Media attitudes to foreigners work to encourage xenophobia in local people

By L Dele,
The Herald Newspaper
Port Elizabeth

THE Herald front-page story, “Rioters loot and burn Somali-owned shops” (February 14) is just one of the reasons why this country remains a ticking time bomb. It‘s an irony that the same newspaper has stories of the Somalis in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth becoming victims of xenophobic violence, while the newspaper is indirectly one of the causes of that incident.

Saying in the newspaper that the alleged criminals are believed to be Nigerians is absolute bigotry and myopia. It continues to entrench the notion that any black foreigner is a Nigerian.

You do not just mention “it is believed” without proper journalistic investigations. To an ordinary person it is a fact, not speculation.

I can bet the alleged criminals were not Nigerians, because they don‘t go around stealing cellphones from people on the streets. This expertise naturally comes from the local community.

With these types of reports, South Africans have become so misinformed and ignorant that if you ask them to define the word foreigner, without hesitating they will say it means a Nigerian. This story and many others like it simply worsen the disfigured and backward mindset of ordinary black South Africans on the street, making them believe foreigners from Africa are the main cause of their problem.

The continuous misinformation by the media will only incite and lead this country closer to destruction. Keep it in mind if it is possible for the local community in Motherwell to rise up and commit such atrocities against that Somali community with the police looking away, then know it that Zimbabwe is just child‘s play.

One day the same blacks will pick up guns and move against the white community and then another African civil war will be on. My prediction might sound way off, but the truth is the whole essence of the South African democracy is a hoax, white, blacks and Indians smiling and pretending to be happy and contented to be living together, while in their homes they condemn having to put up with one another.

The whole concept of a united and proud South Africa is premised on falsehood and a very frail foundation.

This tendency of directing the blame of crime and economic sabotage at black foreigners comes across as a conspiracy to avoid the burning issues of white racism, unequal distribution of wealth, high unemployment, and ineffective economic empowerment plaguing this country. This gimmick will not sustain for long because soon black South Africans will come to realise and turn to the real source of the problem.

Taking advantage of the South African horrible habit of hatred, empty pride, wickedness and finger-pointing to fuel xenophobia through your much publicised “freedom of speech” will only assist you in creating a dangerous environment for your family, relatives and loved ones. Call it your dedication to duty and an illustrious career, facts remains that you will reap whatever evil you sow one day when you become a victim.

If there is anything that can rescue this country it is to start telling the truth and attacking the serious issues head on instead of promoting loss of African identity and xenophobia.

L Dele, Port Elizabeth