Black and white South Africans are finally developing something in common. And it's not pleasant
XENOPHOBIA is raising its ugly head in this country as black and white look across the Orange and Limpopo with dismay at the rising tide of immigrants from the rest of Africa.
Admittedly for different reasons. White South Africa once embraced immigration — whites only of course .
Now those immigrants are black, and among them come Nigerian drug dealers, Zairean diamond thieves, Zimbabwean hijackers... Swart gevaar lives.
More disconcerting is the increasingly antagonistic view black South Africans hold of the influx from the north.
Try it yourself. Take a straw poll among friends and colleagues black and white. "Should we welcome immigrants from other African countries?"
You will be greeted with raised eyebrows, looks of horror and outrage, and you will get responses like this:
"Where will we put them?" "How will we feed them?" "Whose jobs will they take?" "Our own people need to be looked after first." Moan moan moan.
The United States was built by immigrants. The pilgrim fathers, African and Chinese slave labour, Irish, Italian, German, Greek, French — they were the first wave.
But in this century, we're able to see for the first time the effect of specific groups of immigrants.
First came the Japanese. Shunned by American society, were imprisoned in concentration camps during the war, they still built up a community, and became an economic force. Today, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are as American as anyone else.
Then came the Koreans and Vietnamese. They too went through the same cycle. And today, their grandchildren are assimilated.
Why does this work? Immigrants are strangers in a strange land. They lack the comfort zones natives have built up over generations.
They have to build for themselves job opportunities, cultural institutions, networks of friends. They are forced to excel at everything they attempt since they are judged by a different standard. They work harder and demand less.
In so doing, they contribute to the development of their new home.
Today's wave of immigrants in the US are emulating what the Koreans and Vietnamese did two decades ago. They are excelling in education and powering their way up the ladder.
Who are today's immigrants? Indians are at the forefront, particularly in academia and technology. But the group which is turning America's stereotypes upside down are the Ethiopians. They too are excelling in education, growing new businesses, and rising in industry.
An educated workforce is the key to sustained growth. Ireland has discovered this. That country now enjoys a ridiculously high growth rate after decades of investment in education.
Our own economy is growing, but we do not have the educated workforce to allow us to grow today's skilled industries — like technology. We need to stake a claim in these fields now. We need the workforce to drive these industries.
The answer is in immigrants. Zimbabwe, Botswana and Swaziland have enjoyed extremely high standards of education compared to ours. We should tap into this resource to fuel our own economy. The benefit to our society will come a generation from now.
As an afterthought, if these countries had sided with apartheid, they might well be more prosperous today.
And up until the time of Shaka, their ancestors were natives of this land. This is their home too.