Criminality disguised as Afrophobia / Xenophobia. Forgive us.

Feeling compassion for the perpetrators of heinous acts does not preclude the condemnation of their acts. And they should be condemned in the strongest of terms. My deepest apology and remorse to all Africans. At this time, our instinct is to judge, to disassociate, to seek revenge and justice for the wrongs done. Where justice can be pursued within the laws of our country, it must be. I also plead that we wrestle with our own instincts. As human beings, we are said to be either motivated by love or fear. The hateful acts that we have witnessed in our country which are called #Afrophobic or #Xenophobic may outwardly seem to be fuelled by anger, by some righteous indignation and entitlement, but in fact under it all, it is just fear. Fear of the unknown, of the new, of knowledge, of change, of the exposed inadequacies and of sharing scarce resources. Human emotions are so very complex. I certainly appreciate the difficulty some may have in my plea for compassion. To treat your fellow human beings the way some of us have over the past weeks. To find justifications for hateful actions. To be malleable to manipulation by forces for their own ends at the expense of your country and your people, a price we are all going to pay for generations to come. Such a human being has lost some humanity. Has self-hatred that they themselves cannot accept nor even begin to comprehend. We surely need to have compassion for such human beings? Fellow #Africans who have been affected directly and indirectly by this self-hatred, please forgive our brethren. It is a tall order to ask of you. Revenge is being plotted in many corners of our continent to return the hurt through ill-treating the South Africans living and doing business in those countries. Hurt cannot heal hurt. Our political freedom has not necessarily freed the bonds in some of our minds and in some of our hearts. Maya Angelou said: “When we know better, we do better”. When we attack our brothers and sisters it is blatantly evident that we do not know what we are doing. Forgive us 0:-)