Africa-Press – South-Africa. Boipelo Manyowa, who is married to a Zimbabwean, writes that just as she was two years ago when xenophobic attacks broke out, she is ashamed to be a South African with the rise of Operation Dudula.
About two years ago, as goons ravaged suburbs and beat other humans to a pulp, I sat down to express myself in a way that I never had previousy.
I didn’t want to, but I had to, and I promised myself it would be the only time.
I wrote, carefully, for the Daily Maverick, that, in that moment, I was ashamed of being a South African.
The reasons were stark and apparent. In a decade, at least thrice and at a global scale, my fellow countrymen, and without provocation had embarked on systematic attacks against black Africans. It didn’t make sense, and it made me hang my head in shame.
READ | ANALYSIS: Loren B Landau, Jean Pierre Misago – Rising vigilantism – SA is reaping fruits of misruleBarely 24 months later, a cousin of xenophobia returned; bigger, better, organised, and stronger. I hear they call it Operation Dudula. The movement claims to be anti-crime, but, most of what we see is violence, theft, and intimidation of extremely vulnerable members of society.
Everything and anything is possible in South Africa, but even I did not see this coming. And I will get back to this later.
I want to cut straight to the point. I have a disclaimer. I am married to a foreigner. My husband and colleague, Maynard Manyowa is a Zimbabwean who I have known since I was a teen and who I love. We have been married for many years and have travelled to every single continent together.
Lived for his dreams I have lived for his dreams, and he admits this, but I don’t concede he is better than me – I gave up my aspirations so we could have a family. I spurned the chance to use a double barrel (Marope-Manyowa) because I wanted to carry his name to its full extent.
This is rudimentary, and I only say this as a disclaimer and to give context. What is perhaps significant is that, in all our years of marriage, my husband has never applied for a spousal visa, and we have lived and enjoyed our lives in many places.
We have been living in the United Kingdom since 2019. Still, our sights are set on Zimbabwe, where we want to set up a pioneer college of journalism and media – this is why my husband is a PhD candidate in journalism at a leading university here in England.
Yet this isn’t why I write this. Again, I pen this as an ashamed South African and as a confused one.
SA has challenges South Africa has several problems, especially with its porous borders. Anyone and their cat can pass through our ports of entry for the right amount (and this isn’t much usually). This has contributed significantly to our drug epidemic, and to some degree, violent crime.
But from what I can see, the people who have been targeted by Operation Dudula are poor vendors and gardeners; the very foreigners who are shunning crime and trying to earn an honest living. I am yet to see or hear of the movement targeting organised criminals in the high-rise buildings in Sandton, or the criminals that rent out entire streets in Edenvale, Yeoville or Rossettenville.
All I have seen so far are vulnerable mothers, who survive on less than R10 a day, being chased about by a cowardly mob. It doesn’t sit well with me at all.
I despise contradiction. We cannot in one breath claim to be champions of rule of law yet behave like vigilantes and attack people.
READ | IN-DEPTH: Operation Dudula forces EFF to ‘reassess their identity’ – expert I also cannot stand the cowardice, that claims a black woman selling tomatoes in Sunnyside, Pretoria is dangerous, but a drug dealer of European descent in Sandton is tolerable. This black-on-black violence is unhelpful and so long as it exists, South Africa can never be independent.
But lastly, and more importantly, I was driven to write this article to remind those behing Operation Dudula of a few things:
Nationality is not a skill, and several South Africans, like me, are out there trying to conquer the world. Several people come to our country, but many times it is for our own benefit. Immigrants build states. Just look at the US, the UK, and Canada. Diversity breeds success.There are no foreigners in Africa. We are all Africans because Africa lives within us. Our black brothers and sisters are one with us. And this is the most important. We are not that special. We are, as any other Africans, just visitors on this earth. We will all die.It pains me to write about these things or imagine that I must. Immigrants bring knowledge, diversity, and strength. I don’t say these things because I am married to a foreigner. No. As I stated above, my family and I live happily in the United Kingdom, after several years of living in Hong Kong.
So, this is not about me. It is however, about several people from many different walks of life, who can change our country for the better, but who are being targeted by criminals who claim to be fighting crime.
So once again, I am ashamed to be a South African, but, at least for now, I am thrilled that, through my marriage, I have Zimbabwean citizenship and a passport – a true achievement for someone so passionate about Pan Africanism!
– Boipelo Manyowa is a South African journalist and documentary film maker based in Manchester, England.To receive Opinions Weekly, sign up for the newsletter here.*Want to respond to the columnist? Send your letter or article to [email protected] with your name and town or province. You are welcome to also send a profile picture. We encourage a diversity of voices and views in our readers’ submissions and reserve the right not to publish any and all submissions received.Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.
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