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On this day of celebration of “Freedom” day in South Africa, while the country is decorated in colorful venues hosting different events and meetings to mark this precious day for the South African nation, as a foreign national child locked up in a refugee camp, I wonder as to what the real meaning of freedom is? Someone told me freedom is by definition:
[The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. Right to, entitlement to…]
The other thing I learned from this wise person is that as far as freedom is concerned, where ones’ freedom ends is always the beginning of another person’s freedom.
While the South African government is fighting hard to rescue their diplomatic relationships and defending the image of their beloved country, we are locked here in a small white tent, pitched on the south coast of Kwazulu Natal mourning, suffering and remembering our fellow brothers and sisters who were stubbed, tortured and burned to death. Our small businesses were looted, ourselves hopelessly displaced and here we found ourselves in these tents erected by good Samaritans.
It puzzles me to see South African government calling the recalling of Nigerian ambassador back home an “unfortunate” reaction and saying they do not know for what reasons and what purpose is Nigerian government doing that as if they ignore the consequences that would follow due to the current acts of xenophobia being perpetrated to fellow Africans and other international migrants in the country. It doesn’t matter if those who have been doing this are a very molecular portion in the country, the fact is that it has been being done (xenophobic attacks)… before even the waves of 2008 where more than 62 people were brutally killed.
All the lootings and petro-bombing of human beings, are all passing through the eyes of the world and yet the South African government is asking why is Chine, UK, Australia, Sweden and other major economies issuing travel warning to their citizens travelling to and/or staying in South Africa? South African government is busy fighting and/or reprimanding a journalist who captured on his camera the brutal murder of “Emmanuel Sithole” and publishing the images saying this is negative journalism – isn’t because of those images that the so called suspects were nabbed in such a short period of time? And the world watched. Yes it did, and that is why they are warning their loved ones.
The scenes that have been making round on international and national media are those seen only in countries that are torn by civil wars and ethnic conflicts – not a much publicised peaceful “Rainbow” nation that is believed to be the South African nation. In a constitutional democracy such as this, scenes of mobs, communities raging wars on a weak small group of community? And officials are still fighting, locked in debates to find real terms and/or words to call these incidents – “Xenophobia? No, criminal elements… Weighing in which terminology does not carry much weight that will make us look bad and jeopardize our economic interests on the continent and around the world. We see different government’s departments’ spokespersons changing channels in interviews and trying to glass-wash the images of the country, even by doing so ending up contradicting themselves so many times and in so many ways, because the truth can never swept under the carpet. One Congolese musician sang: “You can never hide the lamp beneath a bed”. Of course light will come out and everyone will definitely see there is a lamp und the bed.
On this day of freedom day in South Africa where we supposed to be coming out all of us and embracing each other celebrating while singing the praises of our fore leaders who fought to give us much needed freedoms on the continent in general, as a refugee child, I am hiding here in a tent not knowing if I should send my schoolmate a message of celebration or I should not. This culture has been going on for sometimes when my friends in school will celebrate with me when it is our country’s Independence Day and the same for me when they celebrate this day here I used to congratulate and celebrate with them. But today is a very different day. What do I do?
South African government when glass-washing the image their country they are telling us to start going back to the communities we were living in before – this is good news for me, but wait a minute? How do we go there? I heard when the King was entering the stadium when he came to appease the situation, his “amabhuto” were still calling for us foreign nationals to leave – “please we want them to leave in peace”. The government in this time of tribulation one big offer they made to us was that of helping those willing to leave – they offered to facilitate repatriation. Wait a minute, isn’t this the call by the people who were attacking us that they want us to leave in peace? Oh government facilitating us to leave – meaning responding to the call by its people. Of course they are its people and it is said: “the big fish in your plate first – literally your own people first”. The grievances of local can always come first – that we cannot dispute and their grievances are that we leave their country – hence the government facilitating us to leave.
Now the other forgotten issue here is that of my friend in grade 10 – her mother is a South African citizen and her father a foreign national like my father. They are not in a camp like us, but she sent me the message that her mother says they are not going anywhere – but on the street her father is being hunted. He wants to take his family out of the country, but the mother who is South African does not want them to leave and is pleading that her husband is going nowhere. My concern here is that my friend’s mother doesn’t understand that she is married to this foreign man and they need to leave all as a family as this man is to leave with his family because they are being chased? Or is she scared that this man can turn on her while across the borders in revenge to what had happened to him and his fellow back in South Africa? Is this another war that is awaiting foreign nationals married to South African citizen regardless of gender, after the actual Xenophobia has been brought down? It has been made clear during the attacks that all those South African citizens who are married and/or involved to foreign national (regardless of gender) were also going to be sent packing with their partners. Because local men were the most active in these attacks so it was perceived that only South African women fell victims of these actions – some were beaten. Time will tell, am sure whoever triggered these sentiments in the people somewhere somehow – if only is a human being, is feeling the heat of his/her deeds.
Oh, it is still “freedom” day in South Africa, and the day is so long… however the reality is that I am still in this tent as a child refugee and waiting to receive my daily soup and slice of bread from the good hearted people who devoted to help us. Yes, I understand that all South African are not xenophobic sure because I myself have friends from our school who do not even understand what it means: Xenophobia. But the South African government in my small views of a child refugee; needs to be reprimanded on the international community. South Africa has demonstrated (deliberate) lack of leadership in dealing with these incidents since the eruption of 2008 to the actual ones. There are so many breaks in local systems and this has affected innocent lives like the Ethiopians burned alive in their container shop, Mozambican man stabbed in the eyes of the world, and the DR Congo man petro-bombed in the mix of the public. The government response of announcing to facilitate the return of foreign nationals in their countries is the most unfortunate one. In Lindela, the transit camp where undocumented migrants always kept while awaiting deportation or repatriation. People spend more time than the time a criminal would spend in a prison after sentencing. We have seen Human Right Commission being brought to picture to investigate the situation in this detention camp where human right abuse by officials is being reported every day and only when international community and media started to get concerned that the minister of Home Affairs went to visit and disguising himself as a servant being filmed serving food to the detainees so they can show the world that the report were not true. If the government has never been able to repatriate on time those in waiting in Lindela, how are they so able to confidently announce that they will facilitate the return of foreign nationals, victims of these ignoble acts of Xenophobia and quickly? BECAUSE THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN – sorry I was not meant to mingle in your home politics. Excuse my unfortunate line above. The people have spoken, they have made it clear and now the government is able to repatriate the foreign nationals while people are dying in Lindela because of lack of sufficient treatment and government not even able to just send them home. Some even went there voluntarily seeking being sent home, but they spend a life time waiting.
To my dear South African friends and families – I cannot let this “unfortunate” situation take a way my will to wish you a very good freedom day celebration. May you continue to be free and free indeed you may stay because it is a PRECIOUS GIFT - FREEDOM.
Disclaimer: the author here expresses the views of his yet to be born child. He writes in a way he/she would feel would he/she have experienced the current situation that his/her father is experiencing now.
