THIS AND OTHER ESSAYS WILL BE PUBLISHED IN A COLLECTION BY PAUL TIYAMBE ZELEZA, BARACK OBAMA AND AFRICAN DIASPORAS: DIALOGUES AND DISSENSIONS, AYEBIA PUBLISHING (Oxford, U.K.) and OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS (Athens, OH, USA) in Fall 2009. LOOK OUT FOR THE BOOK!!!
The death of the enemy unveiled the wounds of the past
John Eudes Lengwe Kunda
Mbeki leads a nation now coming to grips with the realities of their deep-seated wounds. Xenophobic attacks launched against fellow brothers and sisters from neighbouring countries are symptomatic of post-apartheid trauma rooted in a long history of unity against the common enemy only to fragment in the absence of the villain. Just as Mbeki is struggling to shake off the ghosts of the past in his quest for a renewal of the African spirit, peddled in the notion of the African renaissance, he himself is stagnated in silent diplomacy to the neglect of the suffering pulse of the hearts of his own people. The attacks, though unjustified, reveal resentment and anger, at the by-pass of a cake for long dreamt of but only seen on the lips of a few 'elitist South African middle class'. Such are the tragedies of the festering wounds for long unattended in South Africa's post colonial quagmire fragmented within but putting up a cosmetic posture of leadership on the continent in the name of ubuntu. South Africa can only claim moral authority if and only if, it can attend to the wounds of its people sustained over a long period of oppression and deprivation. Xenophobic attacks are a mirror of a people who have not been availed the opportunity to engage with their history and confront their demons as well as representing ululations of the disillusionment accompanying non-participation in the long awaited cake!