It was only a matter of time before this started happening. After all, we have been dealing with tit for tat visa issues for years – why stop there?

Sadly, because of the actions of a few individuals who have managed to anger a larger group and make them think that this country is only for South Africans, we have seen an incredible amount of xenophobic violence over the past two weeks. Neighbouring African countries have watched, horrified, as their people have been shunted and ostracised in a country where for years they have been welcome to escape the horrors of war and famine in their own countries. I feel it completely fair that the likes of Nigeria, Moçambique and Zambia are taking moral matters into their own hands.

South African vehicles driving through Moçambique have been pelted with stones, Nigeria is threatening to shut down leading SA companies, and many SA musicians have had to cancel upcoming concerts.

Sasol, an energy and chemical giant, evacuated 340 South Africans from Moçambique over fears for their safety. In Zambia, a privately owned radio station has stopped playing South African music in protest.

Jacob Zuma has postponed a trip to Indonesia and has instead visited a camp in Chatsworth, near Durban, where he spoke of us all living as “sisters and brothers”.

More than a thousand foreign nationals are sleeping in tents and relying on volunteers for food. Many were boarding buses to return to Malawi, Zimbabwe, and other home countries.

South Africa has long been seen as the “continent’s most developed economy” and this “xenophobic mayhem has sharpened a sense of “us and them”, causing bitterness among nations that hosted thousands of South African exiles during the struggle against apartheid”.

But how far can this tit for tat actually go? Zimbabweans are marching outside the SA Embassy in Harare, and the president of the Zimbabwe National Students’ Union, Gilbert Mutubuki, has spoken about how Pick’n Pay can operate freely in Zim:

Right now we have South African businesses such as Pick n Pay operating freely here, but our brothers are being butchered in South Africa … It’s high time we should do the same to all South African businesses here until they stop all this nonsense.

That’s a great idea, except that this really has nothing to do with companies that are trying to provide your country with food.

Unfortunately, until King Goodwill Zwelithini says something to stop the xenophobia he has called for, we could see a rise in it all.

[Source: The Guardian]