South Africa: a PR Nightmare

For years, the plight of African nationals in South Africa has been kept away from public view and only spoken about in whispers. The image sold to the rest of the world were the beautiful beaches in Cape town, the wonderful city of Johannesburg as well as the great travel destinations for travelers with a little bit of cash to spare. South Africa was made out to be the Mecca of Africa, the golden apple which is untouchable and unspoilt.

In recent weeks, we have learnt that this really isn’t the case, as the number of African nationals being persecuted, tortured, burnt and harassed has increased. For many neutral observers, the treatment of African nationals in animalistic ways isn’t new, spatterings of stories of nationals being harassed, spat on and chased seems to be a daily occurrence but just one hidden from the global audience.

The question that comes to mind is, why now?.

Why is the maltreatment of African Nationals in South Africa, in the news, particularly since this has been occurring for years?

Why does the global media suddenly seem so set to address the xenophobic tendencies of some South Africans? Are we missing something? South Africa is currently a PR nightmare as many South Africans in the Diasporas have realized.

Many South Africans in the Diaspora are working really hard to remind everyone of the beauty that lies within the country but how can we close our eyes to the image of the Mozambican guy who was burnt by a South African as he called him “Makwerekwere”?

How can we forget the image of the West African girl who was chased, found and beaten up until she was covered with blood, her clothes torn and barely living?

Most importantly how can we forget the image of the Zimbabwean man who has lost all his property as a result of mob rage?

Unfortunately, those are the images that are now attached to South Africa. The question now is if the image can be cleaned? What are the steps necessary to clean this image up - considering that 2010 is around the corner and South Africa hopes to host the world cup and invite foreign nationals into the country?

South Africa is currently seen as a security hazard to many African nationals and those who had planned to visit South Africa for the games are currently too scared to go there because of their fear of harassment and other criminal acts that are a daily occurrence on the streets.

Some African nationals have gone as far as asking that the games be moved to a country that is more welcoming to strangers. A country that has a history of hospitality towards its neighbors. As a side note, does a country like that exist in Africa?

Mr. Mbeki definitely has his work cut out for him but his refusal to address certain issues head-on rather than hide behind radio and television broadcast and his wonderful curtains in his house might lead to the undoing of South Africa.

He needs to get to the ground and start dealing with the issues that led angry South Africans to start mobilizing themselves to seek, kill and destroy other Africans. I will like to add that I have my hypothesis on those issues but that is a discussion for another day.

Till Next Time,

Pammy