The
country has once again experienced a hate crime, a crime committed from a place
of detestation. Some, however argue that this is not so, these are crimes
committed purely due to people living in poverty, which is a result of
unemployment. Whatever side of the argument one falls in, we have to agree on
one point, it is still a crime. The looting of shops that are owned by people
who are foreign but reside in our country is nothing short of shameful.
Incidents were widely reported in Soweto, where many stores were looted,
leaving shop owners with little to recover their businesses in order to provide
for their families. A case has also been reported in Atteridgeville, Pretoria
where a young boy was allegedly shot dead by a shop owner during the act of
looting. A case was also reported in Durban, where two foreign men were shot
dead when robbers were attempting to steal from their shop. In citing these
events, I hope to illustrate that this is a sickness that is attempting to
spread all over the country.
South
African people, for some reason, believe violence to be an appropriate response
to any situation. This can be seen in the xenophobic attacks, violent service
delivery protests and the recent looting of foreign owned shops to mention but
a few. I am of the idea that looting is a response, a response to what exactly
I do not know. But South Africans responded in the only way they know how,
through violence. Wessel Bentley[1]
(2012:54) a South African theologian relates that the violent behaviour of
South Africans cannot be separated from their past. Bentley states that this country has a past
that is not only violent, but also divided. One not only has to take into
consideration the apartheid regime, but also the fact that South Africa, like
most African countries, was subject to colonial rule. Succinctly put, South
Africa is the epitome of a nation in conflict, we are a violent people. Bentley
then asserts that as much as we have enjoyed the transition from an oppressive
past to a democratic nation, we still are a people born of violence. Another
African scholar, Chielozona Eze[2] (2005:2&3)
who is of Nigerian descent takes an interesting standpoint when dealing with
African states that have a history of violence and oppressive rule. He asserts
that Africans in post-colonial Africa have no sense of responsibility. He
argues that this is not particularly because of oppressive regimes
(colonisation & apartheid) but the attitude that was and is adopted towards
it. Elaborately put, the lack of responsibility refers to African leaders and
Africans alike refusing to be held accountable or to have a sense of
accountability. This is because, Eze argues, they believe that it is someone
outside of their space or circle that has caused things to fall apart. This conviction
leads Africans to believe that the people responsible for things falling apart
should be accountable for picking up the debris. Someone out there is
responsible, but the African is not. Eze continues to argue that since the
African leader is not responsible for things falling apart, s/he is able to
look at him/herself in the mirror while pilfering his/her nation’s wealth. This
also means that the normal South African can violently kill, steal, loot and
still be able to look at themselves in the mirror. This is a mess Africans feel
they did not cause, and are therefore not responsible for cleaning it up.
Upon
observation, I therefore argue that South Africans are not only violent because
of their past, but the past makes them feel justified in their violence.
African people need to free themselves of the hate that is oppressing them. The
fact that they feel that they are not responsible is because of the hate that
the past has conjured up. This makes them unable to look into themselves with a
critical eye, to put their leaders and what they are doing to each other under
critical observation. The sooner the African people realise that no one will
save them but themselves, will be the day they free themselves of the hate, or
as Eze puts it, resentment. Once this happens, they will cease to feel
justified in their violence. Eze puts this brilliantly when he says “If African
intellectuals can ever come to the idea of nation building it has to begin with
letting go of inherited spirit of rancour against some foreign enemy, who is
forever bent on demolishing Africa and whose nature is essentially evil; Africa
has to free itself of resentment, and face the tasking demands of our global
era” (2005:13).
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