As I write this, it’s been just over 24 hours since the South Africa Reserve Bank governor hiked interest rates by 50 basis points; already in newspapers across South Africa featured this hike and effects thereof, radio and television invite economists, analysts and other “alert and enlightened” people to warn the South African public.
Already everything is focused on the many South Africans that will suffer and how they will suffer due to the interest rate hike. That’s fair; one would say; but is it really?
I find it amazing how we as South Africans can displace thousands; we’ve driven hundreds of foreigners maybe even thousands out of our country, their place of refuge and safety and killed tens of our fellow African brothers and sisters. We’ve driven them out of our townships like spoilt children that don’t share toys, we’ve gathered all our possessions (freedom, economic strength, independence, peace, safety, world relations), I could go on; all for ourselves simply to store these and do nothing with them. I make mention of toys because seemingly we hardly, if anything, make use of these possessions; instead we fight amongst ourselves, neglect development projects and diverse options that the government has put in place for us; all of course in the aim of development and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE), Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA) and any other project and involvement that the government has at the present moment for the South African citizen.
We cried and said that the so called “foreigners” are taking away our jobs; by the way, these are the jobs we won’t take up in our country but would gladly take up in other “better” countries. You know, grin and bear it; kind’a familiar isn’t it?
Foreigner status was not bad enough; but no we wanted more; and we made them feel as “refugees”. Yes most of them perhaps are “refugees”, but did we need to make them feel as such? Did we have to drive them into an open space area, on the side of Rifle Ridge Road in Glenvista in Johannesburg? Even then we didn’t want them and still don’t want them. Did we have to drive them from Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses and shacks (from our informal settlements) to plastic material made tents where they sleep on the floor with only one thin blanket per person in the cold winter season; and oh, in the open field at a steep area where the winter winds will blow directly through them and their plastic material tents that have holes?
We still have the guts to say that they’ve received five star treatment from our government. We complain and say that they receive food from our South African government; if only we knew that they receive six slices of brown bread and soup with hardly any fat in it, oranges as well as juice only twice for some of them once a day. This of course if after we fed them poisonous food so that some of them would be ill for a week.
We cry and say the government should now lower the prices of food, fair enough I guess. How about we also demand better living conditions for the people that enjoy only the legacy of peace we have in our country, how about we demand light inside their tents, more blankets, better meals, or perhaps even three meals a day; I’m sure you can think about the treatment you would like in a country to which you would flee for refuge in a time of war in your own country.
Did we have to hit them, cause open wounds in the faces of their children with tears streaming down their faces and blood dripping from their children’s mouths; and still put such pictures on the front page of our newspapers with motives of making huge profits apart from just reporting the incidents?
Did we have to drive them to an area where they spend days looking at the winter sun most of them with only the clothes they have on their backs, because we’ve taken most of their possessions when we chased them from our communities, took some of what we coveted of theirs and destroyed what we considered as junk; and what we couldn’t take from them? We denied their children the right to education, we denied the parents and breadwinners a chance to earn a living for their families, and we’ve put out the fire that lighted the future of their children in our country. A mother’s cry goes, “these are my seven children, their father was killed during the war in our country, we decided to come seek refuge in South Africa. These children are doctors, lawyers, scientists”.
We’ve become the monster that they should be fearful of, more so than they should fear the situations that chased them out of their countries. We’ve led them to mentally declare South Africa as a separate part of the African continent. We’ve become the force that led them to put together cardboard pieces and draw the African continent on them, only it’s not the Africa we all know. The continent they drew has South Africa broken off the continent with text, “South Africa must be out” accompanied by statements, South Africa is not part of Africa. We’ve isolated ourselves in our comfort zones; maybe our cries for help as South Africans should deafen the world’s ears.
We’ve forgotten what “Ubuntu” (humanity) realy is, we’ve made statements “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” (a person is because of people), only thing is we don’t live up to these statements, they are just lip service.
Let’s not forget where we come from, let’s not forget that some of these nation whose people we’re persecuting are the ones whose ancestors housed some of our leaders in exile, and contributed to our liberal and democratic South Africa. Let’s treat our fellow African brothers and sisters as we would like to be treated if we were in a situation they are in. Consider this; it could be you in another place in another lifetime. Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. Be a Good South African!
Already everything is focused on the many South Africans that will suffer and how they will suffer due to the interest rate hike. That’s fair; one would say; but is it really?
I find it amazing how we as South Africans can displace thousands; we’ve driven hundreds of foreigners maybe even thousands out of our country, their place of refuge and safety and killed tens of our fellow African brothers and sisters. We’ve driven them out of our townships like spoilt children that don’t share toys, we’ve gathered all our possessions (freedom, economic strength, independence, peace, safety, world relations), I could go on; all for ourselves simply to store these and do nothing with them. I make mention of toys because seemingly we hardly, if anything, make use of these possessions; instead we fight amongst ourselves, neglect development projects and diverse options that the government has put in place for us; all of course in the aim of development and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE), Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA) and any other project and involvement that the government has at the present moment for the South African citizen.
We cried and said that the so called “foreigners” are taking away our jobs; by the way, these are the jobs we won’t take up in our country but would gladly take up in other “better” countries. You know, grin and bear it; kind’a familiar isn’t it?
Foreigner status was not bad enough; but no we wanted more; and we made them feel as “refugees”. Yes most of them perhaps are “refugees”, but did we need to make them feel as such? Did we have to drive them into an open space area, on the side of Rifle Ridge Road in Glenvista in Johannesburg? Even then we didn’t want them and still don’t want them. Did we have to drive them from Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses and shacks (from our informal settlements) to plastic material made tents where they sleep on the floor with only one thin blanket per person in the cold winter season; and oh, in the open field at a steep area where the winter winds will blow directly through them and their plastic material tents that have holes?
We still have the guts to say that they’ve received five star treatment from our government. We complain and say that they receive food from our South African government; if only we knew that they receive six slices of brown bread and soup with hardly any fat in it, oranges as well as juice only twice for some of them once a day. This of course if after we fed them poisonous food so that some of them would be ill for a week.
We cry and say the government should now lower the prices of food, fair enough I guess. How about we also demand better living conditions for the people that enjoy only the legacy of peace we have in our country, how about we demand light inside their tents, more blankets, better meals, or perhaps even three meals a day; I’m sure you can think about the treatment you would like in a country to which you would flee for refuge in a time of war in your own country.
Did we have to hit them, cause open wounds in the faces of their children with tears streaming down their faces and blood dripping from their children’s mouths; and still put such pictures on the front page of our newspapers with motives of making huge profits apart from just reporting the incidents?
Did we have to drive them to an area where they spend days looking at the winter sun most of them with only the clothes they have on their backs, because we’ve taken most of their possessions when we chased them from our communities, took some of what we coveted of theirs and destroyed what we considered as junk; and what we couldn’t take from them? We denied their children the right to education, we denied the parents and breadwinners a chance to earn a living for their families, and we’ve put out the fire that lighted the future of their children in our country. A mother’s cry goes, “these are my seven children, their father was killed during the war in our country, we decided to come seek refuge in South Africa. These children are doctors, lawyers, scientists”.
We’ve become the monster that they should be fearful of, more so than they should fear the situations that chased them out of their countries. We’ve led them to mentally declare South Africa as a separate part of the African continent. We’ve become the force that led them to put together cardboard pieces and draw the African continent on them, only it’s not the Africa we all know. The continent they drew has South Africa broken off the continent with text, “South Africa must be out” accompanied by statements, South Africa is not part of Africa. We’ve isolated ourselves in our comfort zones; maybe our cries for help as South Africans should deafen the world’s ears.
We’ve forgotten what “Ubuntu” (humanity) realy is, we’ve made statements “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” (a person is because of people), only thing is we don’t live up to these statements, they are just lip service.
Let’s not forget where we come from, let’s not forget that some of these nation whose people we’re persecuting are the ones whose ancestors housed some of our leaders in exile, and contributed to our liberal and democratic South Africa. Let’s treat our fellow African brothers and sisters as we would like to be treated if we were in a situation they are in. Consider this; it could be you in another place in another lifetime. Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. Be a Good South African!
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