Who is who?

The world was astound by the Xenophobic attacks that were taking place in south Africa. From there, we hear big name, the likes of Archbishop Desmond Tutu saying the attacks are a sign that the poor South Africans are flogging because they have waited a long time for the promises made by the Government to be delivered.

I'm black, a South African black who is poor and did not go as far as discriminating people because of their nationality or race. There is one thing that was not explored when the appointed committee was investigating the cause of these attacks. Black people here are still in living in an apartheid era even though we have been a liberal country for the past 12 years.

• My people prefer to respect a white person compared to their own.
• We believe we can get rich, and white people are the only ones who are rich.
• We believe we speak the same language.

To substantiate the last statement, here is what I find:

• If I am black and stay in Cape Town, I am either a Xhosa or a foreigner.

When I come across fellow brothers and sister at the shopping mall or in the taxi or train, they speak to me in Xhosa, and if I say I don't understand I get weird looks, and they start talking to others in their language about me. The most question you would hear is, where does he come from? The response they get is, He is a kwerekwere. If you try your best to speak English, they say they are not white people. I fell so ashamed to talk to them most of the time because I don't know their native language. But do they know mine? No. That is not all, you get looks too when you answer the phone in your language, most of the time I feel like ignoring my calls. this is not happening only in Cape Town, it is everywhere in South Africa.

You raise eyebrows when you talk in your language but when a tall beautiful French lady start saying," bonjour, comment allez-vous ?" after picking up her phone, she does not get the looks you as a black person do get. If you are black and speak French, then again you are a foreigner.

I think what could be done to ease this stereotype in our society is to take all black South African and put then in a rehabilitation centers, I strongly "believe" that our minds have been programmed to think and behave the way we do and that needs to stop.