I fell in love with the rich soul of Africa

YOU do not know Bukho and Nkululeko Pokwana, both my children by my Zimbabwean ex-lover, both who are now living under the grotesque and gripping chill of xenophobia.

Anxious about their safety I called their mother Amanda, only to hear her huffing after a sprint to escape the violent whirlwind in Gauteng last weekend.

It is a fallacy and deep rooted misconception that our economic and social problems stem from foreign nationals. That this warped argument could be used in an attempt to strengthen the hand of reactionary figures such as King Zwelithini, Zuma Jnr and their ilk is unconscionable.

But let us, for a moment, consider our own condition. The Eastern Cape Planning Commission has identified us as battered and bruised and refers to this as the “alienation of the human condition”.

It speaks basically of unfulfilled human potential.

I am not sure if this was inspired by Karl Marx’s “Theory of Alienation” which he described “as a consequence of living in a society stratified into social classes. The alienation from the self is a consequence of being a mechanistic part of a social class, which condition estranges a person from his and her humanity.”

Better still is the description from the towering African scholar Ali Mazrui – a Kenyan. He speaks of “otherisation”, a way of thinking that separates “us” from “them”, and enables “us” to treat “them” otherwise.

Essentially at the heart of the Afrophobic attacks is fear, and with that an attitude that treats others with mistrust, disdain and disgust.

Feeling ashamed I had to answer this tough question from my other son, Bukho: “Daddy why are they hating us so much?”

Naturally Bukho is Xhosa but has taken sides in this issue with his Zimbabwean mother. I choked at his question.  After composing myself I assured him that these people were crazy and should be arrested.

But surely the matter should have been treated with more of a burning sense of urgency – we could even have had night courts to bring the criminals to book.

South Africa has a chequered history. We are fixated with sideshows around statues when our real problems are a far more fundamental form of transformation and economic freedom. We need to restore the dignity of our people.

One of the commissioners from the planning commission, Nhlanganiso Dladla, who is not preoccupied with his academic achievements and intellectual standing, started engaging yours truly about how the arts could assist in dealing with this matter.

The “alienated human condition” is a historical colonial/apartheid (and to some extent post-apartheid) observable phenomenon expressed through human brutality, oppression, exclusion and a lack of solidarity.

It is reflected in unequal access to the country’s material resources and is seen in class, race, gender and regional discrepancies. It is also evident in the unequal access to land, health care, good education, good governance, infrastructure and decent human settlement.

Today most development debates are pitched around the web of economic relationships, poverty, social infrastructure (education, health provision), governance and human rights. But the problem is that this framework does not adequately embrace the holistic nature of social progress in which cultural vibrancy and interaction – in short, a people’s sense of themselves – is integral.

Development will not succeed unless it is grounded in people’s own perception of their world as individuals and communities, their histories and their future potential.

I charged that the precondition for collective engagement in the Eastern Cape’s (or South Africa’s) development would be the “empowerment” of all people so that they could regain self-confidence, draw strength from their heritage, rediscover themselves as historically enlightened, progress-loving, proud, active agents of change, with a strong sense of their own rich history and liberation and development. Further, as people with the freedom to dream, to have aspirations, to exercise creativity, and to show commitment to the cause of their own development and to justice.

As I write my children are carrying on, but their lives have been profoundly blighted by the xenophobic tendencies.

It’s such a pity most of us don’t get it: we need arts, culture and heritage practitioners to take centre stage and define a future as one people.

We need the government to play its role in speeding up transformation and bringing economic freedom so that my children can live without fear.

I fell in love with Zimbabwe after reading the incipient and searing writings of literary giant Charles Dambudzo Marechera. Bukho and Nkululeko are a product of that love.

I learnt the art and craft of filmmaking from Zimbabwe after I was drafted at the African Script Development Fund, sponsored by the Ford Foundation. Some of my favourite artists are from Zim,  including Lovemore Majayivane, Oliver Mtukudzi and Chiwoniso.

I am not going to let King Zwelithini and his dumb sidekick, Zuma Jnr, take away my love from me. I’m gatvol with them!