Opinion / Columnist
You can leave the ghetto, but you can't remove the ghetto inside - Same with apartheid
17 Sep 2025 at 16:26hrs | 363 Views
Apartheid is no longer a legal system, but it remains deeply embedded in the psyche of South Africans - black and white. Black South Africans loathe black foreigners with the same intensity that white South Africans once loathed black Africans. Apartheid has become an internalised badge of honour. Today, black South Africans occupy a niche that replaces their former position at the bottom of the social hierarchy.
Before independence, the demographic hierarchy was clear: first came white Afrikaners, then Indians (thanks to Indira Gandhi - pun intended), followed by coloured populations, and finally the black majority. For centuries, blacks were the last, the despised, hunted down like criminals for lacking IDs, spat at, and shot if they rebelled.
South Africa became independent in 1994. The pendulum shifted - but quickly settled back into a familiar rhythm. A replacement was needed to stabilize the norms of the past. Black African foreigners filled the void perfectly. Reasons to hate them are easy to find: they take jobs, crowd clinics and schools, and fill the ghettos. Black South Africans became recipients of unemployment benefits and preferred them over menial jobs - the first African country to enjoy such social welfare.
Black South Africans are lighter-skinned and considered more beautiful than Africans north of the Limpopo. What makes them think they are better? The list is long. Compounded by ignorance, South African history books have serious gaps. Do South Africans know that the 54 African states are colonial constructs, designed to divide and control?
Captain Ibrahim Traoré and others in the Sahel are dismantling colonialism - something Nelson Mandela never managed to do. What a waste of 27 years on Robben Island. Mandela's legacy gave black South Africans the right to vote - but only for presidents who protect white capital. The irony is painful.
Only 0.09% of black South Africans manage meaningful businesses. The middle class is thin. The rest live in squat and squalor. They are collectively frustrated but cannot pinpoint the source of their political, economic, and social demise. Crime is rampant - on par with New York. Rape, daylight robberies, unexplained murders. South Africa ranks next to America in social instability.
Black African foreigners are not the cause of this breakdown. They've simply adapted to survive. They learn the modus operandi quickly. They become part of the chaos - not its origin.
In contrast, Zimbabwe's path to independence was better chartered. At least Zimbabweans have land.
So what constitutes freedom in South Africa if capital remains in the hands of white globalists? A black president manages globalist interests, not the upliftment of black people. Zuma and Ramaphosa are corrupt - not because they control capital, but because they don't. The magnitude of corruption is staggering. The Phala Phala case is still pending. Zuma was imprisoned for corruption. Ramaphosa won't be prosecuted - he's protected by internal and external powers.
South Africa calls itself independent because blacks can vote. But the ballot is the only power they hold. Nothing meaningful has been done to uplift the black majority.
If black South Africans were politically, economically, and historically educated, they'd know their problem isn't black foreigners living on the fringes of the economy. The real issue is the total lack of economic freedom. The ANC elite slept through the transformation of 1994. Mandela's ANC was short-changed. Cadres who could have transformed South Africa were mysteriously murdered on their way home from exile. One of them was Comrade Thembisile Chris Hani. Who murdered Chris Hani? That's a story for another day.
Fast forward: the title of this article speaks to a person removed from the ghetto but still carrying the ghetto inside. It's staggering how South African women still use skin-lightening creams and wear Indian hair to enhance beauty. This nation is newly born, yet bears the scars of apartheid. A new South Africa should have consciously rejected colonial aesthetics. Instead, it embraces them - because they offer a new identity. Whiteness is better, but it must not be spoken - only performed.
Black skin is seen as wrong. Long, straight hair is seen as superior. A woman who denies her identity sends a message: blackness is inferior. Why is black hair so aggressively rejected? Indian wigs are preferred. When their skin is light and their hair long, they feel they've arrived - closer to white South African women. Not quite equal, but nearer.
Ask them about identity crisis, and they'll deny it. They don't recognize the internalized coloniality. Apartheid may be gone, but its psychological imprint remains intact. It will take generations to undo what was internalized for centuries.
South Africa is riddled with contradictions - social, economic, political. Many don't comprehend these contradictions. They vent their pain on black African foreigners, who occupy the same spaces of poverty and destitution. They push their anger outward, blaming the presence of others in humble living spaces.
But even if all black African foreigners were deported, South Africa's social ills would remain. The ANC's political, social, and economic failures run deeper than xenophobic violence. Operation Dudula's gruesome murders - burning people alive to frighten others into leaving - will not solve anything.
SEO Keywords (no spaces after commas)
Primary Keywords: South Africa apartheid legacy,black South African identity crisis,Operation Dudula violence,ANC government failure,Chris Hani assassination,South African xenophobia,colonial mindset South Africa,black African foreigners,Phala Phala scandal,South African social crisis
Before independence, the demographic hierarchy was clear: first came white Afrikaners, then Indians (thanks to Indira Gandhi - pun intended), followed by coloured populations, and finally the black majority. For centuries, blacks were the last, the despised, hunted down like criminals for lacking IDs, spat at, and shot if they rebelled.
South Africa became independent in 1994. The pendulum shifted - but quickly settled back into a familiar rhythm. A replacement was needed to stabilize the norms of the past. Black African foreigners filled the void perfectly. Reasons to hate them are easy to find: they take jobs, crowd clinics and schools, and fill the ghettos. Black South Africans became recipients of unemployment benefits and preferred them over menial jobs - the first African country to enjoy such social welfare.
Black South Africans are lighter-skinned and considered more beautiful than Africans north of the Limpopo. What makes them think they are better? The list is long. Compounded by ignorance, South African history books have serious gaps. Do South Africans know that the 54 African states are colonial constructs, designed to divide and control?
Captain Ibrahim Traoré and others in the Sahel are dismantling colonialism - something Nelson Mandela never managed to do. What a waste of 27 years on Robben Island. Mandela's legacy gave black South Africans the right to vote - but only for presidents who protect white capital. The irony is painful.
Only 0.09% of black South Africans manage meaningful businesses. The middle class is thin. The rest live in squat and squalor. They are collectively frustrated but cannot pinpoint the source of their political, economic, and social demise. Crime is rampant - on par with New York. Rape, daylight robberies, unexplained murders. South Africa ranks next to America in social instability.
Black African foreigners are not the cause of this breakdown. They've simply adapted to survive. They learn the modus operandi quickly. They become part of the chaos - not its origin.
In contrast, Zimbabwe's path to independence was better chartered. At least Zimbabweans have land.
So what constitutes freedom in South Africa if capital remains in the hands of white globalists? A black president manages globalist interests, not the upliftment of black people. Zuma and Ramaphosa are corrupt - not because they control capital, but because they don't. The magnitude of corruption is staggering. The Phala Phala case is still pending. Zuma was imprisoned for corruption. Ramaphosa won't be prosecuted - he's protected by internal and external powers.
South Africa calls itself independent because blacks can vote. But the ballot is the only power they hold. Nothing meaningful has been done to uplift the black majority.
If black South Africans were politically, economically, and historically educated, they'd know their problem isn't black foreigners living on the fringes of the economy. The real issue is the total lack of economic freedom. The ANC elite slept through the transformation of 1994. Mandela's ANC was short-changed. Cadres who could have transformed South Africa were mysteriously murdered on their way home from exile. One of them was Comrade Thembisile Chris Hani. Who murdered Chris Hani? That's a story for another day.
Fast forward: the title of this article speaks to a person removed from the ghetto but still carrying the ghetto inside. It's staggering how South African women still use skin-lightening creams and wear Indian hair to enhance beauty. This nation is newly born, yet bears the scars of apartheid. A new South Africa should have consciously rejected colonial aesthetics. Instead, it embraces them - because they offer a new identity. Whiteness is better, but it must not be spoken - only performed.
Black skin is seen as wrong. Long, straight hair is seen as superior. A woman who denies her identity sends a message: blackness is inferior. Why is black hair so aggressively rejected? Indian wigs are preferred. When their skin is light and their hair long, they feel they've arrived - closer to white South African women. Not quite equal, but nearer.
Ask them about identity crisis, and they'll deny it. They don't recognize the internalized coloniality. Apartheid may be gone, but its psychological imprint remains intact. It will take generations to undo what was internalized for centuries.
South Africa is riddled with contradictions - social, economic, political. Many don't comprehend these contradictions. They vent their pain on black African foreigners, who occupy the same spaces of poverty and destitution. They push their anger outward, blaming the presence of others in humble living spaces.
But even if all black African foreigners were deported, South Africa's social ills would remain. The ANC's political, social, and economic failures run deeper than xenophobic violence. Operation Dudula's gruesome murders - burning people alive to frighten others into leaving - will not solve anything.
SEO Keywords (no spaces after commas)
Primary Keywords: South Africa apartheid legacy,black South African identity crisis,Operation Dudula violence,ANC government failure,Chris Hani assassination,South African xenophobia,colonial mindset South Africa,black African foreigners,Phala Phala scandal,South African social crisis
Source - Nomazulu Thata
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