Towards Emancipation

You know something is wrong with your society when you cannot tolerate people from other societies. But when this intolerance becomes violent, you know something is seriously wrong. The xenophobic attacks in South Africa are as disturbing as they are surprising. Disturbing in that one cannot imagine the violence and atrocities that may be directed towards foreigners in the country, and surprising in that one cannot imagine an African relating to a fellow African with hostility and suspicion. But perhaps it is important to examine the root cause of this xenophobic violence. With this regard emphasis should be laid not on the direct triggers of the violence, but on the general composition of the society of South Africa. South Africa remains one of the most scarred African countries in relation to colonial exploitation. The settling of the Boers, as early as the seventeenth century, was itself a critical problem. Native populations were displaced, and many have never recovered their land...