---
title: "West wind blow ye gentle, Over the sores of Africa"
description: "The inhumanity that is visited primarily upon foreign nationals through the unabated and escalating acts of violence and displacement will never breed peace and humanity for anyone in South Africa."
type: "OpinionNewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Opinionistas"
author: "Omphemetse S Sibanda"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/omphemetse-s-sibanda/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2019-09-05-west-wind-blow-ye-gentle-over-the-sores-of-africa/"
published: "2019-09-05T00:01:44"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 511
---

# West wind blow ye gentle, Over the sores of Africa

> The inhumanity that is visited primarily upon foreign nationals through the unabated and escalating acts of violence and displacement will never breed peace and humanity for anyone in South Africa.

By Omphemetse S Sibanda · Published 5 September 2019, 02:01 SAST

## Content

What a week! Unfortunately, I am experiencing writer’s block because of the brain trauma caused by events this week. It is at this time that I am in debt to what has been said by our forebears, starting with the titles of some of the writings of Nigerian novelist and writer Chinua Achebe, to explain this past week. This week of criminality and xenophobic attacks on fellow Africans and foreign-owned businesses, including those of South Africans employing foreign nationals in the trucking industry.

My reaction was immediately that now *Things Fall Apart*and clearly South Africa and the rest of the African continent is *No Longer At Ease*. There is no level of argumentation that can absolve anyone from the inhumane acts perpetrated against foreign nationals in South Africa.

The inhumanity that is visited primarily upon foreign nationals through the unabated and escalating acts of violence and displacement will never breed peace and humanity for anyone in South Africa. We are in the eye of the heat storm and only time will tell when the meltdown will occur.

A dangerous trend has emerged, with a heavy price, even for South Africans. It is economically, politically, legally, morally – and from a governance point of view – impermissible to allow the killing and ill-treatment of foreign nationals to continue.

As Africans, we are known to sing in times of happiness, in times of grief and in times of strife.

Allow me to use with great admiration the lyrics to *West Wind* – a timeless song sung by the late Miriam Makeba – to appeal to South Africa to remember that we are all brothers and sisters:

*West wind blow ye gentle*

*Over the sores of Africa*

*My sons proud and noble*

*Here within my heart they lay*

*West wind with your wisdom*

*Gather all the young for me*

*Dark cloud hanging over*

*Nest that bosom strong and free*

*Make us free from exploitation and strife*

*Cause nothing is, is more precious in life*

*West wind with your splendour*

*Take my people by the hand*

*Spread your glory sunshine*

*Unify mother Africa*

*Unify my precious land*

*Unify us don’t divide us unify us don’t divide us*

*We don’t need it now lord, let us not fight over trivials*

*Let us learn how to love ourselves first because unification is the thing*

*I said unification is the thing*

*Unify us don’t divide us unify us don’t divide us*

*Do you hear me my friends? Do you hear me my brothers?*

*Do you hear me my sisters? Do you hear me mama?*

*Do you hear me God? Do you hear me everybody?*

*Unify us oh don’t divide us, don’t divide us unify us*

*We’re tired of poverty, we’re tired of dying*

*We don’t wanna die, we don’t wanna be poor*

*We’re tired, unify us*

*Unify us don’t divide us don’t divide us unify us*

*Unify us don’t divide us don’t divide us unify us*

*Unify us don’t divide us don’t divide us unify us,*

*Don't divide us unify us*

*DON’T DIVIDE US!* **DM**