Why Vele?

2 July 2010, my friends & I were driving down to KZN from Jo'burg. With Phillip in the air, World Cup fever had taken over & we were all rooting for Ghana in that evening's match against Uruguay. As I sat at the back of my friends car, I was thinking to myself, I can't remember the last time I felt like a real part of Africa. I was rooting for the Black Stars, I even remember putting up this statement as a Facebook update: "If the Black Stars win this World Cup, I'm getting a black star tattoo on my neck!" As we were driving, whilst listening to the highly entertaining, if not a bit dramatic, commentator on Ukhozi FM, I decided to check out what was going on in FB-land. A friend had posted an update which read: "If Ghana wins tonight, they're getting SA citizenship, but if they lose Xenophobic attacks will resume!" I laughed it off, of course there's no way that could ever happen. All that was in the past. As we arrived in Durban, things were heating up and Ghana had just missed a crucial penalty. I was on the edge of my seat, did the Black Stars even realise how much was riding on this. As it became clear that Uruguay would be the ones heading to the semi finals, it was as if a billion African hearts were breaking, we'd really thought we had a shot at seeing an African country win the first World Cup on African soil. Oh well, it's a game after all. There's gotta be winners & losers. That was my thought as I went to bed that night.

It wasn't until media reports started popping up in the following week:'Foreigners fear for their lives as threats of Xenophobic attacks loom.' I couldn't believe my ears, so South Africans seriously felt justified in declaring war on all foreigners because we'd lost a soccer match?! I watched in horror as radio reports of non South Africand who feared for their lives filled the airwaves. My heart went out to all my friends from neighbouring African countries, I was honestly quite disgusted at the being grouped amongst South Africans, a title I'd worn with pride up until recently.

after the initial shock, I decided to gather some facts. Why do South Africans resent fellow Africans who come to our country. As it turns out this is quite an emotional topic for a lot of South Africans. The reasons vary from how 'these people' are responsible for an increase in crime, how 'these people' bring drugs to our country and if that"s not enough, they steal our jobs & our women (The Mandingo myth of sexually gifted African men may just be a large contributor to their downfall).

I then spoke to my good friend Jake, he's the only person in my circle of friends who actually takes the time to read up on these topics & who's taken it upon himself to 'enlighten' those of us who'd rather watch MTV & E-entertainment, about the serious things in life. In our conversation Jake mentioned that our neighbouring countries were home to many exiled South Africans during the struggle & it's actually disgusting how we now act towards them. Not only refusing to acknowledge their role in our successes, but refusing to help them in Their hour of need.

So when Mandela Day came around, and people started picking which good causes they'd like to support, I decided that I wanna create some awareness for those suffering the effects of Xenophobia. My mother's family originated from Mozambique, I've visited the country a number of times & have always been struck by how kind & generous the people are. Amongst all that poverty lies a rich culture, with resilient people & some of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen in my life. For Mandela Day I decided I would love nothing more than to tell the story of our neighbours, meet fellow Africans & dispel some of the prejudices that I have formed about them over the years.