Rabbie Serumula, author, award-winning poet, journalist.
South Africa may have lost to Mexico on the football field, but another scoreline emerged long before the referee blew the opening whistle.
Across social media and online discussions, many Africans openly declared their support for Mexico. Some did so enthusiastically. Others argued that South Africa deserved to lose.
It was a strange moment. Here was an African nation representing the continent on one of football's grandest stages, yet many fellow Africans found themselves cheering for the opposition. The easy response would be outrage. The honest response is reflection.
Why would Africans support Mexico over South Africa? The answer is uncomfortable because it has very little to do with football. For years, South Africa has wrestled with recurring waves of anti-foreigner sentiment. African migrants have been blamed for unemployment, crime, pressure on public services and economic hardship. Shops have been looted. Communities have been targeted. Politicians have discovered that frustration is easier to direct toward outsiders than toward the structural failures that produced the frustration in the first place.
