The ZANUPF Politburo meeting, which was aborted on Friday amid disagreements, is now taking place today. Shall we order a truckload of popcorn, please? 🍿 🍿 🍿

I remember reporting almost two weeks ago about Zimbabweans camped outside the Zimbabwean Consulate in Cape Town. What I do not understand is this: these people have made it clear that they want to return home. We all know they did not plan for these circumstances. They have been stripped of their livelihoods and, in many cases, no longer have the financial means to get back to Zimbabwe. What stops the President from instructing the Minister of Finance and the relevant ministries to organise buses to transport our people from Cape Town back home? What stops the government from allowing them to cross the border with their personal goods and belongings without charging customs duty, given that this is clearly a humanitarian crisis? This is not a complicated policy issue. It is a basic act of leadership and compassion. What I struggle to understand about the Zimbabwean government is that you see men in expensive suits and women in elegant dresses, yet they fail to think in such simple, practical terms. At times like these, a government should be seen doing what governments are meant to do, protecting and assisting its citizens. South African media have reported on the plight of these Zimbabweans almost every day. The situation is neither hidden nor unknown. Yet there has been no meaningful humanitarian response from Harare. The government and its supporters will no doubt come up with all sorts of excuses. But this really is straightforward. Send buses. Bring your people home. Waive customs duties on their personal belongings. They have been forced into this situation by the climate of xenophobia and Afrophobia they have experienced in South Africa. A government’s responsibility is not to make excuses. It is to act.

It is interesting that, in this season of Afrophobia, the xenophobes and Afrophobes seem reluctant to respond when remarks as in this video come from white people, yet they react with outrage when a black person says the same thing. That raises an obvious question, was Julius Malema right when he argued that the xenophobes are afraid of confronting white people? If the principle is truly the issue, then it should be applied consistently, regardless of who is speaking. One of the leaders of the xenophobic movement, Ngizwe Mchunu, recently declared that a German living in South Africa is no longer German but South African. Yet the same individual, together with Jacob Zuma and his MK Party, is demanding that Africans who are legally documented and living lawfully in South Africa should leave the country. If nationality and belonging are determined by residence and legal status in one case, why is the same principle not applied consistently to legally documented Africans? Is this inconsistency driven by a reluctance to confront white people, while directing hostility towards fellow Africans instead? Could it be because Jacob Zuma is working with AfriForum? If so, is that influencing who is criticised and who is spared? What is interesting is that this white South African has described the xenophobes and Afrophobes as not just stupid, but even more stupid than he had previously thought. Yet there has been complete silence from them. When black people make similar criticisms, they erupt with outrage. But when a white South African says it, they suddenly go quiet. Perhaps Julius Malema was right after all when he suggested that they are afraid of confronting white people. If they truly stand by their convictions, they should respond consistently, regardless of who is speaking. But quite clearly, they are cowards who only gain their courage against fellow black Africans. Hypocrites!