Africa: Xenophobia Puts South Africa's Moral Authority in Africa At Risk

analysis

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was heckled during the recent funeral service of Zimbabwe's erstwhile leader Robert Mugabe. It was easy to guess why. When he stood to speak, Ramaphosa apologised for weeks of violence in his country targeted at non-national Africans.

Immediately after this apology, heckling turned into cheers. His apology, a stroke of ingenuity, defused the tension. But it didn't answer the key question that philosopher and political theorist Achille Mbembe once asked in relation to xenophobic violence in South Africa:

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