ramaphosa must take this shame and turn it into knowledge and empowerment for the Skuth African youths.
Julius Matema, the youthful President of the EFF has been on record condemning the senseless attacks on fellow Africans and declaring that fellow South African Youths must stop the embarrassment and harassment of other African youths and must address the real issues of economy and land distribution.
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