Adjunct to Abimbola Lagunju’s South Africa: A Land Of Thugs And Cutthroats -By Abu Bakarr Kaikai

Abu Bakarr Kaikai

Dr. Abimbola’s article “South Africa: A Land Of Thugs And Cutthroats” (2017) is a great piece of intellectual work, which provokes strong ‘ideological’ connotation, for the Black South Africans, who have been deceived and cheated by illogical political elites and their cronies. On the other hand, a ‘revolutionary thought’ for the rest of the Sub-Saharan Africans, who need to adopt ‘aggressive’ drive to respond to the actions and inactions of the South African people and government. Abimbola consciously employs the flashback technique in his article to deliberately inform Black South Africans of the sacrifices Africans made, either as individuals or collectively, as states in the liberation of South Africa. Black South Africans should not forget these efforts in a hurry, otherwise posterity will not forgive them.

The article paints a grim picture of South Africa, as a country occupied by crooks, state operatives, inept political elites characterised by blurry political ideals, who have secretly re-invented themselves through manipulating and carefully converting ordinary Black South Africans into thugs and blood thirsty human vampires. The result, Xenophobia.

As the South Africa leadership continue to play deaf ears and pay lip serves to the destructive nature of Black South Africans, bigotry and prejudices in the guise of nationalism have become the order of the day. Thus, sporadic outrage, organised attacks and inhuman attitude of Black South Africans towards people of their own colour, invoke a nostalgia for the Era of European imperialism: the bastardization of African men, women and children; and the devastation of the African Continent in the name of civilization and development by Europeans and some Black Africans dressed in ‘Western Clothes’. While poverty and unemployment may have been, a causative factor used for killing other Africans in South Africa, such behaviours have no disconnection between the previous White rule and the present Black rule in the country.

The reality is, South Africa is still mentally colonised: hence, they still need freedom from that absurdity. But decolonisation will be difficult, since Black South Africans are a typical representation of JAY GATSBY in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’. They will continue to blame and kill their fellow Africans for their laziness to stand up against the very culprits that marginalised and refused them access to the resources of their country.

Black South Africans are, of course, afraid of confronting the real demons; instead, they point their angers and frustrations towards other Africans by marring and decapitating them.

But, even as they continue to maim and kill others, ‘for robbing them of their jobs’ there is a sense of daily confusion emanating from the lack of identity, strength and self-realisation amongst these vampires as in Abimbola’s article. Their subjugation to the narratives of White Minority South Africans, of other Africans, as thieves, Trojans and a good for nothing people, have made Black South Africans very cynical and doubtful of their own existence; particularly when interacting with people of their own colour.

This manifestation of Xenophobia, summary killings and destruction of other Africans as evident, raises two questions: (a) Are Black South Africans really confused about their identity? (b) Are they living in a dream world of illusiveness?. But the reality is, Black South Africans are ‘something that evokes xenophobia, semi-literate thugs, violence, corrupt leadership, carjacking, rape, inferiority complex and ingrates in the minds of other Africans’ writes Dr Abimbola. For such, they have neither the social connections nor the confidence to move freely among other Africans who have made their fortunes through hard work and resilience.

To dismiss this spell of Western rhetoric and ideology vibes that have held Black South African vampires’ hostage in their own country, there is need for social and political revolution. This revolution will require Sub Saharan African governments to reinvent the wheel, like it happened in the 1930s with the emergence of the ‘Negritude Movement’ against European domination in Africa. Black South Africans need more education, this time, it will be rooted in African autography, coin from Africa ideology, taught in African Languages and led by African Teachers. May be this will bring back their Africaness!

Although Black South Africans “…aren’t Caucasians neither are they Asians’ (Ambibola, 2017) they still live and feed on the land that belongs to Africans. If the premise therefore, is true, then they will need to understand and respect our values and traditions; and have a sense of our friendliness to strangers. Through this exposition to our values and believe in the Africa unionism, I hope, Black South Africans will regain consciousness and accept their ‘Africaness’. Otherwise, ‘we will cut diplomatic ties with South Africa…expel South Africa from the African Union…reduce all trade links to the barest minimum and, lastly cut all sports ties with South Africa. (Abimbola, 2017). We will not continue to hold back, and allow other Africans, once again behave like colonial masters whose single hate for Africans subjected us to slavery in our Continent.

Shame on you Black South Africans. Or be the change our people died for.