South Africa’s Geoeconomic Tumble & Rounds of Distracting Xenophobia

Introduction

South Africa has once again hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. On the face of it an apparent disavowal of history by the people or sections of the population led them to independently resort to attacking foreigners in this case other Africans, maiming and killing some.  Such narrative is inherently disabled and deficient in context, in history and at various geographical aggregations. The purpose of this piece is to dig deeper into the historical, geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics driving a post-apartheid apartheid emergence in South Africa. In contrast Nigeria’s response will be reviewed. 

Mandela’s Stumble

It is all about Nelson Mandela! The palpable rage across African capitals this week is all the more inflated by the fact that in the man’s name so much was invested to liberate an oppressed people, suffering members of an African family. No matter how much the narrative is appropriated, the polished neutral presentation of the man beaming positive outcomes is incomplete even though it is not an invitation for his total condemnation.

Nevertheless this round of South Africans-on-Africans xenophobia is triggered by the same neoliberal forces unleashed by Mandela’s inability to confront the same forces in his lifetime prior to taking political office. The expediency of time, magnification of apparent victory of majority and long prison term led to obscuration of the real power of the outgoing apartheid minority. In the euphoria of hollow triumph and questionable popular mandate divorced from the people, Mandela reduced and eliminated the real benefits of popular overthrow of apartheid as he and his team settled for political concession devoid of economic potency. By so doing apartheid was not completely defeated rather was transformed from a race-based structure into consolidated platform for economic inequality of the majority. No wonder the West continues to celebrate and adulate him!

Modification into Neoliberal Economic DNA

Neoliberal economic doctrine is very simple in its objectives, profit at any cost by default at peoples’ expense. In any case a limited government that exclusively shuns provision of social or any services for the population except infrastructure for big business. Chile is its poster child, Russia tasted its bitter pill and no one remembers that China welcomed it for ‘rich is good’. For this profit to be extracted ‘sustainably’, violence (by any means necessary) is an inevitable weapon. Apartheid South Africa operated in part on this form of violent exclusivity with capital flowing as direct investment from various condoning Western capitals while disenfranchised South Africans were violently co-opted to serve it.

It is this virulent Washington DC consensus economic agenda geopolitically projected through World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Mandela and his coterie signed up to. In doing so Mandela secured his country as a client state firm in western orbit. With flourish the ANC African Charter was consigned to history and new ugly chapter was forced upon newly-liberated South Africans. While a minority will go one to benefit from the rigged system, the majority of displaced, unemployed, disenfranchised (re-disenfranchised) and landless peoples where cast out by their own even with votes in hand.

Meeting World Bank and IMF mandates means throwing South Africans under the bus with limited opportunities, narrow investments of manpower development and disdain for starting up the real economy. It is easier for South African industries to import cheap trained professional and skill personnel than meet the inflated cost of local training of indigenous capability. This is one reason behind massive attraction and reception of many skilled/unskilled Africans to the biggest regional market. Most of the migrant workers find the income dependable and reliable compared to situations in their home countries. Another spectre of incompetent leadership haunting most of Africa! 

Manipulation of Victimhood Transfer

There is an inserted economic problem in South Africa regardless of positive annual economic growth and favourable GDP figures. The economic system is rigged against the majority hence the periodic expression of discontent by citizens. There will be another citizens’ unrest and apparently it may be re-directed against other resident Africans. These unemployed citizens and citizens of inequality are the real victims, now it is unclear how their anger is directed or manipulated towards attacking other resident Africans with viciousness.  

These unfortunate citizens cum victims who have been suffering for the past 2 decades or so are not ignorami of history as purported by the South African’s High Commissioner in London & mainstream media neither are they individually/collectively ungrateful for apartheid era support received from other Africans. History and gratitude to the external count for less, their gripe is the debt owed them internally historically and by their own government. South African government has no qualms de-historicising, delegitimising and de-ontologising her own citizens to get a pass with her geopolitical masters.

African migrant workers in South Africa are equally victims in other own countries as many of their capitals failed them miserably with economic mismanagement and questionable leaderships. These capitals will only make bland statements devoid of real action. They are double victims in South Africa’s latest re-direction of popular anger against them. There is a known pattern of xenophobic reaction of unemployed majority South Africans and the driver is the same. It is questionable that the perception of migrant worker as job-stealer by unemployed South Africans is deliberately instrumentalised & equipped with violence by the same South African independently to eliminate fellow poor & easily accessible Africans.  Who re-appropriated the anger, then organised, instrumentalised and equipped it with violence?

It is not impossible for elements in the political space and ANC to manipulate popular anger against other resident Africans. What happened to burning public and or party assets? The idea that the current Zulu king (without covert state assistance) is culpable is a shallow settlement of initiatives.  Although it is a sad state of affairs that that heroic ethnic nation is represented negatively by ignominious spectacle at critical time. The president may not be de-linked easily as he is a member of that glorious nation.

Let it not be lost on the reader that the geopolitical implications for South Africa’s geoeconomic connection to Washington DC mean a cathartic continuum of apartheid methodology, methodologies of violence. Forget about membership of BRICS! ANC government under President J Zuma oversaw the 2012 massacre of 34 defenceless &protesting workers/miners in cold blood by members the police force few months ago. Yes, feel free to compare 1960 Sharpeville massacre with 2012 Marikana massacre! So if such heinous crime could be perpetrated by South Africa state under majority rule against her own citizens, what chance have other accessible resident Africans got?

Sad Nigerian Response

Following Nigerian newspapers on the event is like reading a clash of expectations. While most outlets reported or re-pasted the report, it was obvious that beyond emotions sections of the political elite need further learning on nuanced handling of international issues and geopolitical themes. It was the right thing for Foreign Affairs Ministry in Abuja to summon South Africa’s High Commissioner to explain his country's position. It is also right that Abuja did not hasten to recall her High Commissioner in Pretoria* not because of diminished priority rather on the basis that the severity is insufficient for such drastic action. Recalling or withdrawal of the highest representing diplomat occurs only for very severe, high priority & strategic/geopolitical misunderstandings between states.

The area of most concern regards statements purportedly made by some members of the legislature calling for the incident (South Africa) to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). What is worrying with this position regardless of its veracity is the apparent acceptance of imposed information with neutral aplomb. This is often the case with contextual self-repudiation of colonised peoples as some of their so-called elite lap at any innovation of domination imposed from outside without critical analysis. ICC in itself is a symbol of imposition and containment of Africa with the number of Africans including current Kenyan president forced to appear before it. 

ICC is a symbol of geopolitical domination of states & peoples and its court an activity space for collective humiliation of erstwhile independent states & African peoples. How many non-Africans have been hurled before it? Apart from former Yugoslavs, how many Europeans are inferior enough to appear on its summons? It is apparent that one cannot reject a neoliberal motivated outburst and simultaneously call for its adjudication through one of its biases proxies. Of course there will be calls against this position on ICC. If African elite want justice, let them apply for it in their home countries. Let ICC be an incentive to reactivate national justice systems where no one is above law and is seen/made to be so. Let national courts be compelled to try cases in their territories instead of imposing dehumanising collective judicial waterboarding in foreign lands.

Pro-Active Diplomatic Detour

One of the reasons that could be advanced for Nigeria’s puerile diplomatic performance could be the transition period. This can be countenanced on the peripheries of weak political cultures nevertheless there is a seating government and an active diplomatic service. The following steps would have represented higher quality of diplomatic response in full media for South Africa’s special attention, domestic audience and international consumption. 

With the news filtering in from Pretoria High Commission (morning) report, an emergency cabinet meeting would be called by the president with all ministers in the country present. In parallel the diplomatic track will be activated. Hyperbolic communique is issued including directive for immediate shuttle diplomacy to West Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa and Central Africa regions by the Foreign Affairs Minister (with a president jet at his/her disposal). South Africa sensitivities must be recognised while initiative is maintained.  Ghana (current ECOWAS chairmanship) and other regional headships must be stops on the shuttle to confer with them the seriousness of the issue. 

The final stop will be Pretoria including an audience with President Zuma to discuss a number of strategic and geopolitical issues include handing over a message from the outgoing president of the Nigerian republic. No demarche! All things being equal this spectacle of serious engagement and also public diplomacy will surely put Pretoria on the back foot in the short-term while forcing a rethink on their future management of related issues. Symbolically this diplomatic shuttle must avoid North Africa, avoid overt/covert meetings with EU, US & BRICS members. Let it be an African affair, another attempt to strengthen Africa’s diplomatic initiative, advance collaboration of sensitive issues and increased respectful interaction! For Abuja it will be another testament to gradual restoration of her pro-active leadership in the continent.

Conclusion

South Africa is ‘genetically’ in an economic quagmire with increasingly mismanaged economic outcomes that has created and will continue to create massive inequality unless something is done. There will be periodic outbursts of managed or re-directed protests. African capitals are challenged to invest seriously in innovative economic development while taking advantage of new global geoeconomic realities. African leadership is challenged to cease needless re-appropriation of narratives toward realistic elevation of citizens with solution-oriented economic development and positive governance devoid of neoliberal economic virus.

*3 days after this piece was published it was reported that Abuja recalled her High Commissioner & Deputy High Commissioner in Pretoria for consultation. This information was not on the Foreign Affairs Ministry website at 26/04/2015 17.58.