MagRush | September 16, 2019
South Africa – On a mission to put out the fires that have raged on close to three weeks, SA President Cyril Ramaphosa has dispatched a delegation to African states to hold diplomatic meetings over the recent tumultuous violent unrests in the country.
Former Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe will be leading the envoy as it embarks on drive to rationally clarify SA’s position in relation to xenophobia (“fear of the other”) — Unisa Prof. Rothney Tshaka contrasts it to “[a]frophobia: fear of the other black”. And, in the same vein, try to rebrand the country anew around the African continent.
The special envoy will expound categorically the country’s blueprint to stop and resolve genuine and core immigration issues. SA is in the spotlight yet again after falling onto the nearly the same “xenophobia” plague witnessed in 2008.
Presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko quoted by IOL said “the special envoy team, comprising of Radebe, Ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo and Dr. Khulu Mbatha, would visit Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, the Democratic of Republic of Congo and Zambia.”
SA, especially Johannesburg and Pretoria, were seized by hostile unrests presumably directed at foreign nationals dealing in illegality around drug smuggling, counterfeit goods, and undocumented immigrants among other civil grievances.
The spate of communal riots were sparked by a slain taxi driver who brazenly tried to effect a citizen’s arrest. A fracas broke out and led an alleged drug-peddler shooting and killing the driver at the capital city, Pretoria, on August 27, 2019. All hell broke loose when taxi drivers went on a rampage to retaliate in solidarity. The escalation of the unrest resulted in incidents of arson, general looting and public disruptions in major cities across SA.
What began as a noble crusade for cleaning the city’s streets of drugs morphed into “xenophobia” and/or “afrophobia” narrative by observers labeling South Africans involved as intolerant of their African brethren. The South African Police Service (SAPS) reported 12 deaths as a consequence of which 10 were local citizens.
Bafana Bafana, the senior national soccer team, had two matches scheduled for September 7, 2019 against Zambia first, and Madagascar second, cancelled effectively due to Africa’s pushback against the violent attacks perpetrated in SA soil.
On Saturday, September 14, 2019, President Ramaphosa was booed at the National Sport Stadium in Harare during his address to the mourners of Ex-Zimbabwe President Robert Gabriel Mugabe who died 95 on September 6, 2019 at Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore.
Ramaphosa spontaneously apologized to the half-empty stadium for the recent explosion of sporadic incursions in South Africa.
The envoy sent to African countries is meant to stitch the severed relations as some SA businesses and interests such as MultiChoice Satellite TV company, telecoms giant MTN, Africa’s number one grocery retailer Shoprite came under fire in Nigeria, Zambia and other countries in Africa.
On a brother note, Mamelodi Sundowns, a local impressive Premier Soccer League club, traveled Tuesday, September 10, 2019 to Seychelles and played on Saturday, September 14 with Cote d’Or a CAF Champions League game in Seychelles without a glitch. (Sundowns won the match 5-0.)
Some countries like Mozambique, Zambia and Nigeria have had their citizens repatriated already fearing for their lives in SA. Leaders of different industries ranging from the religious to sporting bodies called for calm, restraint and tolerance against riots and destruction of property in South Africa.