Almost daily I listen to interactive radio broadcasts in which, to almost every man and woman, I hear South African "Blacks" -
* protesting the presence of Zimbabweans;
* positing them as "invaders";
* characterizing them as a "threat";
* describing them as a "scourge";
frothing at the mouth in their demands that these "vermin" be removed ...
and even insulting the government for not having done so.
Shamefully, what the radio hosts DO NOT do is to remind these xenophobes that -
a) Zimbabwe was foremost, as a frontline State, in free World support for their freedom;
b) for that it was routinely bombed by apartheid government agents;
c) Zimbabweans voted the ZANU-PF regime out in 2008, only to have it restored to power by SA's President, Thabo Mbeki, using something called "quiet diplomacy";
d) for having done this, in his capacity as then Chair of the AU, Mbeki received wall-to-wall PRAISE from South African "Blacks";
e) since that date, our ANC government has been "joined at the hip" with the regime in Zimbabwe, despite its record of oppression and mismanagement of that country;
f) also Helen Zille was attacked, insulted and vilified for saying that "not everything about colonialism was bad" ...
... and "Blacks" routinely lament, condemn and cry about colonialism ....
but are now Using Borders Created By Colonialists to quite viciously exclude fellow Africans as "foreigners";
and to that end more of these "foreigners" have been killed and maimed than those at Sharpeville.
g) and as regards Ndebele Zimbabweans --- do they NOT ORIGINATE from South Africa???.
Does the border made by those "EVIL" Colonialists change this???
Conclusion.
This is Crass Hypocrisy ... Hypocrisy on a grand scale.
South Africa is FULLY COMPLICIT in the disastrous human rights situation that now pertains to Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabweans that come here are REFUGEES ... African Refugees ... products of South Africa's own diabolical machinations.
They are NOT INVADERS ... they are NOT VERMIN !!!
They are in a a Grim Struggle for Survival.
However I am not surprised.
This virulent xenophobic culture is driven by tribal racism induced by the Nguni tribes having mustered under the imported racist "Black Label/Flag/Brand" in their bid for dominance in this region that was actually created by Colonialists.
In terms of prevailing attitudes the "Blacks" should go down on the knees and thank God for colonialism,
Statues should be erected to the likes of Cecil John Rhodes & Co. They should be instituted as "Fathers of The Nation".
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PS: I exclude Cathy Mohlahlana from the Radio Hosts who are complicit in this hypocrisy.
PPS: as early as 1985, Miriam Makeba lambasted SA "Blacks" at a party in New York for xenophobically referencing Zimbabweans as "AmaZambezi".
