I don’t like the idea of “nationalism”, it sounds divisive and exclusive, but on days like Freedom Day I secretly wish I could hold a more legitimate claim to this country, which has adopted me. In thinking about this, a poem I came across on Facebook recently comes to mind. It is entitled “Diaspora Blues” […]
foreigner
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
Xenophobia shatters the united Africa dream
By Unene Gregory Last Thursday morning, which was unseasonably sunny for a UK morning in early Spring, I switched on my work computer and began catching up on the latest SA news. I came across a YouTube news video about the current affairs of the state which made me increasingly anxious the longer I watched […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Listen to immigrant stories
By Anthea Paelo An Eyewitness News’ headline caught my eye the other day, “Zim home affairs call deportations ‘inhumane’”. Being a foreign national myself, I’m drawn to news articles like this but with the careless disregard of a person confident of their legal status in the country. This changed one weekend last month. It was […]
Posted inEquality, General
Five years on and no closer to solving xenophobic hatred
By Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh May marks five years since the xenophobic attacks that shocked the nation. But what has happened since then? Are we better prepared to deal with criminality of that scale than we were five years ago? The simple answer is no. South Africa — in its 19 year democratic history — had never […]
Posted inLifestyle
‘Eish, you’re not South African’
By Cano Ssemakalu It can be tough being a foreigner in South Africa, even if you are here legally. I have lived here for seven years now, during which I’ve been treated like a South African by the very generous government and its people. But my grievance is with the corporations in the private sector […]