Foreigners - including Nigerians - suffer abuse and have their rights trampled on because nobody is likely to stand up for them

MY INTRODUCTION to the world of work 22 years ago was a huge culture shock. It was as a trainee reporter at The Star.

Firstly, I had not seen so many white people under one roof in my 26 years on Earth.

The last time I had seen so many of them in one place had been at the volatile University of the North. And they had not come in peace. There were usually scores of men and women in the blue of the then South African Police, known as Satan After People, sent in to quell one revolt or another on campus.

One thing I had to learn quickly at The Star was not to take it personally when white people did not greet me or greet me back. When they did greet me it was often curt and uninterested. They seemed to take offence at being asked how they were, whether everything was fine at home, the children were growing well, and so on. They have a word for it: "intrusive".

That was totally alien to me and took some getting used to. I still struggle with it and to add to my woes, even some black people seem to have taken to it, ignoring you as if they don't see you.

The best explanation for how greetings by black Africans become so elaborate came from a Nigerian friend. "We do that because we, Africans, see and feel the pain in others." That, to me, is the epitome of ubuntu.

My memory of her profound words was jolted by the events of the past two weeks, specifically our reporting on the so-called bogus doctors. We did not all cover ourselves in glory.

We all know we're not supposed to name people accused of a crime before they appear and actually plead. But for a few instances of liberty-taking, the rule is observed.

Why then did some publications name the alleged bogus doctors?

The answer is simple: they are foreigners. Not only that, they're Nigerians! They get treated like all other underdogs. They also suffer abuse and have their rights trampled on because nobody is likely to stand up for them.

The actions of the police specialised investigations unit, the Hawks, have a lot to answer for the gung-ho actions that saw them mount one of the worst examples of human rights abuses bordering on xenophobia.

How else do they justify their claims that their high-profile arrests of the allegedly bogus doctors followed a lengthy investigation?

The supposedly elite investigations unit has since come out to say the doctors were not bogus after all.

Unfortunately, some in the Fourth Estate inadvertently became tools in the perpetuation of the xenophobic abuse of the doctors by the Hawks. That would not have happened were we all cognisant of the fact that even foreigners are entitled to enjoying the human rights enshrined in the Constitution.

That's why Avusa needs to maintain the office of a public editor as a conscience.

We cannot have different standards for reporting on foreigners, just as we don't have different laws for them. For example, we don't hang murderers from Botswana simply because they would have been sentenced to death in their home country.

I'll be as bold as to argue that our commitment and loyalty to the Constitution, and respect for its provisions, is inversely related to our willingness to share the goodness it provides with foreigners - whether they're here by choice or forced circumstances.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is my swan song (as Public Editor).

Note:
Thabo Leshilo is Acting Editor of the Sowetan