Opinion / Columnist
I am Emmanuel Sithole too, a migrant worker, do I deserve to die too?
23 Apr 2015 at 17:53hrs | Views
The second letter to the workers of Zimbabwe 1st May 2015, Izisebenzi/Vashandi
How are we going to sing those workers' songs on the 1st of May with tears on our faces? (Impondo nge hola imali mayibuye) A minute silence to those foreign migrant workers in South Africa that have lost their lives in the hands of their own African brothers and sisters: the black South Africans, south of us.
The lethal acts of xenophobia in April 2015, the criminal acts against foreigners in South Africa come with the recognition and celebration of the workers' day, the first of May 2015. As Zimbabweans we shall reflect how all has come to this! Who, in our maddest senses thought we Zimbabweans will be called lice by the people we thought were our brothers and sisters in the revolution, Pan Africans? We are witnessing the grand exodus of women, men and children from South Africa, back to Zimbabwe in buses, going back home. All ethnic societies, be it Ndebele, Shona and many other citizens of other SADC countries and beyond, were affected in this godless acts, non-human but cold, below the pale.
The death of Emanuel Sithole, a migrant from Mozambique leaves the whole world shell-shocked and cold. The respective countries have to make arrangements to remove their citizens from Durban to find their dignity in their own countries it does not matter how bad the country of origin is, economically. It is mostly surprising that the South African government did not prevent the exodus of the repatriations of migrant workers at all giving the impression that they are in fervor of the exodus of migrant Zimbabweans from South Africa, inherently condoning it.
Somehow President Zuma was telling them to go, (and come back?) In hindsight, listening to his visit speech at a rescue camp, it is compelling to assume that the government of South Africa is condoning the xenophobia. It is my uttermost speculation to say that while the son of Jacob Zuma, Edward Zuma openly provoked raw xenophobic sentiments so that the country reacts to it, the father was to then seen to be against xenophobic violence, but the damage is already irreversibly done.
How irresponsible and insensitive are the ministers in the South African government are they to utter xenophobic speeches so casually without any thought of the cost effects of their sayings? Thousands of migrant Zimbabwean workers are leaving for Zimbabwe, do the means not justify the ends? This exercise will take years and there will be loss of life in the process. Which of the two governments care?
Pan Africanism has to be redefined to suite the current situations prevailing in the continent. South Africans have proven without all doubt that you want to be removed from the rest of Africa and be yourselves with the global development markets, and the global economic prosperity. South Africans would rather they are not part of the geo-politics of SADC and AU.
There is another form of Apartheid manifesting itself in South Africa that characterizes separation of one nation from the other nations within the continent. Firstly they will be called names, remove lice in our midst. Before they start killing the foreigners, the foreigners will have to be dehumanized by their supposedly brothers and sisters and be called lice to justify the killing. It is the lice they are killing and not human beings. When scholars talk about the beginning of genocide in South Africa, it's not farfetched but eminent.
To witness the faces of the women, men and children in buses, repatriation route Zimbabwe, going back to Zimbabwe, it was the most shocking sight ever, most moving, the most degrading scenes and sights of emotionally humiliated women and children with their blank faces anticipating the most difficult future ahead of them, ironically they ran away from it.
'They were in buses being repatriated back to Zimbabwe, a place they deserted because of economic hardships. Now they are going back to square one, Zimbabwe. This reminded me of the moving pictures one sees in World War I and II museums of German Jews repatriated from Germany and other countries to various places either to exterminate or sent to other places in the west for safety.
Did the world not say NEVER AGAIN a repeat of such horror after the atrocities of the two world wars and the subsequent suffering of millions of peoples in Europe? Why is history repeating itself in South Africa? Why is the west so quiet about this horrendous history of southern Africa unfolding? Is it because the black is butchering another black? Are they waiting for the moment the blacks start attacking the whites, then they will talk and act. Where is Barack Hussein Obama? I thought he was a world leader, with his African routes, what is he saying?
"How cant's thou lie asleep?"
This exodus of peoples of southern cone of Africa will destabilize the entire SADC. When the South African government condones xenophobia it is at the same time creating a time bomb in the region and it will be challenging to extinguish ethnic tensions triggered by the movement of economic desperate peoples. King Zwelithini of Zululand will live to regret his words he uttered regarding xenophobia. Hungry stomachs will rearrange, regroup the regional order and dictate it, in southern cone of Africa and his kingdom will not be exonerated.
Again it is not the fault of the foreigners that there is massive unemployment and poor social services in most townships of South Africa. South Africans, the blacks were cheated left right and centre in the economic negotiations towards South African independence and they cannot undo the cheating done to them anymore.
We are concentrating mostly on South Africa, fearing to take a minute thought about the deaths that have happened, concurrent to South Africa in the Mediterranean Sea. We are not aware of the magnitude and loss of life that has taken place north of us, much worse in number than the people who have actually died in South Africa.
Over a thousand of people have perished in the Mediterranean Sea most of them coming from the African continent in a single month. It is shameful to recognize that the African Union is not doing anything or said anything in this respect. Most of these migrants, who died in the high seas of Libya, were indeed Africans mostly of Arab descent.
Did we hear about an extra ordinary meeting from the African-Arab countries to address the recurring loss of lives in the Mediterranean Sea? What messages are we sending to the world regarding Arab and African lives? Are we saying the loss of lives by drowning of these global citizens is not worth any attention of the respective governments? These global citizens drowned accidentally because they wanted a better life for themselves and their families, seek work in those far-away-places. They were aware of the risk they were taking but they preferred to risk it than to stay in one place with zero perspectives.
Ironically, those countries, the western countries: European countries we insult almost every day as imperialists and neo-colonialist, they have met in Brussels and other main towns and cities to road-map, find solutions to the problems of migrants who are not their immediate responsibility. Those migrants who were lucky enough to be rescued were treated decently, given shelter and food. Is it the case for Zimbabwean returnees? What assistance are they going to get when they arrive in Zimbabwe with that collapsed economy? Is their going back home a dead end scenario?
What makes one despair altogether is the thin veiled key speech and remarks coming from Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the current AU Commission Chairperson recently. What I expected from her was, calling an emergency meeting regarding two incidences affecting Africa at the concurrently: the xenophobic atrocities in South Africa and the loss of life due to the human loaded ships that capsize in the Mediterranean Sea. I did not hear any of that from her resent speech.
I thought Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was a mother? How do you feel as a mother seeing children of other women perishing in the sea every month and for years this has been recurring events? Again if all of us have seen the picture of Emmanuel Sithole being stabbed to death by criminal cabals of South African youth, do we still believe in humanity? If his mother still lives, how does she take it, her most precious person, her son, he had his life come to an abrupt end through such a horrible act? Emmanuel Sithole was a worker looking for that job in South Africa just like me. I am indeed Emmanuel Sithole because I am a migrant worker in a foreign land, Germany.
We give another moment of silence for those potential workers, global citizens who perished in the Mediterranean Sea.
Chirikadzi
Ugogo omncane
Nomazulu Thata
How are we going to sing those workers' songs on the 1st of May with tears on our faces? (Impondo nge hola imali mayibuye) A minute silence to those foreign migrant workers in South Africa that have lost their lives in the hands of their own African brothers and sisters: the black South Africans, south of us.
The lethal acts of xenophobia in April 2015, the criminal acts against foreigners in South Africa come with the recognition and celebration of the workers' day, the first of May 2015. As Zimbabweans we shall reflect how all has come to this! Who, in our maddest senses thought we Zimbabweans will be called lice by the people we thought were our brothers and sisters in the revolution, Pan Africans? We are witnessing the grand exodus of women, men and children from South Africa, back to Zimbabwe in buses, going back home. All ethnic societies, be it Ndebele, Shona and many other citizens of other SADC countries and beyond, were affected in this godless acts, non-human but cold, below the pale.
The death of Emanuel Sithole, a migrant from Mozambique leaves the whole world shell-shocked and cold. The respective countries have to make arrangements to remove their citizens from Durban to find their dignity in their own countries it does not matter how bad the country of origin is, economically. It is mostly surprising that the South African government did not prevent the exodus of the repatriations of migrant workers at all giving the impression that they are in fervor of the exodus of migrant Zimbabweans from South Africa, inherently condoning it.
Somehow President Zuma was telling them to go, (and come back?) In hindsight, listening to his visit speech at a rescue camp, it is compelling to assume that the government of South Africa is condoning the xenophobia. It is my uttermost speculation to say that while the son of Jacob Zuma, Edward Zuma openly provoked raw xenophobic sentiments so that the country reacts to it, the father was to then seen to be against xenophobic violence, but the damage is already irreversibly done.
How irresponsible and insensitive are the ministers in the South African government are they to utter xenophobic speeches so casually without any thought of the cost effects of their sayings? Thousands of migrant Zimbabwean workers are leaving for Zimbabwe, do the means not justify the ends? This exercise will take years and there will be loss of life in the process. Which of the two governments care?
Pan Africanism has to be redefined to suite the current situations prevailing in the continent. South Africans have proven without all doubt that you want to be removed from the rest of Africa and be yourselves with the global development markets, and the global economic prosperity. South Africans would rather they are not part of the geo-politics of SADC and AU.
There is another form of Apartheid manifesting itself in South Africa that characterizes separation of one nation from the other nations within the continent. Firstly they will be called names, remove lice in our midst. Before they start killing the foreigners, the foreigners will have to be dehumanized by their supposedly brothers and sisters and be called lice to justify the killing. It is the lice they are killing and not human beings. When scholars talk about the beginning of genocide in South Africa, it's not farfetched but eminent.
To witness the faces of the women, men and children in buses, repatriation route Zimbabwe, going back to Zimbabwe, it was the most shocking sight ever, most moving, the most degrading scenes and sights of emotionally humiliated women and children with their blank faces anticipating the most difficult future ahead of them, ironically they ran away from it.
'They were in buses being repatriated back to Zimbabwe, a place they deserted because of economic hardships. Now they are going back to square one, Zimbabwe. This reminded me of the moving pictures one sees in World War I and II museums of German Jews repatriated from Germany and other countries to various places either to exterminate or sent to other places in the west for safety.
Did the world not say NEVER AGAIN a repeat of such horror after the atrocities of the two world wars and the subsequent suffering of millions of peoples in Europe? Why is history repeating itself in South Africa? Why is the west so quiet about this horrendous history of southern Africa unfolding? Is it because the black is butchering another black? Are they waiting for the moment the blacks start attacking the whites, then they will talk and act. Where is Barack Hussein Obama? I thought he was a world leader, with his African routes, what is he saying?
"How cant's thou lie asleep?"
This exodus of peoples of southern cone of Africa will destabilize the entire SADC. When the South African government condones xenophobia it is at the same time creating a time bomb in the region and it will be challenging to extinguish ethnic tensions triggered by the movement of economic desperate peoples. King Zwelithini of Zululand will live to regret his words he uttered regarding xenophobia. Hungry stomachs will rearrange, regroup the regional order and dictate it, in southern cone of Africa and his kingdom will not be exonerated.
Again it is not the fault of the foreigners that there is massive unemployment and poor social services in most townships of South Africa. South Africans, the blacks were cheated left right and centre in the economic negotiations towards South African independence and they cannot undo the cheating done to them anymore.
We are concentrating mostly on South Africa, fearing to take a minute thought about the deaths that have happened, concurrent to South Africa in the Mediterranean Sea. We are not aware of the magnitude and loss of life that has taken place north of us, much worse in number than the people who have actually died in South Africa.
Over a thousand of people have perished in the Mediterranean Sea most of them coming from the African continent in a single month. It is shameful to recognize that the African Union is not doing anything or said anything in this respect. Most of these migrants, who died in the high seas of Libya, were indeed Africans mostly of Arab descent.
Did we hear about an extra ordinary meeting from the African-Arab countries to address the recurring loss of lives in the Mediterranean Sea? What messages are we sending to the world regarding Arab and African lives? Are we saying the loss of lives by drowning of these global citizens is not worth any attention of the respective governments? These global citizens drowned accidentally because they wanted a better life for themselves and their families, seek work in those far-away-places. They were aware of the risk they were taking but they preferred to risk it than to stay in one place with zero perspectives.
Ironically, those countries, the western countries: European countries we insult almost every day as imperialists and neo-colonialist, they have met in Brussels and other main towns and cities to road-map, find solutions to the problems of migrants who are not their immediate responsibility. Those migrants who were lucky enough to be rescued were treated decently, given shelter and food. Is it the case for Zimbabwean returnees? What assistance are they going to get when they arrive in Zimbabwe with that collapsed economy? Is their going back home a dead end scenario?
What makes one despair altogether is the thin veiled key speech and remarks coming from Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the current AU Commission Chairperson recently. What I expected from her was, calling an emergency meeting regarding two incidences affecting Africa at the concurrently: the xenophobic atrocities in South Africa and the loss of life due to the human loaded ships that capsize in the Mediterranean Sea. I did not hear any of that from her resent speech.
I thought Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was a mother? How do you feel as a mother seeing children of other women perishing in the sea every month and for years this has been recurring events? Again if all of us have seen the picture of Emmanuel Sithole being stabbed to death by criminal cabals of South African youth, do we still believe in humanity? If his mother still lives, how does she take it, her most precious person, her son, he had his life come to an abrupt end through such a horrible act? Emmanuel Sithole was a worker looking for that job in South Africa just like me. I am indeed Emmanuel Sithole because I am a migrant worker in a foreign land, Germany.
We give another moment of silence for those potential workers, global citizens who perished in the Mediterranean Sea.
Chirikadzi
Ugogo omncane
Nomazulu Thata
Source - Nomazulu Thata
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
