Back To Apartheid
Of all people, South Africans - especially Blacks - should be the last people to hate a person or be against a person simply because of that person's origins or ethnicity. What a shock and how disturbing it has been to see Black South Africans brutalising and butchering other Africans! And to see some South African police seemingly supportive of that! Shame on all South Africans who in any way have been involved in the violence of the last few days. No reason whatsoever justifies it.
We in other parts of Africa have been most proud of Nelson Mandela; we have always believed in Desmond Tutu's vision of South Africa as being a 'Rainbow Nation'; we have always cheered the Springboks and "Bafana Bafana" and felt great joy whenever they won. We have always hoped that South Africa would be a role model for Africa. And how could the South Africans forget the great support, both moral and material, that they were given all those years during their struggle for independence - by their neighbors and other Africans?
South Africans: you accuse other Africans of 'taking your jobs and housing, and stealing your girlfriends'. And yet: all across Africa, we have warmly welcomed the many South African businesses involved in mining, telecommunications, tourism, transport; and we gladly shop in South African supermarkets. We have never accused South Africans of 'stealing' or 'taking away' from us. If you South Africans can not live in peace with other Africans, then how will you live in peace among yourselves? South Africans: without peace with other Africans and all people, irrespective of their origin or ethnicity - that dream of establishing a true 'Rainbow Nation' will remain just a dream; a distant dream.
We in other parts of Africa have been most proud of Nelson Mandela; we have always believed in Desmond Tutu's vision of South Africa as being a 'Rainbow Nation'; we have always cheered the Springboks and "Bafana Bafana" and felt great joy whenever they won. We have always hoped that South Africa would be a role model for Africa. And how could the South Africans forget the great support, both moral and material, that they were given all those years during their struggle for independence - by their neighbors and other Africans?
South Africans: you accuse other Africans of 'taking your jobs and housing, and stealing your girlfriends'. And yet: all across Africa, we have warmly welcomed the many South African businesses involved in mining, telecommunications, tourism, transport; and we gladly shop in South African supermarkets. We have never accused South Africans of 'stealing' or 'taking away' from us. If you South Africans can not live in peace with other Africans, then how will you live in peace among yourselves? South Africans: without peace with other Africans and all people, irrespective of their origin or ethnicity - that dream of establishing a true 'Rainbow Nation' will remain just a dream; a distant dream.