Editor's Column...
Editor's Blog
Say No To Xenophobia! It is a privilege and an honour that today I have been given the chance to contribute to this column. It's very big shoes to fill as the likes of Peter du Toit, Clint Roper and Vuyani Joni use this column to give a voice to the paper on issues important to the readers of Soccer Laduma. So when I was asked to take this column and write about the xenophobia attacks that are happening in the country, I was moved and also excited at the same time. Excited might seem like a strange feeling considering what has been happening, but the excitement was because, while many South Africans have been speaking out against xenophobia and condemning it from podiums, and in interviews on TV, on radio and in newspapers, not many foreigners in this country have been given a platform as powerful as the Soccer Laduma editor's column to say something on the subject. So I say thank you for letting me shed some light on how we, as foreigners, feel. I was born in Malawi to a Malawian father and a South African mother. At age 13 my family and I moved to Swaziland where I lived for a number of years before coming to South Africa. I am truly a son of Africa. As I write this column, I am an African in South Africa trying to make an honest living, just like any of you reading this right now. I became a journalist in 1993. It hasn't been easy and I have had to work hard to establish myself. On the 8th of February 2009 I got a call from Soccer Laduma. You don't forget when, as a journalist, you get a call from this publication. It was Clint Roper. He had phoned to ask if I could get an interview with Tinashe Nengomasha. A week later I sent him the Nengomasha interview, as well as an interview with Isaac Chansa who was on his way back to Pirates from Sweden. (The irony of a Malawian conducting interviews with a Zimbabwean footballer and a Zambian footballer for a South African audience is not lost on me.) As a Soccer writer who has done some travelling on the continent, I know how many foreigners support South African clubs like Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates. I have to wonder if a foreigner pulled on a jersey of one of those teams and sat in the stadium next to you this weekend, would they be accepted as brothers and sisters? For many of us Africans, soccer is our passion, our joy, our momentary escape from the harsh realities of everyday life. But this xenophobia robs us of everything – our dignity, our safety, our livelihood… even our football! We are all supposed to live together in peace, love and harmony. Think of a foreign Chiefs supporter being attacked by a local Chiefs supporter, yet the team's slogan is 'Love and Peace'. What happened to 'Once a Pirate, always a Pirate'? You may say it doesn't happen, but look carefully at the news next time and see how many of the mob is wearing South African soccer jerseys. Now tell me if soccer clubs can't play a bigger role in solving this problem and spread the gospel of love and peace. I understand there may be frustrations in some quarters. Even though this country has been free for a long time, there are still many people who have not seen any change to their situation in life. There are people who struggle to find work, who struggle for an education and who live in poor conditions, but I don't think this can be blamed on foreigners. For many of us who come here looking to work, we have even worse situations to deal with simply because we are foreign. Attacking each other will not solve any problem. You may say that this is not a soccer problem and that soccer players are not being targeted, but some of the foreign players in different teams in the PSL have family members who live here. How must they feel when their relatives are attacked? What happens when they lose a mother, a father, an uncle, a brother or a sister to xenophobia? Players like Willard Katsande, Khama Billiat and Cuthbert Malajila, to mention but a few, make football supporters happy week in and week out while their brothers from Zimbabwe are being attacked. There are relationships that have been formed due to marriages between locals and people born in other countries. How can you mistreat your own sbalis (in-laws)? I am one of those foreigners. I am legally working in South Africa. I am married to a South African and have children who are rightfully South Africans. If fathers like me are attacked and in a moment of madness killed, who will take care of my children and my wife? Who will take care of the children and wives or husbands of those who have already been killed? People have pointed fingers at the Zulus. I don't think that is fair or true. I say this because I personally have close, friends like Themba Zondo and Mdu Mavuso – taxi drivers who pride themselves on being true Zulus, South Africans and Africans at heart – who have condemned these xenophobic attacks on foreigners. They understand that we are brothers and sisters with the same roots. There are people from Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi who are direct descendants of King Shaka the Great, and, if you attack them, are you not attacking your own people? Yes, I know at times there will be foreigners living illegally in your country because of circumstance. For example when there was war in Mozambique, the refugees ran to Swaziland and were camped together. It was the same case with Liberians who sought refuge in Ghana. But let's not forget the ANC freedom fighters that stayed in camps in Swaziland and Zambia. In times like these people need a helping hand, not one with a knife or knobkerrie in it. If any government understands this it should be the South African government. We all know that Africa is one. It is only divided in the most part by the artificial boundaries which our colonial masters put in place. Without those boundaries, our forefathers moved freely between African lands. The spirit of ubuntu (human-ness) prevailed. To quote the first Prime Minister of a free Ghana, Kwame Nkuruma, "We are not Africans because we were born in Africa. We are Africans because Africa was born in us." Unite Africa, Unite South Africa… please, say no to xenophobia. Benjamin Nyirenda Soccer Laduma contributor
