When things were going well in Mzansi just after 1994, our democracy was still in its infancy and the excitement of having political power was new to black people.
No one then saw the need to blame foreigners for anything.
Rather, it was South Africa as a whole while enjoying the attention of "reconciliation" and "unity in diversity" that insisted everyone was welcome here because ours is the best Constitution.
In reality, things were not exactly fine during those formative years - except that the taste of freedom for black politicians and the experience of mingling with white people was still too exciting.
And as elite and unskilled black people entered those previously white-only zones, foreigners took up opportunities they spotted since these were no longer fit for the now-in-power blacks.
Even as everyone sang Mandela's praises, the economy was in tatters.
Apartheid had left South Africa a scar of sanctions and in debt.
Add to this the dividing lines of tribalism and the "exiles vs so-called real freedom fighters" factor gained momentum within the ruling black elite. The likes of Thabo Mbeki, who even then, were seen as not true sons of the struggle and of the soil, resolved to build the capacity of the state and unity of black people.
But the forces of ancestral-based divisions among blacks, today known as the xenophobic demon, were not about to allow that to happen. As a result, the power of tribalism, incompetence, followed by corruption and cadre-deployment became the most definitive features of politics.
Since then, things have gotten worse. To remain in power the ruling ANC has resorted to political murders among its own and desperate content of cheap and consistent propaganda in order to entertain a restless and desperate majority of disadvantaged people.
- Letter by Khotso KD Moleko, Mangaung
