The African continent has since record history been bound by problems, challenges and prospects.  The continent peopled mainly by black and coloured people had suffered from the debilitating problem of slavery as millions of people of Africa origin were ferried to the New World ie. The West-Indice where-in they were subjected to debilitating and in human treatments viz, forced labour, starvation and even death. The mass movement of slaves from the African continent had also foisted on it internecine wars as slave raiders attacked peaceful communities for the sole reason of procuring slaves to service the flourishing business of slave trading. This did not only hurt the ego of the black continent, it also depleted it of its able bodied and productive population often traded for inferior European goods.
At the beginning of the 19th century with the formal and official abolition of slave trade in 1807 and subsequent efforts by the western powers to enforce it, the continent suffered a new form of trouble.  It was the balkanized into territories and fiefdoms of countries like England, France, and Portugal etc. Its human and economic resources were exploited to the selfish advantage of the colonialist overlords,.
This exploitation continued until the turn of the 20th century when the consciousness of self determination grew across Africa with strong opposition voices coming from the respective emerging black elites who craved and spearheaded the struggle for independent and total liberation of the continent and its peoples from any form of oppression. The opposition voice against colonialism and white minority rule across Africa was so loud that most of the world powers agreed to grant self rule to some Africa countries.
Countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, Mali, Zambia, Uganda, Congo Kinshasa got their independence between 1957 and 1970.
The struggle to liberate the remaining African countries that were still under white minority rule led to the formation of the Organization of Africa Unity (OAU) which has now been rechristened African Union (AU).
The OAU provided the rallying point in the struggle against the apartheid regime in South African and white minority rule in Mozambique, and Namibia.
The contribution of the Independent Africa member – countries of OAU facilitated the independence of Mozambique and Namibia in the 1980s, and the apartheid regime in South African which besides foisting white minority domination on the aboriginal people also deprived them of their fundamental human rights to life, justice, access to quality public health, decent jobs etc.
Their denial of the universally recognized adult suffrage which took away the right of black South African to vote and be voted for in an election was what perpetrated the apartheid regime in that enclave longer than expected until its final collapse in 1994 with the election of the first Black African President in the person of the living legend himself Nelson Madiba Mandela.
Mandela, one of the heroes of South Africa’s tortuous path to freedom had earlier been released in 1990 after 27 years in prisons by the last apartheid Regime President F.W De Clark whose administration came with sweeping reforms that paved the way for the eventual collapse of racial discrimination in the Rainbow Nation.
This could not have been possible without the pressure mounted by the OAU and other anti-apartheid western nations including, USA, Cuba, and the USSR which offered financial, psychological and material support towards the anti apartheid struggles. Nigeria and few other African countries like Zimbabwe and Angola played major roles in the anti-apartheid struggle as they committed huge finances to the fight to liberate their suffering fellow Africans in the former apartheid enclave.
The South African Relief Fund an initiative of the OAU provided huge funding that went into the up keep and education of South Africans. Hundreds of victims of apartheid regime particularly after the Soweto uprising of 1976 benefited generously from it.
On the diplomatic front, the Murtala/Obasanjo military regime of 1976-1979 nationalized British investment interest in Nigeria in protest of the Margaret Thatcher British administrations indisposition to the decimation of apartheid in South Africa.
Unfortunately, these noble efforts that were aimed at forging and strengthening the bond of African brotherhood is being greatly threatened by the recurring incidences of xenophobic attacks on migrant African workers and migrant small business owners in South Africa by aboriginal South Africans who have accused them of taking over jobs and business opportunities in their homeland. They also made some incredible and mundane allegations such that portray the migrants as snatching their women.
From the streets of Durban to those of Johannesburg, hundreds of migrants of African descent have either been molested with their businesses looted and destroyed by the marauding totes (area boys) in South Africa since the attacks stated about three weeks ago.
Also, no fewer than seven migrants of African descent have lost their lives to the brutish attacks of these felons which the South African police had been accused of condoning.
Gory video clips on how the victims met their ends abound on the Social Media including the burning alive of a Zimbabwean immigrant on the street of Durban.
For nearly two weeks, hapless migrants fled their homes to border settlements losing properties and articles of trade put at over N100 million. Despite the nationwide TV broadcast by South African President Jacob Zuma calling for cessation of hostilities against the African migrants, the attacks had continued thereby provoking global outrage against the South African authorities who have been accused of not doing enough to curtail the attacks. The president has however expressed his commitment to eliminating the xenophobic attacks from the South African socio-economic narative  This however forced the S/African government to deploy the military to curtail the violent following the seeming in-ability of the South African police to handle the situation.
The failure of the police to quell the hate attacks on foreigners of Africa descent had fueled suspicions of state conspiracy against migrants who had been accused of taking every available job in the South African economy. This feeling among South African youths was fueled by the high unemployment rate in the country put at 21 percent. With this high percentage of the unemployed in a country with the highest GDP in Africa and until recently the largest economy in Africa coupled with the seeming elusiveness of the expected post apartheid prosperity, the xenophobic feelings were not unexpected.
But the resort to violence and even killing of fellow Africans for reason of pursuing their legitimate businesses in the rainbow nation is to say the least condemnable and injurious to the time tested African brotherhood.
Nothing justifies the wanton killing and destruction of property.  But public commentators believe that the socio-economic inequalities which characterized the apartheid era has not abated despite citizens’ high hopes of better living condition for all in the post apartheid South Africa.
This has been blamed on the neo liberal capitalist choice made by the post apartheid government which has not helped to eliminate the serious inequalities sown under apartheid capitalism.
The economic policies of the post apartheid era sis not significantly depart from those of the apartheid era. The whites still own most of the investment in the country and still dominate the economy. The post apartheid government in its bid to ensure a stable investment climate and guarantee free enterprise did nothing to redirect the economic culture already on ground.  This had grave implications for the average unskilled South Africans who had perceived the success of the librations struggle against apartheid as a meal ticket.  They woke up to the post apartheid realities that the white minority still call the shots in the South African economy and only engages competent hands to man their investments from where ever they could be sourced.
This is where many believe the South Africa government has not done very well for its young population as it has failed to empower them.  The government they contend should be blamed for producing an uneducated and unenlightened citizenry that could fall for anything including a feeling of alienation in their own country as to take it out on fellow black Africans.
The South African government should as a matter of urgency restructure the social and economic sectors of the country with a view to changing the socio psyche of the average South African to embrace hard work and be self confident. By so doing the average man in that country would begin to think and reason like global citizens who would no longer perceive migrants to their country as enemies.
One is encouraged by the country wide protest against the xenophobic attacks by well meaning individuals and groups in South Africa including the country’s parliament which has made commitment to deal with the situation.
Worthy of mention here is the statement credited to the Africa National Congress (ANC) South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU). The organizations in speaking to the avoidable attacks on fellow African migrants to the country said.
“We recognize the strong relationship that exist(ed) between the National Liberation Movement led by the ANC and countries of Africa which was forged in the crucible of struggle during the dark days of apartheid.
“We cherish the unselfish sacrifices made by all African countries and their people to our liberation  and our emerging democracy.  Many of our fellow Africans spoke in favour of our struggle, provided us with material support and fought side by side with us, sharing the trenches and fighting in actual combats against our oppressors. Many of them lost their lives in the process.  We will never in a single moment forget this support. It is a living evidence of what a United African people can achieve”.
They did not stop there; they drew attention to the continents common problems arising from the negative effects of colonialism and called for tolerance among the marauding xenophobia stricken gang against equally struggling fellow Africans with a view to finding solution to the socio-economic crises across the continent in a manner that build the African continent instead of destroying it.
This is indeed a food for thought for the marauders in South Africa who have taken violence in the place of engaging themselves in ventures that would edify their humanity thereby bring down the self esteem of the average African in the eye of the global community.
This is where the African Union must pile pressures on the South African government to ensure justice for the victim by bringing to book those who perpetrated the violence. This is one sure way of avoiding a recurrence in the future.
The South African government must show leadership by assuaging the ill feelings currently brewing against whatever the multi-racial country represent in the continent.
The government must make commitment that xenophobic attacks or any thing in that colouration will not happen in the country again and pay compensation to all victims of the unfortunate attacks.

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