Opinion / Columnist
Trials and tribulations of being a foreigner
2 hrs ago |
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After working hard and earning R200, a mother came home to find a group of women singing loudly "ABAHAMBE." The group yelled at her, demanding that all foreigners leave South Africa by June 30, 2026.
The threats were getting louder and louder. She abruptly and stealthily entered the one-room apartment she was renting. She left the room and began telling her story when her landlord returned from work. She was uncomfortable. It was out of the frying pan and into the fire when she attempted to beg her landlord.
She adamantly stated that running away with her life was the best course of action because there was nothing she could do to protect herself. Together with her 7-year-old daughter, who was enrolled in grade 2 at a nearby school, she began packing her clothes.
She abandoned a small refrigerator, a two-plate stove, the TV, and the bed. She was able to bring her few possessions to the Zimbabwean Embassy in Cape Town despite the cold, where she encountered many Zimbabweans who had also arrived as refugees and were looking for transportation back home.
In Robertson, Western Cape Province, a number of them were employed in low-paying jobs such as picking grapes on a farm. It was growing dark now. The numerous kids had no idea what was going on and were just having fun. They were gazing naively at the city's tall buildings. Living at the Zimbabwean Embassy was unfamiliar to them.
They were travelling to a different country to begin a new life without realizing it. They had no drink and and proper food but were eating bread only. Such was life in South Africa under xenophobic attacks.
I pray that one day God will bless Zimbabwe, restore its dignity, and give hope and a fresh start to most of the people who fled the country's economic struggles.
The threats were getting louder and louder. She abruptly and stealthily entered the one-room apartment she was renting. She left the room and began telling her story when her landlord returned from work. She was uncomfortable. It was out of the frying pan and into the fire when she attempted to beg her landlord.
She adamantly stated that running away with her life was the best course of action because there was nothing she could do to protect herself. Together with her 7-year-old daughter, who was enrolled in grade 2 at a nearby school, she began packing her clothes.
She abandoned a small refrigerator, a two-plate stove, the TV, and the bed. She was able to bring her few possessions to the Zimbabwean Embassy in Cape Town despite the cold, where she encountered many Zimbabweans who had also arrived as refugees and were looking for transportation back home.
In Robertson, Western Cape Province, a number of them were employed in low-paying jobs such as picking grapes on a farm. It was growing dark now. The numerous kids had no idea what was going on and were just having fun. They were gazing naively at the city's tall buildings. Living at the Zimbabwean Embassy was unfamiliar to them.
They were travelling to a different country to begin a new life without realizing it. They had no drink and and proper food but were eating bread only. Such was life in South Africa under xenophobic attacks.
I pray that one day God will bless Zimbabwe, restore its dignity, and give hope and a fresh start to most of the people who fled the country's economic struggles.
Source - Leonard Koni
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