Xenophobia and Education

 

Public discussions regarding the causes of the recent outbreak of xenophobic violence in South Africa have brought several intriguing questions to light.

The most obvious question is that of the leadership vacuum at the head of the Government in South Africa.  None of the persons or bodies that should have been most directly involved in efforts to prevent or stop the violence were to be seen.  Even the Zulu King, who, by his comments that foreigners should leave the country, was probably most directly responsible for kicking off the latent violence, failed to take any effective action, or even any action at all, to stop the violence.  One of his representatives made the remarkable assertion that the King is the direct representative of God, and therefore that anything that the King says has the force of the Holy Word, and cannot be questioned or investigated.  That statement raises frightening possibilities.  The ‘God-King’, as he is known, is able to give any instruction and have it enforced without question, no matter how irresponsible or ignorant that instruction and the understanding and knowledge underlying it may be.  Any intelligent observer would be entitled to question the educational and intellectual capability of the King to fulfil the role that he has assumed, and that has been supported by the laws of the country.  The statements made by the King and his lack of any effective action to prevent a situation that has the potential of escalating to a full genocide certainly give rise to doubt that those questions can be answered satisfactorily.  Equally, the frightening lack of effective action by the President and his cohorts confirm the opinion that the leadership of the country, apart from the tribal leadership of large portions of the community, which appear to be fragmented and uncoordinated, has no clear plan for the country, other than simply retaining office so that they can continue to benefit from the extra-ordinary income flowing from their offices.  The fact that Zuma cancelled his visit to Indonesia to attend to the local problem was lauded as an example of his statesmanship can only be seen as an illustration of the absolute lack of capability of the State President to fulfil the requirements of the office.  The excuses given by the Ministers of State Security and Intelligence are equally lamentable.  Both of those worthies should have known of the trend, and taken effective attempts to defuse them long before it gave rise to the violence and killings.  Given the lamentable state of their portfolios, one must ask what else is occupying their attention.  It is horrifying to think that other developing crises have been at the forefront of their minds during the build-up to the riots.

An obvious shortcoming that should be addressed urgently is the lack of any meaningful education in economic theory.  Calls by apparently well-spoken and educated people to talk shows raised the point that the foreigners do contribute to the creation of jobs by the need for the Department of Home Affairs to document them!  If that is a meaningful source of jobs, perhaps it would be easier to close down the Department and pay the amount that is expended on it directly to the unemployed!  The achievements of the Department are extremely poor, with an application for a Birth Certificate requiring nearly two years, so far!  The callers and, in most cases, the TV and Radio commentators show a remarkable lack of understanding of the chain of economic activity.  Even the Premier of Kwa Zulu Natal made a proposal that the solution to the ‘threat’ posed by the foreign shopkeepers would require an intervention to enable the locals to buy their goods wholesale and thereby become effective as shopkeepers in competition with the foreigners!  One wonders why the foreigners, who face the same purchasing constraints as the locals, should be more effective than the locals.  If that question could be answered, it might go a long way to solve the lack of competitiveness of South African industry as a whole!  Perhaps we need to appoint a foreign shopkeeper as Minister of Trade and Industry, or even as State President, so that he could apply his superior capabilities for the good of the nation!  It appears to be almost certain that the poor education of the bulk of the population is an important factor in the inability of South Africans to earn an income.  One wonders why this should be so, given the huge sums expended on education.  A possible answer lies in the fact that the ANC is heavily committed to a Marxist-Leninist policy, relying on their training in Russia, East Germany and Cuba at the time that they were still terrorists.  It may come as a surprise to the ANC that training in communist theories is very far from education in economics, law and politics.  It may equally come as a surprise to know that Government in a democratic country is intended to be directed to the benefit of the population, not for the purpose of enrichment of those holding office.

The comments made by and about the Zulu King, a man who holds an hereditary office which is devoid of any traces of democracy, give some indicators of what is urgently required to stabilise the country.  Democracy has failed in South Africa, starting the process under Thabo Mbeki, when he, abetted by the Speaker of the House of Parliament, went to extraordinary lengths to stifle any investigation into the corruption surrounding and driving the Arms Deals in the 1990s.  Jacob Zuma took the baton of autocracy and corruption from Mbeki, running with it and deepening their hold on the fledgling democracy that Nelson Mandela founded.  It is true that the Constitution was deeply flawed as a result of the personal and political interests of the delegates to the Conference that gave rise to it, flaws that have deepened as the ANC used the words of the Constitution to entrench their political support, putting the payoffs to the National Party members into the shade.  It has now become acceptable for the present Speaker of the House to make rulings against the Rules of the House and the terms of the Constitution, and to state explicitly that the State President and the Black royalty are not subject to the rules that apply to others.  The Zulu royal House has existed since the time of Shaka, a bloodthirsty tyrant who built the Zulu nation by means of conquering the smaller tribes, and killing any person who might become an opponent in the future.  That founding is, to say the least, illegitimate.  It is less legitimate than colonialism, and is certainly not an acceptable basis for the management of a nation that is seen by the world as a democracy.

When the riots are over and the damage done, to the foreigners and to the country, a sober assessment must be made of the suitability of the Constitution, the offices under it, and the people who fill those offices, to manage a modern economy.  That will not happen, because the result of any intelligent assessment will certainly be a change to the system that has been so profitable for the hereditary tribal leaders and the ANC.