Foreigners, locals in Sekhukhune quash xenophobia

 

A local group entertains foreign nationals and South Africans in Mohlaletsi.	GSDM municipal manager Ishmael Kgetjepe and Limpopo education MEC Dr Aaron Motsoaledi were also part of the ceremony.
Properties of foreign nationals that were destroyed in Mohlaletsi.	Properties of foreign nationals that were destroyed in Mohlaletsi.
Freeman Nyanisi, a representative of the foreign nationals, speaking during a ceremony to unite foreigners with locals in Mohlaletsi

An aura of euphoria pervaded Mohlaletsi village in Sekhukhune as more than 2 000 foreign nationals and locals danced and feasted together in a spirit of camaraderie.

The get-together at Fetakgomo High School sports ground - organised by Greater Sekhukhune District (GSDM) executive mayor Namane Masemola, acting Limpopo premier Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and acting Bapedi King Kgoshikgolo Sekhukhune – saw the foreigners and South Africans having a blissful moment amid the spate of the xenophobic attacks.

More than 20 foreign nationals residing in this village had been attacked, robbed and their houses razed and belongings plundered as the malady of attacks on foreign national spiraled out of control in the country.

Mohlaletsi – a remote village where the Bapedi Royal Palace is perched near a hill, is home to a few foreigners from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.

The event on Sunday last week came a day after Sekhukhune people had converged in the village to commemorate the heroic acts of Sebatakgomo Movement for pioneering peasant revolts in 1958 against the nefarious Bantu Authorities Act.

Masemola, Motsoaledi and Sekhukhune decided to stage this event to re-integrate, educate and spread awareness about the significance of co-existence between South Africans and foreign nationals in the country.

The nationals forgot about the ordeal that had befallen them three days earlier, and danced to the tunes of artists from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The trio accentuated that South Africa’s torch-bearers in the liberation struggle were given hospitable treatment and support else where in the African continent when they were in need for refuge.

Such leaders were, among others, Lawrence Phokanoka and Flag Boshielo who were trained by the Zimbabwean liberation movements.

Moreover, the late African National Congress (ANC) president Albert Luthuli did not only had relatives amongst the AmaNdebele in Zimbabwe, he was also born in that country.

Freeman Nyanisi, a representative of the foreign nationals, thanked the three leaders for their support.

“We appreciate your efforts from the depths of our hearts, and we so wish that [South Africans] will treat us as equals again. In short, I am saying we are blood brothers, we share the same ancestors,” Nyanisi said.

“After this event one can see that the people of Sekhukhune and their entire Limpopo province are indeed peace-lovers. The police worked tirelessly to help us,” Nyanisi said.

“We are all ba-khara, be langa, kha langa, re bana ba Tšie Kgalaka. We are all children of the light, and borders are colonial man-made tokens of division and confusion, and not part of nature,” he added.

Mayor Masemola condemned these xenophobic attacks during his budget speech on Friday.

“It becomes extremely important for us as South Africans to abhor the unjustifiable, naïve, and abominable actions that we see. These deeds are reprehensible and totally unacceptable because they are completely at variance with the spirit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) – now the African Union,” Masemola said.

“Xenophobia – in all its forms – is the crime against humanity. It stands in direct contrast with all the morals and values that we stand for as a country and urge our people to refrain from violent attacks on our African brothers and sisters. These fellow Africans must find comfort among us. We must never forget that they provided unconditional support and refuge to us during the dark days of apartheid,” he added.