I am a South African and I refuse to be ashamed

Of course we cannot feel pride for what we witnessed in Alexandra in the last couple of weeks. Hanging our heads in shame and writing lamentations will not change what has happened. We could express our dissatisfaction at what appeared to be a lack of leadership. We could even say that Thabo Mbeki spoke up too late. But the real problem are those who among us have sat quietly while they heard people call foreigners names, accusing them of blanket stereotypes. Our silence allowed for this wave of violence.

We are all to blame.

The best thing that could have happened to South Africa are these xenophobic attacks. In fact, I can name a few other crises that we face that could be good for the nation. Electricity cuts, crime, murder, possible water shortages, skills shortages, emigration, the racial attacks such as the ones we experienced at the Free State University. These are just some of the great obstacles we are facing us as a nation. And I think that it is fantastic. In case most think that this is a rather lame attempt at sarcasm, I assure you, it is not. I am being very serious because we need to wake up.

This is an opportunity for us to stand up together and tackle the difficulties we have put ourselves in. To blame external forces would allow us to relinquish our control over what we can do to overcome. It is precisely because Mugabe abdicated responsibility for the land mess in Zimbabwe that that nation is now on life support. It is true that Britain reneged on certain agreements, but the moment Mugabe gave up his right to control the destiny of his nation was the beginning of his own end, unfortunately he took the rest of his country with him to hell. Zimbabwe will be resurrected from the ashes. The same cannot be said of Mugabe. He has a special place with the scumbags of history. But I digress. I am discussing our country.

What will it take for us to realise that we need to stand as one in order to solve the problems that we face as a nation? These obstacles ought to make us realise that we are not marching in the right direction. The people of this nation have a choice to make: Are we going to fold our arms and say it is all downhill from here or are we going to change the course of the nation? We have changed the course of history before; there is no reason to believe that it cannot be done again. In order for us to be a great nation we need to have obstacles. We will be overcome or we shall overcome. The choice is ours. Whether we want to be great or not is up to us.

We are a nation of different people who have forgotten that they have common goals. We want to see a prosperous South Africa, a nation we can be proud of. We all want to see the end of shacks, power cuts, crime and so forth. These are the basic goals we have as a nation. Unfortunately there is no one at the top to lead us towards that goal.

When people from the rest of Africa come to South Africa they see a land of opportunity and prosperity. There are groups from other continents who share the same sentiments about our country as these fellow Africans. Perhaps we ought to see what they see. Opportunity and endless possibility. Some of the most prosperous and mighty nations that have ever existed have dominated pages upon pages of history precisely because they embraced the foreigner. The Romans, the Greeks, the Egyptians, even the Americans. The US has grown on the backs of immigrants.

We maybe different but we are one man.

Thus I have to point out that before I am Dlanga of the Madiba clan, a son of the Xhosa tribe, a South African or even an African — I am a human being. My humanness should and must take precedent over any thing that tempts me to identify myself as anything else. I belong to my fellow man. Thus every man is my responsibility. And that makes me every man’s responsibility. Yes, this is naïve talk to many. But I see it as what could be.

While today we see foreigners being killed and being driven out of their homes, tomorrow it maybe be Zulus or Xhosas or Tswanas or any of the other tribes in this country. The longer we allow it to fester, the worse our future will be. Many commentators have said that already. There is nothing new there.

We are one people joined together by the common struggles of our beloved continent. Many of these fellow Africans have fled their homes in their countries, now they have had to run from their homes in South Africa. They too, like us are hungry. The sooner we realise that there is more than enough to go around for everybody, the better.

I believe in a South Africa whose freedom was born out of the generosity of people’s of many nations.

I believe in a South Africa that does not return kindness with cruelty.

I believe in a South Africa that embraces all peoples. From all nations.

I believe in a South Africa that does not take advantage of the weak, those who have nowhere else to turn.

I believe in a South Africa that does not abuse the defenceless.

I believe in a South Africa that does not silence the voices of the voiceless.

I believe in a generous South Africa.

Understandably, one can say that all these things are nice and easy for me to say, especially since I have a nice job, a roof over my head and am assured to have at least three decent meals a day. But what about those people who have to struggle to survive? What about those who have to compete with cheap foreign labour? I am convinced that they too believe in the same South Africa that I believe in. Especially if we suddenly had to flee to the nations of the very people we have so ill-treated.

This country that I live in cannot be judged by the acts of a few. In fact, even if the majority was unkind, I would still urge people not to judge this nation by it’s majority, because even then, there would be a few good South Africans, and I would urge anyone to judge us by those few good ones. However, I know that is not necessary. The good far outnumber the bad.

There are far more sensible, generous South Africans than not.

This is why I refuse to be ashamed. I am a South African.