It is hard to fathom what Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini thought he was doing when he launched his tirade against foreigners last week. His words were tailor-made to bring about a repeat of the 2008 xenophobic mob violence which led to the deaths of more than 60 foreigners, principally in Johannesburg. This time at least seven people have been murdered so far and more than 5,000 foreigners forced to flee their homes to the safety of compounds guarded by police. Desperate immigrants have been arming themselves with machetes and spears to defend themselves and their families from attack. So threatening has the violence become that South Africa's president Jacob Zuma has been obliged to send in the army to keep order. It is not even as if Zwelithini could gain any political advantage with his dangerous and asinine pronouncement. Unleashing crowds of Zulu impis, warriors, on immigrant communities does him and his Zulu constituency nothing but political harm. By inciting this hateful violence, Zwelithini has made himself no better than European racists and bigots. Pulling the trigger of intolerance is easy in both Europe and South Africa. Each suffer from struggling economies and high unemployment - in the case of South Africa, more than 25 percent. Yet there is also a big difference. There is no real social welfare in South Africa which can be tapped by immigrants. Therefore, the two million foreigners - some say the figure is much higher - who have come to the country are supporting themselves by working. That means that there is work to be had, but by and large, only in menial, low-paid jobs which the locals are not prepared to take. South Africans are still waiting for the economic miracle that they were promised with the end of white rule. “Black entitlement”, which was supposed to offer equal economic opportunity to all South Africans, has in reality only benefited a clique around the president and the ruling African National Congress. By contrast, the immigrants mostly come from poor neighboring countries without the massive natural resources and advanced economy of their host. They are prepared to work for a pittance, scraping together savings which they repatriate to their families back home. For them South Africa is a land of opportunity. For locals, 21 years of ANC government since the end of white minority rule has brought little but disappointment and frustration. The ANC cannot escape the blame for staggering economic mismanagement at virtually every level. One of the most outstanding examples was the failure of the state electricity company, Eskom, to modernize its distribution network, to say nothing of building new power stations. The result has been a lack of power, not least to the crucial mining sector. Analysts ascribe the problems to a mixture of sheer political and administrative incompetence and rampant corruption. Therefore, although Zwelithini's malevolent comments launched the latest violence, the fundamental culprit is an economically incoherent governing ANC. Just as the more populous and potentially wealthier Nigeria has so far frittered away its opportunities for vibrant growth, the more developed South Africa has missed virtually every chance to better itself and its citizens. The great tragedy is that the colors of the Rainbow Nation, in which the outside world placed such great hopes and expectations, are running together and the color that is being produced is blood red.
