Reports in the news have it that there is a wave of xenophobic violence in South Africa. Angry youth are attacking shops and business centers belonging to foreigners.
Some Africans living and working in various South African cities and towns have not been spared as their shops and business places have been attacked and torched resulting in the deaths of some individuals.
Most foreign owned businesses have remained closed in the past few days for fear of being attacked and losing their properties, or worse, their lives.
This has become common in that country and more and more people are beginning to fear living in South Africa.
The government of South Africa has condemned the attacks and said that it wishes to promote the rule of law and good governance.
They have said that they will do whatever they can to ensure that these attacks stop and do not reoccur.
The South African problem though is deeper than what is seen in the streets and riots.
The majority of South Africans, the blacks, have been so dispossessed by Apartheid that all they know is violence.
Thus, efforts must be made to correct those ills in a holistic way.
Other African leaders whose citizens are living and working in South Africa have condemned this behaviour and have said that it is unacceptable.
There is growing anger in other countries whose people are among the many that are targeted.
As long as Africans continue to see each other as different people, progress will remain slow if attainable at all.
The ‘us’ and ‘them’ perception has to change if we are to see effective African integration for the benefit of the people of Continental Africa.
