After winning over a hostile crowd at Robert Mugabe's funeral in Harare last week by graciously apologising unreservedly for the senseless xenophobic attacks against African migrants in SA, President Cyril Ramaphosa seemed to hit on a bright idea: an apology tour by emissaries to key African countries. Grovelling is the best diplomatic response apparently.
The targets for this craven show of obsequiousness aren't necessarily even the countries whose nationals suffered the most in these attacks - it's those who shouted the loudest who seem to have been favoured with our blandishments.
The xenophobic attacks have granted SA the opportunity to put its spinelessness on full display. And what we seem to have received in return is contemptuous scorn. They're rolling on the floor laughing at our utter lack of self-esteem.
I guess something useful had to be found for idle comrades like Jeff Radebe. At the time he and many others were booted out of the cabinet (remember, the reconfiguration that never was?), Ramaphosa gave a solemn undertaking to fallen comrades that he'd do his utmost to get something for them, the sort of position that would allow them to maintain the standard of living they were accustomed to.
Xenophobia seems to have galloped to the rescue.
Radebe and his fellow apologists must be good at grovelling. Otherwise what else qualifies them for this important task of prostrating themselves in front of foreign leaders on behalf of a grateful nation? But I'm surprised Bathabile Dlamini didn't get the gig. At least she'd be more convincing.
With the evidence staring them in the face, it would have dawned on their excellencies that a government run by such a bunch of incompetents was in no way capable of protecting their nationals from the hoodlums roaming our streets. It would have occurred to them that, instead of being condemned, we're in fact worthy of their pity.
It also seems a brilliant idea that we should be offering our mea culpas to the people who are partly responsible for the mess in the first place. After all, it is these self-satisfied worthies who've made life so intolerable for their people that they decided to come to SA in search of greener pastures. Instead, they seem to have literally jumped from a frying pan into the fire, some of them at least.
After all, it is these self-satisfied worthies who've made life so intolerable for their people that they decided to come to SA in search of greener pastures.
But why the need for such a costly apology tour when the country is already on its knees, economically that is? Why such a public display of sycophancy? If our well-paid ambassadors can't do the job, what's wrong with the old trusted telephone? Or are the lines to Abuja down again?
This idea of going grovelling to other countries, apart from the humiliation involved, begs a few questions. An apology is not only an acknowledgement that a wrong has been committed, but the apologist also accepts responsibility or complicity.
And the apologist, in asking for forgiveness, is also giving an assurance that he won't do it again. The government didn't beat up or kill foreigners, loot their shops or send the hooligans around to commit these vile acts.
The government's fault is one of omission, not commission. It had no control over what's happening in the country.
Ramaphosa's government is in no position to give any undertaking to anybody, not even to its own citizens, that such maddening violence won't happen again. It has become a mere spectator to the drama unfolding in the country. It has lost control of the country. The country is on autopilot.
The government can't even protect its own citizens, who are hunted like animals even in their own homes. How then can it give assurances to foreign governments that it would protect their nationals?
There's no question such incidents will happen again. The country is literally burning while Cyril and his ANC comrades are busy gazing at their own navels. And so when can we expect the government to send envoys around to apologise to us, its own citizens - who by the way pay taxes - for its abject failure to protect them?
Xenophobia, like racism, is not unique to SA. The issue of migration, of people scouring the globe for a better life and provoking intense feelings among locals, is a worldwide problem. Brexit was in part inspired by xenophobia. And wars, especially in Africa, have over the years led to scores of despairing refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries where they're often unwelcome.
But what sets us apart is our haste to take the law into our own hands, especially our predilection to violence and the state's inability or reluctance to deal decisively with it. Lawlessness has almost become the norm, if not the law.
No demonstration or protest seems complete without a spate of violence or looting. There's a bonfire somewhere every day of the week with people protesting about one thing or the other. It started with unions trashing towns and cities during labour strikes.
The government looked the other way because they were its allies. Then students burnt books and buildings, including libraries, and were hailed as latter-day revolutionaries. Now foreigners are the latest sacrificial lambs.
They're more vulnerable and therefore easy targets. Police won't help. They're useless, and in fact in certain instances have taken part in the looting.
The xenophobic attacks are a classic example of domestic events driving - and souring - foreign relations. Instead of sending out obsequious envoys to prostrate themselves in front of pompous potentates, the government would do well to clean up its act at home. Stamp out the lawlessness and the world will welcome us with open arms again.
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