EDITORIAL: Stop xenophobic attacks – Daily Nation

hat the monster of xenophobic attacks has reared its ugly head — again — in South Africa, hardly a year since the last incident, is regrettable and must be condemned by all.

Massive unemployment and an unconscionable wealth gap are by no means exclusive to South Africa. There can, therefore, never be a justification for South African blacks to routinely mete out terror on black immigrants, ostensibly for taking up their jobs.

Immigrants have been known to greatly enrich their new homes and their contribution to the South African economy cannot be gainsaid. South Africans should not delude themselves that if “Makwerekwere” — as they pejoratively refer to black immigrants — were uprooted, their country would be an economic nirvana.

When South Africa was in the throes of the grossly inhumane apartheid rule, virtually every African state lent a hand — from offering asylum to South Africans to supplying weapons (then considered illegal) and taking a common stand against apartheid at the United Nations.

And when the ‘Rainbow Nation’ finally attained a majority rule in 1994 following the release of Nelson Mandela from 27 years of incarceration in 1990, Africa jubilated.

That other nationalities from the rest of Africa are today the undesirables in the eyes of the black South African is outrageous.

To their credit, the African countries whose nationals have been subjected to the xenophobic attacks have always acted with admirable restraint.

The natural response would be to retaliate in equal measure, a scenario that would leave the entire continent worse off.

What with the massive South African investments and the former’s sizeable diaspora population in the rest of Africa?

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government, though preoccupied with winning a re-election on May 8, must unequivocally condemn the xenophobia and deal ruthlessly with the attackers.