This week we went to one of the shelters for displaced foreigners in Rosettenville in southern Johannesburg.

This week we went to one of the shelters for displaced foreigners in Rosettenville in southern Johannesburg.

It is sad to see our African brothers and sisters in such a place.

What happened to them is inhuman and evil. Seeing children playing, not knowing what is going on around them, is heartbreaking.

It was the first time I saw the evils of xenophobia. How can we do this to our African brothers? Do we hate who we are so much that we destroy our own? Do we think we are better than they are?

Those who did this are the devil's advocates on earth. They do not have mercy. We do not need such people in our communities.

We've come so far as a country and we know how it feels to be discriminated against, to be looked down on.

Why are we doing this? Do we understand the consequences?

Africa belongs to all of us. I am an African who lives in South Africa.

From Cairo to Madagascar I am an African first and then a South African. Am I worthy to be an African?

If I am, then there is a lot to be done.

Busisiwe Herbstein,

Azapo, Gauteng