Feature: South Africa Must Learn To Respect

There are certain places and objects which are held very sacred in all societies and nations across the world. These include, places of worship, symbols that represent nations or societies and final resting places of people who had passed on to the life hereafter.

Under no circumstance must anyone be allowed to desecrate any of the above. In many societies, violators could be severely punished even with death.

In Ghana some of these sacred places and objects include the Independence Arch, Independence Square, the final resting places of Osagyefuo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and our national flag. People are mandated to be in great decency when they behold any of these. In other words, nothing should be done that would desecrate them. For if anything wrong is done, it is the either nation that is being insulted.

Ghanaians woke up with shock with the news that some Black South African men, Lue and Rue, travelled all the way from down south, to express their LGBTQ status at some of our sacred places and objects.

Openly kissing at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, the Independence Arch and kissing while draped in our national flagare very condemnable even if the couples are straight, but here we are, these are gays and acts of LGBTQ are abhorred in our culture, religions and traditions.

Lue and Rue deliberately decided to desecrate Kwame Nkrumah’s resting place with those abominable acts which are very offensive in the eyes of man and God.

They travelled all the way here to insult all Ghanaians and went back peacefully. Why cannot we protect our honour?

The other day in March 2013, US rapper, Chris Brown while performing on stage in Ghana, lighted and smoked wee, publicly. He was allowed to go away peacefully. But when a Ghanaian celebrity, Kwaw Kesse was smoking weed out of sight in the bush, he was sought after, arrested, trialled and jailed.

Back to these two South Africans, Lue and Rue, who it is very obvious were reared and not brought up. They chose to celebrate their insanity here in Ghana, and this confirms one thing and it is that Black South Africans do not respect other Black Africans.

When they were under slavery in their own country; when they could not travel from one point to another within South Africa, except if they had permits (visas);when they were segregated from the the Whites, and made to live in slums; when it was the Whites who thought for them and directed them what to do, in their own land; when they were relegated to third class citizens, in their own land and when they cried out in pain to the outside world, was it not the Free Black Africa that came to their rescue?

Yet, Black South Africans were indoctrinated by their slave masters to think they were better than other Black Africans and to this day they feel proud about this and looked down upon the rest of Black Africa as humans fit to be regarded as trash.

It is like a dog locked up within the walls of his master’s house and often put in chains, laughing at a mongrel walking freely down the streets and regarding it as a dog, which is worse-off.

When Black South Africans were in chains in their own homeland, we, Free Africa, heard their cries and used part of our GDP to help liberate them. We took their youth in and gave them free education. We sponsored their political groups and financed their armed struggles. And in 1994, Black South Africans became free.

We did not demand a refund of what we spent on Black South Africa, instead our citizens decided to go down South and work in South Africa to make money for themselves and contribute to the South African economy.

Then this chained dog mentality took a terrible turn when Black South Africans saw other Black Africans as worse enemies than the White Africans and killed some of them mercilessly, in xenophobia which occurs periodically.

Now this xenophobia seems to be accepted by even politicians since no political party can boldly speak against it. In 2022, a movement was formed, called Operation Dudula, which takes a strong stance on anti-migrants and actions, which include xenophobia and want to by any means push out migrants. No political party or politician as come to condemn this group which is gaining great prominence across the country, becausethe average Black South African sees a fellow Black African as an enemy and very disgusted to behold.

Zimbabwean president Mugabe condemned Black South Africans for only pulling down the statue of Cecil Rhodes as an attack on pro-apartheid leaders, but rather choosing to engage in xenophobia attacks and killing Black African migrants from countries that fully funded their struggle against apartheid

Thinking that we are as dumb as he is, South Africa’s Julius Malema visited Ghana on January 23, 2024 and first warned us never to support Israel and went on to invite us to South Africa adding that there is no xenophobia there. He cleverly left out Operation Dudula from the conversation.

Then some top Black South African politicians dragged Israel to the International Court of Justice on charges of attacks on Palestinians after terrorists from Gaza first killed 1,400 innocent Jews in Israel. Here are people who enjoy it when innocent Black Africans are killed in South Africa in peace times and see nothing wrong with that, but would go accusing Israel who was at war started by the Palestinians.

The African Union (AU) and the United Nation (UN) have not made any statement to condemn South Africa over its xenophobic activities. One would expect AU nations to cut ties with South Africa based on its persistent and institutionalised killings of other Black Africans in its country just as it cut ties with Apartheid South Africa when its Blacks were maltreated and killed.

In the world and even in Africa, Black Life Does Not Matter. So, in this day and age, South Africa is now the colonial master over all the other Black African nations and peoples and can choose to do anything to us and we are to hush up and pretend to enjoy it.

So, it was when two mentally derailed and deranged Black South African LGBTQ activists came to this God Blessed Homeland of Ours Called Ghana, to desecrate sites and objects of great national importance.

Can Rue and Lue go to Qunu, in the Eastern Cape, where Nelson Mandela was laid to rest and do what they did at Nkrumah’s tomb to Mandela’s tomb? Can they wrap the South African flag over their bodies and engage in caressing and kissing in the open?

The two were sponsored by Triangle Project, a South African LGBTQ organisation, whose communication officer, Ling Shepherd said the #ShowGhanaLove campaign is an act of queer solidarity and response to rising hate and threat of criminalisation of LGBTQ in Ghana. This is a great insult and by the way, why is Triangle Project not showing love to Black African migrants in South Africa and campaigning against xenophobia? And also, what did Triangle Project give to the queer community in Ghana by way of financial support and others?

Sheperd added that the project believes that love is not a threat and hate is. I beg to differ, here. It will depend on the context then love can become a threat. For example, kleptomania (love for stealing); biastophilia (love for raping) and vandalism (love for destroying) are all love, but are negative? In the class above can be found LGBTQ which is the love for perverse sex, which violates the natural order of sex and life. And this must not be encouraged, because if it is, soon the rapists, the robbers and murderers will also demand recognition and acceptance.

I will suggest that the government compels the South Africa High Commission to bring down Rue and Lue to come and face justice, here for desecrating national objects and places. If no one can be allowed to desecrate Nelson Mandela’s resting place in South Africa, then no one can do that stupidity to Kwame Nkrumah’s resting place. After all, on the scale of importance, Nkrumah is more important than Mandela.

To South Africa, the fact that you can steal and be free in your father’s house does not mean you should come and encourage others to do same.

Our anti-LGBTQ bills must be amended to include very harsh punishment for such disrespectful acts.

South Africa must learn to respect other Black African states and peoples. When they were slaves in their own land, we were free in ours. And without our efforts, apartheid could still be in place.

By Hon. Daniel Dugan

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