Play promotes tolerance for black immigrants in SA

One of the organizations that has made a positive response to this warning is the Southern African Women for Immigration Affairs (SAWIMA) – a humanitarian organisation based in Braamfontein.

SAWIMA, founded in 2003 by Joyce Dube, a former Zimbabwean primary school teacher, has teamed up with a South African drama group, Emotions Print to come up with a grand project that seeks to propagate a message of tolerance for the millions of foreigners who continue to flock to Africas economic giant.

The joint venture, which began about three months ago, recently launched a musical entitled, Blame me not and also went live on state-owned radio stations, appealing to South Africans to tolerate African immigrants who arrive daily as they continue to flee civil strife and economic decline in their home countries.

The play, written by South African playwright and theatrical stage director, Luyolo Sentile, premiered at New Model School, in Johannesburg on September 4.

It is about a young Zimbabwean man, Gabriel, who lives with friends in Johannesburg, but is not tolerated by their relatives and spouses.

We have realised that many of our people do not understand what kind of situations continue to drive fellow Africans outside their home countries and into South Africa, said Sentile (25) in an interview with The Zimbabwean. ***********

These people are fleeing dictatorship and hunger in their countries and coming here because things are better. They do not just flee at the earliest opportunity they get, but try to put up with these difficulties and only flee when the situation becomes totally unbearable for them. Hence the title Blame me not for I did not choose the situation that I am in. We hope this will help to make South Africans empathise with their fellow Africans.

Of the 15-member cast, 10 are South Africans, while five are foreigners, three of them Zimbabweans.

We have taken the play to the schools first, so that when we get to the community, we will easily be welcomed, because children spread the word quickly. We have realised that by involving children, we are building a future generation that is tolerant and will stand against xenophobia in future, he said.

One of the actors in the play, Lehlohonolo Ramakau, said that when xenophobia took place, he was one of those that urged the attackers on, as he believed foreigners were the authors of their own problems, which they were trying to bring to South Africa.

That was due to lack of knowledge about what these people went through, said Ramakau, who also represents SAWIMA on the radio programs, where he speaks in Sotho and Tswana.

Now that I have heard these people tell their stories, I have decided to hold hands with them in creating a tolerant society that brooks no division according to nationality. I have also realised that most of the people who accused foreigners of stealing their jobs are the lazy who do not want to work, yet they come back and attack foreigners who sweat for their daily meal.