Racist Comments II: I’m a victim too!

See the whole blog here.

This is the second in what will be a regular series of comments which I have interpreted as being racist since I’ve been in South Africa/Lesotho.

1. I’m a victim too! I was queuing for a buffet lunch in Lesotho at a well-known hotel/restaurant/gambling chain. A black (probably Mosotho) lady, who was a few places in front of me in the line, walked out of her place and pushed rather brashly and aggressively in front of me, squeezing herself in the small gap between me and the person in front of me.

I had to recoil pretty quickly and in doing so hit slightly the black (definitely Mosotho) man behind me. I apologies but at the same time he made a comment to his friend/colleague. My Sesotho isn’t that great, but it is good enough to catch that the tone was aggressive and that the word‘Lehkooa’ (white person, Mzungu) was included and that the comment was directed towards me. If I am being generous towards him I would have to say he didn’t notice the person push in front of me and believed I randomly pushed backwards into him. Somehow I suspect that that wasn’t the case.

2. Another trip to Bloemfontein, another case of racism. So after a bit of a boogie in Bloem, myself and a friend decided to go and get a burger. There is a stand that does amazing burgers not too far from the lodge our group was staying at. Serving these excellent burgers was a young (white) Afrikaaner guy and a young black guy originally from Soweto.

We were chatting with them and at some point asked the black guy how he found it in Bloemfontein compared with Joburg. He replied that life is quieter in Bloem (very true) and that there is a lot less crime.

The white guy seemed to like the crime topic and informed us that black people commit all of the crime. He noted that there was a lot less crime in the UK compared to South Africa (true) and that there are fewer black people (also true). There is, according to him, a direct link between the two.

I was not surprised by what he said (I am getting used to that now), but I was surprised that he said it right in front of his back friend (or colleague), who kept schtum.

3. Not my story, but one I find interesting reported to me by a nameless, sexless, ageless Mosotho that, being rather unimaginative, I will call X (X, can I suggest you don’t make any comment in order to preserve your identity!)

X was at work up in the mountains and was staying overnight in a lodge. Also staying in the same lodge were several Basotho Government employees. They were complaining about the new Government financial system – it is very problematic for several reasons, but mostly for these people, apparently, because it makes corruption quite a bit more difficult.

Someone had to be to blame for this dire situation which prevented them (or made it more difficult, at least) from ‘skimming off the top’. Who could that be? It is, according to them, the fault of the Chinese.

This is absolutely not true. The new Government financial system is actually from Tanzania and is being implemented by a Tanzanian company by (partly) Tanzanian software engineers and other experts.

But, the Chinese are amongst the least popular people in Lesotho (and maybe in Africa in general, due to their increasing business presence, which I think is mostly good) and I have heard a number of racist comments about them during my nine months here. So if you want to blame someone, let’s just blame the Chinese.

Dangerous.