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Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans - Foreign Affairs (7) - Nairaland

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South Africans Attack Nigerians -VANGUARD / See What South Africans Had To Say Concerning Xenophobia / Malawi, Congo, Bar South Africans From Entering Their Country (2) (3) (4)

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Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by mikron(m): 11:12pm On Apr 24, 2015
Leojamesjames:
Can some explain all what she wrote in 1 word biko..
genocide
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Nobody: 11:16pm On Apr 24, 2015
Leojamesjames:
Can some explain all what she wrote in 1 word biko..
Haters!
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by mikron(m): 11:31pm On Apr 24, 2015
tuoyoojo:
Best write up I have seen . Well composed. I duff my hat

Why is ther average youth so intellectually lazy. If na story of how tonto dike flash booobs, dem go read evritin from A to Z but look at this beautiful well articulated write up, some people are so lazy to digest

Like what was boldly inscribed in abu library

" He who does not read is not better than he who cannot read"
in ABU library u mean? as in KIL LIBRARY
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by osystein(m): 12:03am On Apr 25, 2015
South Africans should just accept that their country doesn't belong to them, it belongs to the rest of Africa because Africa helped in fighting Apartheid.

South Africa has enough room and Resources to accommodate all Africans seeking greener pastures in it. Closing borders is unAfrican. Africans must feel at home anywhere on the continent. All African countries must work together and destroy south Africa, how can a black man not welcome another black man, it's unheard off.
Lets get our Chinese friends to nuke south Africa.
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by IbrahimJafr: 12:47am On Apr 25, 2015
Leojamesjames:
Can some explain all what she wrote in 1 word biko..
XENOPHOBIA
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by lovely17(m): 2:29am On Apr 25, 2015
I am really touched she really poured out her heart
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Nobody: 4:00am On Apr 25, 2015
awesome. and i used to like SA so much. nw i hate them
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by pak: 8:44am On Apr 25, 2015
Mitsurugi:
Its what I always suspected. South Africans are just a bunch of lazy ass people who want to be spoon fed. Nigerians are hard working and that's why we are always picked on everywhere we go. Yes, we have the ass.holes who give us a bad name (which country or tribe doesn't) but there is no foreign establishment that jettisons the Nigerian and this is because of his work ethic. We can work three jobs in a day without sweat and complain. My friend told me that Ghanaians wake up as late as 10 for business as against the Nigerians who are up by 5.30 and would have serviced early and lucrative customers. Instead of rising early to hustle they blame the Nigerians for taking their business. Look at their movies which even drab Nollywood outshines in terms of acceptability and popularity and the horrible noise South Africans have going for music... very soon they will start accusing Don Jazzy, Tuface et al of witchcraft! Nigerians beat South Africans in everything; work, money, beautiful, well endowed women and handsome guys with authentic swag, movies, good (sensible and danceable) music even in football! I don't blame them... its enough to go crazy about! grin

What you have said is actually hard to disprove.
But really, it's sentiments like these that make locals wary of Nigerians in foreign lands.
Though some of what you said might be true but it smacks of disrespect to other africans!
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Nobody: 9:14am On Apr 25, 2015
sexyseun:
Too long abeg undecided, dis girl, u no do summary writing for secondary school?



This one no be letter o, na Punishment




Talking about lazy south Africans, then seeing this: Are Nigerians lazier?!!!
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Nobody: 10:52am On Apr 25, 2015
sexyseun:
Too long abeg undecided, dis girl, u no do summary writing for secondary school?



This one no be letter o, na Punishment
How did you pass ur exams...as young as u are, u r afraid to read
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by vickylois(f): 11:00am On Apr 25, 2015
Genocide
Leojamesjames:
Can some explain all what she wrote in 1 word biko..
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by patwilly(m): 11:16am On Apr 25, 2015
merricherios:
one word for you... foolish! gbam
God bless you man. If i had time, i'd take on those idio.ts one after the other. If i were a Mod, i wouldnt hesitate to ban this fuckkers in a heartbeat. These muppets give our dear nation a bad name.
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Nobody: 11:35am On Apr 25, 2015
[b]OP, I have enjoyed the read - and yea, I read it over and again.

The biggest points I can pick from your narrative are:

1. South Africans (at least the ones perpetuating Xenophobia) are ill-informed, out of touch with reality, frustrated, and just had to vent.
2. South Africans have an unfortunate history that necessitated agitating and protesting for anything and everything they want. Their historical psyche and orientation has no room for hard work and hustle for what they want. The culture of protest and violence is deeply etched into their national fabric. Thus, for freedom, protest! For fair treatment, protest! For government attention, protest! For daily bread, protest! For the right to live and die, protest! No sense to work. Shame.
3. Black South Africa has a woefully short memory; turning against the very people who stood by you when, in retrospect, we should have just allowed the whites to wipe them out.
4. White South Africa must now be chilling with pop-corn and crossed legs, watching and thinking: "Just look at these black imbe.ciles. Now let them kill each other since we were not good enough to kill them!"
5. South Africans are deluded into thinking their country is paradise. Wake up!

Nuff said.[/b]

1 Like

Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by mikron(m): 1:16pm On Apr 25, 2015
yemmynoni:
abeg who read this story
i did and i enjoyed every bit of it,
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Nobody: 1:19pm On Apr 25, 2015
Wow I'm inspired by your write up. God bless you my dear. Well Swaziland visa awaits you Lol @my signature
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Dele010: 1:27pm On Apr 25, 2015
fretnot:
My name is Lovelyn Chidinma Nwadeyi. I am a Nigerian. Born in Nigeria to two Nigerian parents. Raised in Queenstown, Eastern Cape by those same Nigerian parents right up until I completed my Bachelors at Stellenbosch.
Lovelyn Chidinma Nwadeyi
Lovelyn Chidinma Nwadeyi. Photo: supplied

Growing up in South Africa, I was always reminded by those around me that I was different to everyone else. In primary school, I had a much darker complexion than I do now, and super white teeth – the telling marks of a foreigner that betray you even when you put on your best English accent. It is just too obvious.

I bear citizenship of both worlds. I speak fluent Xhosa, Igbo, Afrikaans and English. I can make sense of Tswana and Sotho. I enjoy a good braai, I love vetkoek and bunny-chow. I can’t get enough of Bokomo WeetBix, I love Ouma’s rusks and I can pull off my panstulas with any outfit on a lazy Saturday when I want to head to town. I am the first to break it down with the ngwaza and the dombolo at the sound of some decent house music or kwaito be it in Pick n Pay or at a party.

I can sokkie and I enjoy it (albeit with my two left feet). My darkest moments can be reversed by koeksisters and a cup of rooibos tea any day. I can jump between the high pitched and arguably annoying accents of some Constantia moms, the lank kif and apparently sophisticated English of my Hilton brothers and the heavy accents of my fellow Eastern Capers. I can attempt the fast paced, lyrical Afrikaans of my coloured brothers in the Cape and I can serve you the best butternut soup you have ever known.

I am as South African as you need me to be.

But my ability to navigate all these spaces did not just happen. Learning to blend into all these spaces was a matter of survival for me.

You see from the day I set foot in Queenstown and started primary school, it was always made very clear to me that I was an outsider. I only had white friends from my first few years in school, because the other black girls couldn’t understand why I was black but only spoke in English. They thought I thought I was better than them. So I spent most of my breaks humbly eating my peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich, surrounded by those who had Melrose cheese and Provita Crackers with Bovril and/or marmite sandwiches in their lunchboxes. The rest of the time I spent alone, save the few brave souls of similar complexion who tried to befriend me.

What nobody knew was that for the first three years of my life in South Africa, my little brother and I barely saw my dad more than twice a month. What was he doing absent from the home, other than selling pillowcases, duvets and bedsheets, from door to door on foot through the streets, villages and side roads of the old Transkei and Ciskei? My father would leave the house on Monday mornings after him and my mom got us ready for school, and he would be gone for days and weeks, selling the few pillowcases and bedsheets he had from door to door. On foot. We were never sure when he would return. But when he did, we were always more grateful for his safety and aliveness than anything else.

From Queenstown to Cala, Umtata, Qumbu, Qoqodala, Whittlesea, Mount Fletcher, King Williamstown, Mdantsane, Bhisho, Indwe, Butterworth, Aliwal North and even as far as Matatiele and Kokstad. There are so many other places he went to that I do not even know.

That is how my parents put us through school, until they saved up enough money to open their own little shop where they then started selling sewing machines, cotton and then community phones. Then sweets and chips and take-aways; and then hair products and the list goes on and on. It was on this that I was able to go through primary school, high school, and university. My parents have no tertiary education; it was only in their late 40s that both of them decided to register for part-time studies at Walter Sisulu to get their Diplomas. Note: Diplomas.

It took them four years, because they were busy trying to keep their kids in school, and keep selling their sweets and sewing machines while attempting to dignify their efforts with a degree.

My story is not unique – it is the story of most foreigners in South Africa. Very few foreigners come into SA with skills that make them employable here. Unless you are a medical doctor, an academic and maybe an engineer or well-established businessman before coming here, your chances of getting meaningful employment in SA are as limited as those of the United States letting Al-Qaeda members off the hook – almost impossible.

Most foreigners come to SA with the ability to braid hair, carve wood, or sell fruits, veggies, clothes, fizz pops, carpets and soap before they can find their feet here. Some are graduates…but what can another African degree do for you in SA? And any foreigner in SA will tell you that that is the truth. All of us started from below the bottom. Doing work that carries no dignity, no respect and very little financial gain. But when you have left or lost everything that you know and love and end up in a foreign land as unwelcoming in its laws and restrictions as South Africa, you have little choice available to you.

I can bet you that there is not up to 10% of South Africans who would be willing to do the menial and embarrassing work my parents and other foreigners did for as long as they did it, and for as little as they did it, were you to ask them today. So it annoys me, to the deepest part of my being when I see a South African open their mouth and cry “foul” against innocent foreigners. Let’s discuss this:

Arachnophobia – the fear of spiders.

Claustrophobia – the fear of small/tight/enclosed spaces.

Xenophobia – the fear of foreigners.

However individuals who are afraid of spiders do not go around killing spiders, rather they avoid spiders. Equally, individuals who are afraid of small and tight spaces do not go around trying to eliminate the existence of small spaces.

Thus xenophobia does not by definition imply the killing of foreigners. Yet, we continue to label this current wave of killings and murders in SA as xenophobic – and now the cooler term – “Afrophobic” attacks. Can we please just get real? What is happening in SA is a genocide, a genocide fuelled by a deep-seated hatred for which no single foreigner is responsible.

Before, you say this is too extreme, allow me to explain.

Genocide is the systematic/targeted killing of a specific tribe or race.

In South Africa’s case, this would be the senseless killings of non-South Africans, mostly those of African origin and some Pakistani, Bangladeshi and other non-African minorities.

I think the government, South African and international media are being too cowardly to call it what it is. They know what is going on in South Africa and yet they refuse to acknowledge it for fear of who knows what. Is it because their numbers are not high enough? Should we wait until a few good hundred thousand foreigners have been murdered before we speak the truth?

So now the value of human lives is being reduced to a debate on politically correct terms and phrases to protect certain interests. People are being butchered in the streets, and the country is worrying about bad PR. I hate that now, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, everyone is now trying to say, “Oh no, it’s not all South Africans that are doing this, hey. Just a few of those people there.” South Africans are trying to distance themselves from what is happening in their own backyards as though it is of any consolation to those watching their family members being sizzled in rubber rings. As if that is what matters – true South African style.

This is not the first wave of attacks of this nature in South Africa. In fact, the 2008 attacks were much worse in terms of raw numbers of casualties suffered than these have been so far. The issue of xenophobia is not a new one in SA. However, the differentiator in 2015 is that this wave is backed by a strong ideology; that somehow these attacks can be and are justified.

An ideology that sees merit in the argument that foreigners are stealing the jobs of locals, that they are stealing their women, that these “makwerekwere” are the cause of most ills in South African society.

It is a shame how uninformed and how baseless these arguments are. Foreigners do not and CANNOT steal jobs in SA. Do you know how hard it is to get South African papers, just to get into the country – not to talk of getting a work permit and convincing any company to take on the cost of employing you as a foreigner? Unless you have some freaking scarce skills in the country – it just does not happen like that.

Secondly, just shut up and stop it. South Africans who embibe these arguments are lazy. There is a disgusting entitlement that is attached to this notion that jobs can be stolen. This implies that there are jobs waiting for you – of which there are none.

There are no freaking jobs waiting for anyone. Pick up a bucket and start washing cars. Put on your shoes and walk through your streets, sell tomatoes, eggs and tea – anything people eat, they will buy. Or pick up a book, hustle your way into university, work for a scholarship and get yourself an education. But stop this senselessness. Nobody is stealing your jobs.

I got my first job when I was 11-years-old. I worked on the school bus in my town. I collected money for the bus driver, wrote out receipts and kept order on the bus. I didn’t get paid much, but it helped me learn first that nothing comes easy, I learnt to be responsible and accountable to someone else. Secondly it helped me pay for little extramural expenses I did at school which were not the priority for my parents at the time (and rightly so). In ‘varsity, even though I had a tuition bursary, I worked two part-time jobs and one contract job for the entire three years at Stellenbosch so I could pay for my good, clothes and some additional materials etc. Yes my parents supported me as best they could, but naturally, part of growing up is that you don’t bother your parents for every Rand you need.

So people see me and my family now, several years later driving a decent car and living in an average house and they say, “Ningama kwekwere, asinifuni apha. Niqaphele, aningobalapha.”

“You are foreigners, we do not want you here. You better watch out, you are not of this place,” – unaware of and unwilling to hear of the years of struggle and hustle that came with the decent car and the average house. [Which, by the way, you can never fully own as SA law now restricts ownership of property by foreigners – but that is another discussion.]

And what has been the government’s response to the worsening unemployment and crime situation in the cities and suburbs that incites this violence and dissatisfaction amongst its people? To tighten immigration laws, border controls and any little room the foreigner may have had to just maybe survive in the menacing streets of Johannesburg. As if that is where the problem began.

Is it not the way our economy is structured? That there is limited room for unskilled labour in the workforce? That those who are not vocationally trained must then settle for employment outside of their existing areas of knowledge such as artisans, plumbers and electricians – whereas these skills are equally needed in a developing economy? That we have this thing called BEE which in practice just ensures that the Black bourgeoisie get wealthier by hook or by crook while still protecting and cushioning the impact of democracy on old, white money and big business?

Is it really the little Ethiopian man with his spaza shop that is threatening your progress na Bhuthi? Is it really the Nigerian woman who braids hair and sells Fanta that is stealing your job and place in your own land na Sisi? I can’t deal.

If none of these arguments have merit for you, then think of the fact that during apartheid, Nigeria spent thousands of dollars on the ANC protecting and moving its members across borders; Angola, Mozambique, Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda all housed, supported and/or trained struggle heros with open arms and with no strings attached. How dare South Africans forget how much Africans did for them during apartheid. How dare you!

South Africans, go and learn your history. When you have read your history, then please teach the correct version to your children. Let them know that Africa helped put SA where it is now. Let them know that all blacks are not Xhosa or Zulu, but that that is irrelevant to the amount of dignity you accord to another human being. Teach your children that they must work for everything they want to have except your love as a parent. Teach your children that they are nothing without their neighbour – stop being selective about who Ubuntu applies to and does not. Teach them the truth about you.

The greatest enemy of the black man has always been himself. Not the colonialists. Not the apartheid architects. Only himself.

And as long as you refuse to take responsibility for where you are now, you will remain there. Kill us foreigners or not, it actually makes very little difference to your fortunes in life, people of Mzansi.

Lovelyn Nwadeyi
20 April 2015

Yup. One word. GENOSIDE.
No more. No less.

Side note: This South Africa issue may be the biggest thing in President Buhari's tenure. He should handle it wisely.
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Samzzy94(m): 2:57pm On Apr 25, 2015
Afarozy:
Who do u want to read dis ur story. Why not us it n write novel instead of taking anoda peoples space


Well am willing to read the writeup over n over.....just don't know why u guyz are lazy to read d writeup...... undecided
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by mikron(m): 4:17pm On Apr 25, 2015
lovemoi2:


Tell your country men to stop killing fellow blacks they call foreigners, destroying their shops and stealing from the shops they destroy!!!! I shake my head in disgust whenever i see the photos of pure wickedness. Im totally done with this topic... Peace!!!
their women were even seen looting alonside the men. what a shame
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by mikron(m): 4:18pm On Apr 25, 2015
Exjoker:
Abeg what is the post saying I could read it cuz it's too long
u could or u couldnt?
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Immanero: 6:40pm On Apr 25, 2015
Dis novel mk sense. AU should truly look in to ds issue. U can't hold anybody responsible f ur failure. wen u failed t plan den b ready f anything dat comes ur way. If ds genocide continue, dstv, shop rite, gotv, mtn b ready. Una know how Naija Mara de b o. Be worn.
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by TheGoodJoe(m): 6:19am On Apr 27, 2015
nikkflexible:
Biko..i need the summarized version of this novel...am too lazy to read this one this afternoon jare
[b]
It is a shame how uninformed and how baseless these arguments are. Foreigners do not and CANNOT steal jobs in SA. Do you know how hard it is to get South African papers, just to get into the country – not to talk of getting a work permit and convincing any company to take on the cost of employing you as a foreigner? Unless you have some freaking scarce skills in the country – it just does not happen like that.

Secondly, just shut up and stop it. South Africans who embibe these arguments are lazy. There is a disgusting entitlement that is attached to this notion that jobs can be stolen. This implies that there are jobs waiting for you – of which there are none.

There are no freaking jobs waiting for anyone. Pick up a bucket and start washing cars. Put on your shoes and walk through your streets, sell tomatoes, eggs and tea – anything people eat, they will buy. Or pick up a book, hustle your way into university, work for a scholarship and get yourself an education. But stop this senselessness. Nobody is stealing your jobs.

South Africans, go and learn your history. When you have read your history, then please teach the correct version to your children. Let them know that Africa helped put SA where it is now. Let them know that all blacks are not Xhosa or Zulu, but that that is irrelevant to the amount of dignity you accord to another human being. Teach your children that they must work for everything they want to have except your love as a parent. Teach your children that they are nothing without their neighbour – stop being selective about who Ubuntu applies to and does not. Teach them the truth about you.

The greatest enemy of the black man has always been himself. Not the colonialists. Not the apartheid architects. Only himself.

And as long as you refuse to take responsibility for where you are now, you will remain there. Kill us foreigners or not, it actually makes very little difference to your fortunes in life, people of Mzansi.

[/b]
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by TheGoodJoe(m): 6:33am On Apr 27, 2015
Very brilliant and engaging writing.

I hope the Nigerian government make steps to stop the madness in South Africa.
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by KingSango(m): 1:53pm On Apr 27, 2015
Africans should be cautious not to buy into well planned and orchestrated illusions. You don't know the identity of the bodies of the people killed. You don't know if they are foreigners or just random people killed and thrown into a pile. Mainly you don't know who killed them, when, where and how they were killed, and for what reason? Illuminati was behind the massacre in Rwanda. The Illuminati was behind Ide Amin and he was scapegoated for killing thousands when they were killing people too! Normal human beings can't stomach killing other human beings without being ignited by some sort of vengeance of someone killing their family. Only Illuminati, Luciferians and demon worshipers kill with impunity and have no remorse, in fact enjoy killing and eating of human flesh. What many of you children and I mean those of you who think like children or sheep who don't understand harsh real world facts. There are people who serve the underworld and they sacrifice people to demons for money, power and fame. These underworld people kill people everyday all over this planet. These people have been worshiping demons for so long they have become possessed by them and they are no longer human beings, meaning the soul no longer lives in these men. They are capable of any type of depravity and cruelty. This is how White Supremacy has come to rule this planet. Their world is an undoing of the world of light and love. They love to make mock of our wanting peace and prosperity with our fellow Africans. So they are killing Africans and blaming it on South Africans to ignite a genocide like they did in Rwanda and so many parts of Africa in the past. When will we get this? This open letter could be one of them posing as a Nigerian or some naive person who is now acting an agent to this illusion. Wake up.

South Africans Blacks are not against other Africans. I have meet many South Africans here in the U.S.A and I've never heard one not express solidarity with the rest of Africa including African Diaspora. Not one. I've never meet any Africans who didn't feel solidarity with other Africans. Now I've meet some brainwashed African Americans who don't identify with being African but this is the result of 100s of years of mental slavery. Each African must do his or her best not to go down the dark tunnel of hate and evil because the Illuminati keeps us in illusions who compel us to make wrong choices. We should be focusing upon building each day a world of love and light. Love, Sango.
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Sundiatakieta(m): 11:13am On Oct 27, 2015
fretnot:
My name is Lovelyn Chidinma Nwadeyi. I am a Nigerian. Born in Nigeria to two Nigerian parents. Raised in Queenstown, Eastern Cape by those same Nigerian parents right up until I completed my Bachelors at Stellenbosch.
Lovelyn Chidinma Nwadeyi
Lovelyn Chidinma Nwadeyi. Photo: supplied

Growing up in South Africa, I was always reminded by those around me that I was different to everyone else. In primary school, I had a much darker complexion than I do now, and super white teeth – the telling marks of a foreigner that betray you even when you put on your best English accent. It is just too obvious.

I bear citizenship of both worlds. I speak fluent Xhosa, Igbo, Afrikaans and English. I can make sense of Tswana and Sotho. I enjoy a good braai, I love vetkoek and bunny-chow. I can’t get enough of Bokomo WeetBix, I love Ouma’s rusks and I can pull off my panstulas with any outfit on a lazy Saturday when I want to head to town. I am the first to break it down with the ngwaza and the dombolo at the sound of some decent house music or kwaito be it in Pick n Pay or at a party.

I can sokkie and I enjoy it (albeit with my two left feet). My darkest moments can be reversed by koeksisters and a cup of rooibos tea any day. I can jump between the high pitched and arguably annoying accents of some Constantia moms, the lank kif and apparently sophisticated English of my Hilton brothers and the heavy accents of my fellow Eastern Capers. I can attempt the fast paced, lyrical Afrikaans of my coloured brothers in the Cape and I can serve you the best butternut soup you have ever known.

I am as South African as you need me to be.

But my ability to navigate all these spaces did not just happen. Learning to blend into all these spaces was a matter of survival for me.

You see from the day I set foot in Queenstown and started primary school, it was always made very clear to me that I was an outsider. I only had white friends from my first few years in school, because the other black girls couldn’t understand why I was black but only spoke in English. They thought I thought I was better than them. So I spent most of my breaks humbly eating my peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich, surrounded by those who had Melrose cheese and Provita Crackers with Bovril and/or marmite sandwiches in their lunchboxes. The rest of the time I spent alone, save the few brave souls of similar complexion who tried to befriend me.

What nobody knew was that for the first three years of my life in South Africa, my little brother and I barely saw my dad more than twice a month. What was he doing absent from the home, other than selling pillowcases, duvets and bedsheets, from door to door on foot through the streets, villages and side roads of the old Transkei and Ciskei? My father would leave the house on Monday mornings after him and my mom got us ready for school, and he would be gone for days and weeks, selling the few pillowcases and bedsheets he had from door to door. On foot. We were never sure when he would return. But when he did, we were always more grateful for his safety and aliveness than anything else.

From Queenstown to Cala, Umtata, Qumbu, Qoqodala, Whittlesea, Mount Fletcher, King Williamstown, Mdantsane, Bhisho, Indwe, Butterworth, Aliwal North and even as far as Matatiele and Kokstad. There are so many other places he went to that I do not even know.

That is how my parents put us through school, until they saved up enough money to open their own little shop where they then started selling sewing machines, cotton and then community phones. Then sweets and chips and take-aways; and then hair products and the list goes on and on. It was on this that I was able to go through primary school, high school, and university. My parents have no tertiary education; it was only in their late 40s that both of them decided to register for part-time studies at Walter Sisulu to get their Diplomas. Note: Diplomas.

It took them four years, because they were busy trying to keep their kids in school, and keep selling their sweets and sewing machines while attempting to dignify their efforts with a degree.

My story is not unique – it is the story of most foreigners in South Africa. Very few foreigners come into SA with skills that make them employable here. Unless you are a medical doctor, an academic and maybe an engineer or well-established businessman before coming here, your chances of getting meaningful employment in SA are as limited as those of the United States letting Al-Qaeda members off the hook – almost impossible.

Most foreigners come to SA with the ability to braid hair, carve wood, or sell fruits, veggies, clothes, fizz pops, carpets and soap before they can find their feet here. Some are graduates…but what can another African degree do for you in SA? And any foreigner in SA will tell you that that is the truth. All of us started from below the bottom. Doing work that carries no dignity, no respect and very little financial gain. But when you have left or lost everything that you know and love and end up in a foreign land as unwelcoming in its laws and restrictions as South Africa, you have little choice available to you.

I can bet you that there is not up to 10% of South Africans who would be willing to do the menial and embarrassing work my parents and other foreigners did for as long as they did it, and for as little as they did it, were you to ask them today. So it annoys me, to the deepest part of my being when I see a South African open their mouth and cry “foul” against innocent foreigners. Let’s discuss this:

Arachnophobia – the fear of spiders.

Claustrophobia – the fear of small/tight/enclosed spaces.

Xenophobia – the fear of foreigners.

However individuals who are afraid of spiders do not go around killing spiders, rather they avoid spiders. Equally, individuals who are afraid of small and tight spaces do not go around trying to eliminate the existence of small spaces.

Thus xenophobia does not by definition imply the killing of foreigners. Yet, we continue to label this current wave of killings and murders in SA as xenophobic – and now the cooler term – “Afrophobic” attacks. Can we please just get real? What is happening in SA is a genocide, a genocide fuelled by a deep-seated hatred for which no single foreigner is responsible.

Before, you say this is too extreme, allow me to explain.

Genocide is the systematic/targeted killing of a specific tribe or race.

In South Africa’s case, this would be the senseless killings of non-South Africans, mostly those of African origin and some Pakistani, Bangladeshi and other non-African minorities.

I think the government, South African and international media are being too cowardly to call it what it is. They know what is going on in South Africa and yet they refuse to acknowledge it for fear of who knows what. Is it because their numbers are not high enough? Should we wait until a few good hundred thousand foreigners have been murdered before we speak the truth?

So now the value of human lives is being reduced to a debate on politically correct terms and phrases to protect certain interests. People are being butchered in the streets, and the country is worrying about bad PR. I hate that now, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, everyone is now trying to say, “Oh no, it’s not all South Africans that are doing this, hey. Just a few of those people there.” South Africans are trying to distance themselves from what is happening in their own backyards as though it is of any consolation to those watching their family members being sizzled in rubber rings. As if that is what matters – true South African style.

This is not the first wave of attacks of this nature in South Africa. In fact, the 2008 attacks were much worse in terms of raw numbers of casualties suffered than these have been so far. The issue of xenophobia is not a new one in SA. However, the differentiator in 2015 is that this wave is backed by a strong ideology; that somehow these attacks can be and are justified.

An ideology that sees merit in the argument that foreigners are stealing the jobs of locals, that they are stealing their women, that these “makwerekwere” are the cause of most ills in South African society.

It is a shame how uninformed and how baseless these arguments are. Foreigners do not and CANNOT steal jobs in SA. Do you know how hard it is to get South African papers, just to get into the country – not to talk of getting a work permit and convincing any company to take on the cost of employing you as a foreigner? Unless you have some freaking scarce skills in the country – it just does not happen like that.

Secondly, just shut up and stop it. South Africans who embibe these arguments are lazy. There is a disgusting entitlement that is attached to this notion that jobs can be stolen. This implies that there are jobs waiting for you – of which there are none.

There are no freaking jobs waiting for anyone. Pick up a bucket and start washing cars. Put on your shoes and walk through your streets, sell tomatoes, eggs and tea – anything people eat, they will buy. Or pick up a book, hustle your way into university, work for a scholarship and get yourself an education. But stop this senselessness. Nobody is stealing your jobs.

I got my first job when I was 11-years-old. I worked on the school bus in my town. I collected money for the bus driver, wrote out receipts and kept order on the bus. I didn’t get paid much, but it helped me learn first that nothing comes easy, I learnt to be responsible and accountable to someone else. Secondly it helped me pay for little extramural expenses I did at school which were not the priority for my parents at the time (and rightly so). In ‘varsity, even though I had a tuition bursary, I worked two part-time jobs and one contract job for the entire three years at Stellenbosch so I could pay for my good, clothes and some additional materials etc. Yes my parents supported me as best they could, but naturally, part of growing up is that you don’t bother your parents for every Rand you need.

So people see me and my family now, several years later driving a decent car and living in an average house and they say, “Ningama kwekwere, asinifuni apha. Niqaphele, aningobalapha.”

“You are foreigners, we do not want you here. You better watch out, you are not of this place,” – unaware of and unwilling to hear of the years of struggle and hustle that came with the decent car and the average house. [Which, by the way, you can never fully own as SA law now restricts ownership of property by foreigners – but that is another discussion.]

And what has been the government’s response to the worsening unemployment and crime situation in the cities and suburbs that incites this violence and dissatisfaction amongst its people? To tighten immigration laws, border controls and any little room the foreigner may have had to just maybe survive in the menacing streets of Johannesburg. As if that is where the problem began.

Is it not the way our economy is structured? That there is limited room for unskilled labour in the workforce? That those who are not vocationally trained must then settle for employment outside of their existing areas of knowledge such as artisans, plumbers and electricians – whereas these skills are equally needed in a developing economy? That we have this thing called BEE which in practice just ensures that the Black bourgeoisie get wealthier by hook or by crook while still protecting and cushioning the impact of democracy on old, white money and big business?

Is it really the little Ethiopian man with his spaza shop that is threatening your progress na Bhuthi? Is it really the Nigerian woman who braids hair and sells Fanta that is stealing your job and place in your own land na Sisi? I can’t deal.

If none of these arguments have merit for you, then think of the fact that during apartheid, Nigeria spent thousands of dollars on the ANC protecting and moving its members across borders; Angola, Mozambique, Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda all housed, supported and/or trained struggle heros with open arms and with no strings attached. How dare South Africans forget how much Africans did for them during apartheid. How dare you!

South Africans, go and learn your history. When you have read your history, then please teach the correct version to your children. Let them know that Africa helped put SA where it is now. Let them know that all blacks are not Xhosa or Zulu, but that that is irrelevant to the amount of dignity you accord to another human being. Teach your children that they must work for everything they want to have except your love as a parent. Teach your children that they are nothing without their neighbour – stop being selective about who Ubuntu applies to and does not. Teach them the truth about you.

The greatest enemy of the black man has always been himself. Not the colonialists. Not the apartheid architects. Only himself.

And as long as you refuse to take responsibility for where you are now, you will remain there. Kill us foreigners or not, it actually makes very little difference to your fortunes in life, people of Mzansi.

Lovelyn Nwadeyi
20 April 2015

As an African American,I
felt these words dearly.

1 Like

Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by Sundiatakieta(m): 11:17am On Oct 27, 2015
KingSango:
Africans should be cautious not to buy into well planned and orchestrated illusions. You don't know the identity of the bodies of the people killed. You don't know if they are foreigners or just random people killed and thrown into a pile. Mainly you don't know who killed them, when, where and how they were killed, and for what reason? Illuminati was behind the massacre in Rwanda. The Illuminati was behind Ide Amin and he was scapegoated for killing thousands when they were killing people too! Normal human beings can't stomach killing other human beings without being ignited by some sort of vengeance of someone killing their family. Only Illuminati, Luciferians and demon worshipers kill with impunity and have no remorse, in fact enjoy killing and eating of human flesh. What many of you children and I mean those of you who think like children or sheep who don't understand harsh real world facts. There are people who serve the underworld and they sacrifice people to demons for money, power and fame. These underworld people kill people everyday all over this planet. These people have been worshiping demons for so long they have become possessed by them and they are no longer human beings, meaning the soul no longer lives in these men. They are capable of any type of depravity and cruelty. This is how White Supremacy has come to rule this planet. Their world is an undoing of the world of light and love. They love to make mock of our wanting peace and prosperity with our fellow Africans. So they are killing Africans and blaming it on South Africans to ignite a genocide like they did in Rwanda and so many parts of Africa in the past. When will we get this? This open letter could be one of them posing as a Nigerian or some naive person who is now acting an agent to this illusion. Wake up.

South Africans Blacks are not against other Africans. I have meet many South Africans here in the U.S.A and I've never heard one not express solidarity with the rest of Africa including African Diaspora. Not one. I've never meet any Africans who didn't feel solidarity with other Africans. Now I've meet some brainwashed African Americans who don't identify with being African but this is the result of 100s of years of mental slavery. Each African must do his or her best not to go down the dark tunnel of hate and evil because the Illuminati keeps us in illusions who compel us to make wrong choices. We should be focusing upon building each day a world of love and light. Love, Sango.

From an African American, you took the words right out my mouth.

1 Like

Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by MduZA: 4:53pm On Oct 27, 2015
osystein:
South Africans should just accept that their country doesn't belong to them, it belongs to the rest of Africa because Africa helped in fighting Apartheid.

South Africa has enough room and Resources to accommodate all Africans seeking greener pastures in it. Closing borders is unAfrican. Africans must feel at home anywhere on the continent. All African countries must work together and destroy south Africa, how can a black man not welcome another black man, it's unheard off.
Lets get our Chinese friends to nuke south Africa.

lol
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by LeSudAfricaine: 8:28pm On Oct 27, 2015
manny4life:
It's simple: Black South Africans are Lazy, I mean VERY LAZY.
Have you met one? Or is your asss firmly rooted in Kaduna?
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by LeSudAfricaine: 8:28pm On Oct 27, 2015
manny4life:
It's simple: Black South Africans are Lazy, I mean VERY LAZY.
Have you met one? Or is your asss firmly rooted in Maiduguri?
Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by showelgold(m): 9:53am On Nov 03, 2015
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Re: Open Letter From A Nigerian Lady To South Africans by 14(m): 7:39am On Nov 05, 2015
Leave South Africa alone. During apartheid, did you see South african refugees in mozambique, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, kenya, DRC, ghana, zambia, botswana or even lesotho?

South Africans stayed in and fought the regime than to jump the border. Thats why even today, you wont find south africans running around in foreign countries trying to make a living, they believe they are the sollution to their problems, so they must fix their country than to try by all means to get a greencard or relocate to racist europe. Africans must stay in their own countries and fix them, if you run away, who will fix those countries?

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