A letter writer responds to comments recently made by eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba when addressing the situation at Sherwood Hall.
I am African. I was born on this continent, I have lived my life on it, and no office, no title, and no momentary outburst from an elected official gives anyone the standing to tell me, or any other South African, otherwise.
It is in that spirit that I write, not as a politician, but as a child of this village who believes some things are worth saying plainly. According to reporting, eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba, while addressing a crowd gathered amid the ongoing refugee and repatriation situation at Sherwood Park, was interrupted by civil society activist Yeshelen Govender. Visibly raising his voice, Xaba said: "Hey, I'm talking with the Africans. Shut up your mouth. I'm not talking to you," before telling him to "get out" and stating, "You're not an African." He then instructed police in attendance to remove him. Govender, as has now been confirmed, is South African.
The mayor's office has since said the remark was directed at a foreign national who was being disruptive, and that the mayor draws no distinction between South Africans on the basis of race, colour or faith. That explanation does not sit easily alongside Govender's confirmed citizenship, nor alongside the words actually used, which made the distinction explicit and personal: "I am talking to the Africans. You are not an African." Those are not the words of a slip of the tongue. They are the words of someone deciding, in that moment, who belonged and who did not.
