Durban - Amid the ongoing violence that is directed at black foreign nationals living in the country, the secretary general of the ANC, Ace Magashule, has reminded people that black Africans are not the only foreigners in the country.
Speaking at a South African Student Congress (SASCO) rally at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) on Wednesday, a fierce Magashule said black people must always show solidarity with people of their own race.
His call comes as there is a debate on whether the attacks are xenophobic or Afrophobic. Those who are saying the attacks are Afrophobic back it up by saying only black migrants are targeted while many other foreign nationals living in the country are spared. On the other side, some are urging that the attacks have little to do with identity but with crime elements within the community of foreign nationals living in the country.
In the midst of this, Magashule said what was needed was black solidarity that could make the African continent a powerhouse.
“We must never despise people who have the same skin colour as us. Their colour, whether they are people from Mozambique or Angola or Nigeria or everywhere in the 54 countries in Africa... you must know you are an African,” Magashule said according to a video clip posted on Facebook page named Supporters of Ace Magashule.
He then turned and said there are many others who have got “whitish color” the crowd don’t know about.
“They are there, you see them all (the) time but you can’t say this one likwer*kw*re, this one comes from somewhere else. They are here in this country. They have never been attacked and they are so-called foreigners because their colour is white,” Magashule also said in the video.
But political analyst, Xolani Dube of Xubera Institute in Durban said Magashule’s call was very hypocritical, saying he favoured white people when doing business.
“The same people who are saying white people are our enemies are the same people who have been involved in corruption with white people since 1994,” he said.
Dube added that some white people will not see this as incitement but instead they will laugh it off as a hollow joke.