South Africa must confront the roots of its xenophobic violence

T

he wave of deadly xenophobic attacks against foreigners of African descent that has shamed South Africa, and the astonishingly tardy response by the government, has multiple causes. These simmer under the surface, and from time to time explode violently.

Not honestly acknowledging and facing up to underlying societal problems is a big contributing factor. As the xenophobic violence spreads like wild fire, instead of sending in the army to the affected communities, the government remained stuck in denial, leaders claimed it was not xenophobic and was made up of “isolated” incidents.

Xenophobia in South Africa: 'They beat my husband with sticks and took everything'

 

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South Africa is a deeply violent society – and we must own up to that, in order to better deal with the reality. The culture of violence has its roots in the violence of colonialism and apartheid – and the oppressed peoples’ counterviolence in response.

As well as being one of the globe’s most diverse societies, South Africa is also one where different communities are often deeply intolerant of others. Apartheid has not only left a deep legacy of white-against-black racism. The apartheid system, by forcefully ghettoising ethnic groups, those with different shades of skin or languages, has left a legacy of not only interracial group and colour prejudice, but also prejudice against Africans from outside the country.

As a result, both black and white South Africans are deeply suspicious of Africans from north of the Limpopo. African immigrants are violently attacked because perpetrators believe the police will not prosecute them with the same zeal because the victims are foreign, not “like us”.

Xenophobic statements by national leaders have helped fuel the problem. King Goodwill Zwelithini, traditional leader of the Zulu ethnic group, said African migrants should “take their things and go”, as they supposedly take the jobs and public resources meant for locals.

President Jacob Zuma last year said that South African blacks should not behave as if they were “typical” blacks from “Africa”. The African National Congress general secretary, Gwede Mantashe, blamed “foreigners” for stoking unrest in South Africa’s platinum belt.

In January this year, the small business development minister, Lindiwe Zulu, said the businesses of foreign Africans based in townships could not expect to coexist peacefully with local business owners unless they shared their trade “secrets”.

The last wave of xenophobic attacks, in 2008, came at the height of the global financial crisis. Right now, the South African economy is again at a “crossroads”, as finance minister Nhlanhla Nene put it in his budget speech earlier this year.

As the economy gets worse, poor blacks and African immigrants compete for scarce resources at the township level. African immigrants are likely to be better educated and more resourceful than locals – and the local response has been to turn to violence to stamp out the competition.

South Africa is facing two crises simultaneously: the government is not delivering effective public services to the poor, while the economy is in a slump with job losses in the private sector and increasingly in the public sector.

But democratic institutions, such as parliament, are also perceived to be failing poor black South Africans. Because of this, people increasingly seek answers in populist, tribalist, ethnic and fundamentalist “solutions”. They look for scapegoats, whether “capitalists”, “settlers”, “foreigners”.

The country’s existing party political system, its parties and leaders are not responding to the needs of the majority of voters. Many disillusioned citizens therefore increasingly withdraw from politics or stay away from voting. The ANC, despite the fact that it received 62% of the vote in last year’s national elections, is losing its hold over black society. There is nothing to replace it yet.

President Zuma must go to the victims, and be seen embracing them, apologising as a president for the sickening violence meted out against them. Zulu King Zwelithini must also publicly apologise and be seen to go the affected African migrant communities.

The army must be deployed as a matter of urgency in the affected areas. The perpetrators of xenophobic violence must be prosecuted firmly, to show that government, democratic institutions and society are serious about crimes against foreign Africans.

The previous wave of xenophobic attacks and the government’s uninterested response was one of the factors that dislodged Thabo Mbeki. This current round of xenophobic violence, and likely negative effect on the fragile economy, our relations with other African countries, and the shame of our complicity, may be the harbinger of the beginning of the end of the Zuma presidency also.

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The 3 Worst Habits of Clueless Leaders

I worked for a guy who thought of employees as squirrels. I know, because he told a reporter that he often needed to drop into the office "wildfire" to pick them up and save them from being burned alive. Seriously, I could not make this up. The newspaper ran the story.

There is no perfect leader, but most of us who are managers do think we are strong bosses anyway. Okay, so maybe you picked up some rodent-inspired views and bad habits that cause your team some grief from time to time. What’s the big deal?

If this is the way you operate, your bad habits may be harming your employees more than you think. A Gallup study of 7,272 U.S. adults found that that at some point during their careers, one in two had left a job just to get away from their manager.

Think for a moment how your employees respond. Does the mood change when you walk in the door? Are they receptive to you, or do they seem frustrated? These may be signs that your employees are less than enthusiastic -- and that your poor leadership may be taking its toll on team morale.

Clearly, your bad leadership habits affect more than just you. You may think your imperfections are yours to own, but they negatively affect everyone on your team.

Here are three of the worst habits you should kick to the curb before it’s too late.

Expecting the impossible
Are you being reasonable in your requests? For example, you’ve asked your employees to complete a project by a certain time, and then you keep them in a meeting right up to their deadline. Or do you expect a result without sharing the tools or a plan to get there. Think, “Am I giving my employees the tools they need to succeed?”

Changing direction on a whim
You may think that because you’re in charge, you can change directions midstream in the project. I’m not saying that you should never reevaluate the course that you have set. However, being unpredictable causes confusion. You also waste your employees’ time and your money when you suddenly change your mind. Strong leaders know where they’re headed before they set out, and they carefully consider the cost before making an about-face.

Not respecting employees’ time
We work hard at Aha!, but we also believe we should strive for sustainable happiness. That means making sure we allow everyone time to be successful at work and at home. When you run roughshod over your employees’ time and expect them to be available at your beck and call, you show a lack of respect for them. Your employees will be happier when you show that you care about their time too.

You have a responsibility to your employees to be the best leader that you can be. That means identifying barriers that inhibit their growth, even if those barriers involve you.

Without your employees, you won't have much of a business to run. If you want to keep your employees from hitting the road, you need to make a conscious effort to eliminate bad leadership habits that are roadblocks to their success.

Your employees will appreciate your effort toward creating a saner workplace, and respond with gratitude instead of frustration.

Do you agree that these are three nasty habits?

Big Lesson For Nigerians

 in South African, Nigerians subscribing to DSTV should stop patronising DSTV for now. All Nigerians on MTN should port to other networks. This is in solidarity with our brothers being killed in South African. Please kindly share.

This is why I’m mad. Security forces turn their backs while their people steal from a store belonging to a foreigner. Shey if these ones don’t have any sense, the police will also say they don’t have sense?

As far as I am concerned, they are aiding these attacks on other blacks. Worst still, their government hasn’t responded yet. Such a shame! Nothing has made me so mad in a long time. If like me, you saw that video of children tied up, beaten and gasoline poured on them, you would be mad too.

Executive Seminar with CEO of Northrop Grumman

Wes Bush is the CEO of Northrop Grumman, an American aerospace and defense technology company. The company has achieved 24 billion in sales working for the US government allies around the world. Northrop’s 65,000 employees across 25 countries, most of whom work in STEM roles, pride themselves on contributing to the advanced research and development that position us at the front edge of defense technology. Though the role of personnel – the men and women who bravely give their lives for our country – should not be underestimated, this technology plays a vital role in ensuring our military’s success. After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from MIT, Bush took a risk by taking a job in the aerospace and defense industry. Once he got security clearance, he instantly knew he was in the right place. In fact, Mr. Bush still greatly enjoys watching new employees first see the company’s confidential projects. Some of the projects Mr. Bush works on (at least the ones he can discuss) include developing unmanned systems that operate in space, in the air, on the water, and undersea – environments where you don’t want to put a human for an extended period of time. These vehicles allow for greater endurance, particularly in rough environments or dangerous conditions. For example, after the destruction of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in the Japanese Tsunami in 2011, Northrop sent an unmanned aircraft to measure the damage in an environment that was not safe for human occupancy due to possible radioactive fallout. The systems Mr. Bush creates are exceptionally advanced. The aircraft that they build are essentially robots that successfully fly themselves, take care of dangerous situations, and return autonomously. These robots range from the size of an insect to the size of a 737. Additionally, in terms of cyber security, Northrop Grumman must constantly update their systems to stay on the cutting edge. As cyber warfare has quickly transitioned from nation-states essentially poking each other to a nation-state carrying out an advanced attack on Sony, the ability to ensure that our critical infrastructure and government networks are secure is a tough problem that requires constant development. Another project Northrop Grumman has worked on is the James Webb Space Telescope. Using telescopes, we are able to look into the past – we see the light that distant bodies emitted many years ago finally reaching Earth. The more powerful the telescope, the farther away the stars we can look at, and the farther back in time we can see. The James Webb Space Telescope is a telescope one hundred times more powerful than the Hubble Telescope and aims to see into the beginning of the universe by picking up the photons that have been trudging along for the last 14 billion years. To do so, Northrop Grumman faced the task of building an exceptionally large mirror, one that is too large to be sent into space in one piece. Consequently, they designed a mechanism for folding this mirror for launch that required precision down to one billionth of an inch. To tackle these exceptionally complex problems, Mr. Bush values the input of diverse disciplines – scientists to carry out research, engineers to build structures, and business administrators to ensure the success of the company’s management. A company can only create new technology with a working business function that successfully manages its returns and serves its shareholders. However, at the very core, Mr. Bush believes the company is about the people: the talent, the leadership, and how you can bring everyone together to get things done. As a leader himself, Mr. Bush offers the following advice for productive management. First, you must be passionate about what you do. Passionate commitment to your enterprise’s work is something that everyone who works for a leader looks for. When bumps in the road arise, a great leader doubles down and fully commits themselves to their role, rather than being deterred by the struggle. These bumps often reveal whether or not you are working in the right place. Though it’s easy to achieve mediocrity, this passion is necessary to achieve excellence. Secondly, you must bring real expertise to what your enterprise is doing. Many folks who attempt to bring leadership with little background run out of opportunity and gas because they haven’t invested the time to achieve proper knowledge. This is particularly prevalent among those who have graduated from great universities; they quickly get great management positions, but stall midcareer because they do not have the knowledge early enough to dedicate themselves to their industry. As a leader it’s vital that you can engage with each level of the company and understand their issues. As CEO, it’s your job to set the course of action, and to do that effectively, you must know how much you can stretch your team to ensure the action plan is realizable. Though it takes time to gain this expertise, it will certainly pay off in the long run and can be done in a variety of ways. Grad school can be helpful; work experience is also extremely effective. However, the experience of building a base of knowledge is crucial. Thirdly, you must have an absolute commitment to integrity. Throughout our careers, we are constantly judged by our ethics and level of integrity. The confidential nature of Northrop Grumman’s work makes maintaining a level of trust within the company crucial. If we do not feel a sense of trust in our industry and we feel we are personally losing integrity, we are not in the right place. Integrity tests both us and the organizations we end up in. Another key issue Mr. Bush tackles is the transfer of knowledge from experienced workers to new hires. Currently, he sees millennials bringing an excited outlook to the industry: they value teamwork and integration in projects, as well as high energy with a lack of patience. To best harness this potential, Mr. Bush has had success using a mentorship program, which allows inexperienced workers to have a more seamless transition and the experienced workers to consider new approaches. When facing tough decisions, Mr. Bush uses three key guideposts. First, he values trust, and thus seeks to maximize trust in and within the company. Second is innovation. He firmly believes being open to new ideas is an important part of progressing as a company and maximizing efficiency. Third, finding which option will best lead to creation. The company must consider what will appease the shareholders, what will help individual employees, and what will allow the company to grow as a whole. Above all, although he works for a largely confidential company, Mr. Bush most encourages transparency in decision-making, as customers and employees will ultimately most respect enterprises that are clear about their intentions.

Zimbabwe’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Isaac Moyo says the Zimbabwean government has concluded plans to begin the evacuation of about 1,000 Zimbabweans resident in South Africa following the recent xenophobic attacks in the country.

“Identification and processing of repatriation documents has already been done. It is very sad. Most people do not have any documentation. They don’t have any clothes apart from what they are wearing. Many of them left all their clothes and property behind. We are documenting people. This process means that we are giving them some sort of documentation to use upon returning to Zimbabwe. We are organising some buses to take them from Durban to Beit Bridge (the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe). Then they will be taken from Beit Bridge to their home provinces. We would want (the departure) to be as soon as possible. People are currently living in the most difficult conditions” he told the state-owned Chronicle newspaper today.