moAfrica, grow out of your inferiority.
Written by Dimpho Saal
I find myself being a passenger in a taxi where there's a great debate stirred by a video that has been going viral during the passed week- a video of a nanny, who appears to be foreign, brutally beating up a toddler for, well... for being a toddler.
It was an innocent discussion until the one lady made a very interesting statement by saying that she wasn't surprised that this act was conducted by a foreigner because they are absolutely nothing but careless & useless. Her argument is that of many other South Africans: fellow african foreigners are but a disease slowly eating away the South african race.
As two young gentlemen seated right at the back voice their opinion, the atmosphere took a complete turn. It became a feud. Two foreign nations stood their ground of their misinterpreted identities in the land of the people.
Just as I think my observations are interesting, 2 white men enter the taxi (which is still a shock to some people who believe that taxi's are for, and only for the black man). One of the gentlemen goes on to say: "These are the people that do not belong here. Your anger is misdirected."
As the door opens, a fluent "san'bonani ninjani?" is uttered. Suddenly the entire taxi became silent for a moment. Surprisingly the silence is broken by a laughter, a laughter supported by the astonishment of a white man able to speak isiZulu - one of the top common languages in SA.
If I were to unpack the numerous events of this brief journey, you & I would spend more time necessary with eyes fixed on the screen.
This incident, like many, demonstrates the narrow mindset of that of our fellow brothers & sisters. Whether or not the content of that video is reality or mere fiction, it does not change the fact that the comments stem from a mind rooted deep within the soil of insecurity & fear- fear that black people too, are capable beyond measure.
Fact of the matter is, until we as a people allow ourselves to grow out of the spiraling mentality of inferiority, we will remain victims forever; the struggle of our forefathers would have been in vain.
My name is Modibe Julius Modiba from Benoni and i'm a 23 year old pan-African who believes in African Renaissance as the cornerstone for Africa's development. I'm currently a BA International Relations and Diplomacy student at the University of South Africa and i also write frequent opinion pieces which feature in numerous South African newspapers.
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