ALIENATION OF AFRICANS
XOLISA PHILLIP: Our twisted view of migrants creates many contradictions
As long as this othering of Africans persists, the ugly scenes that played out in Rosettenville and Pretoria will persist
Madams are no longer hiring South Africans, preferring Zimbabweans these days. Malawians are taking all the jobs in hospitality — go to any restaurant, hotel or bed and breakfast, you’ll find a Malawian at your service. Watch out for Nigerians, they will scam you out of your last cent. They have turned Central in Port Elizabeth into a no-go zone, you can’t go to the park at the Donkin anymore. The Nigerians are running the show, pimping our women and selling drugs to our children; things can’t go on like this, we must stop them. These foreigners are also stealing our women. Don’t touch the cash in the till in a Somali-run spaza shop otherwise your fingers will fall off. From Alexandria in the Eastern Cape and Alexandra in Gauteng to Khayelitsha in the Western Cape and KwaMashu in KwaZulu-Natal, this is the minefield of stereotypes and vitriol directed at Africans that most black South Africans navigate daily.South Africans’ hostility is peppered with derogatory terms that reinforce ...
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