Following a wave of xenophobic violence, a Zambian prophet has warned that South Africa will experience God’s wrath for killing and severely attacking fellow Africans.
The flamboyant Prophet Shepherd M. Mesala – spiritual son of Prophet Uebert Angel – says God has instructed his angels to collect all the fortunes in South Africa that makes it an affluent destination for foreigners and asylum seekers because the country has been killing people.
Mesala said that the southern African state needed prayer and must ask for forgiveness from God before he strikes in that country, lest it will be reduced to the level of begging for food and other reliefs from other countries.
In a statement entitled, “South Africa Needs Prayers,” the prophet wrote;
“South Africa is about to hit headlines because there is a disaster which will take place were South Africans alone will not manage to finish the problems. In my vision, I saw other countries donating things to South Africa because some people will be left without homes, some will not have food. This event will make South Africans humble themselves and it will make them know that there is no country in Africa which can stand on its own,” he said.
“Let’s pray for South Africa. They are about to pass through a hard time; the economy of South Africa will start going down. Many countries will donate things to help the people who will be affected when that disaster takes place, many people will lose homes, many will not have food, and other nations will help.”
At least twelve people, including both foreign nationals and South Africans, were reportedly killed since the onset of the recent xenophobic attacks, with over 1,500 foreign nationals being forced to flee their homes.
The attacks, targeting nationals from other African countries, began in early September with mobs looting foreign-owned businesses in Johannesburg, the nation’s financial capital.
Refugees and asylum-seekers are feeling particularly vulnerable, as their situation is often worsened by a lack of documentation, leaving them struggling to access health care, education and other public services.
Other religious leaders have spoken on the attacks, condemning it with all the contempt it deserves.
Rev. Lesmore Gibson Ezekiel, head of the continentwide ecumenical group Peace, Diakonia and Development department of the All Africa Conference of Churches, said the attacks were a blow to ubuntu.
“The attacks jettison cultural and ideological philosophies of Ubuntu (humanity) and Ujamaa (oneness). This culture of violence must be rejected by all with accompanying actions of entrenching a culture of hospitality.”
Ezekiel urged the government and churches in South Africa to tackle the “recurrent and needless attacks on fellow Africans, who find South Africa as a safe space to thrive and (who) contribute to its well-being.”
He also urged the churches to open their doors to the migrants seeking protection and shelter and to provide humanitarian support as well as psycho-social support to them.
“We commit (AACC) to accompany all stakeholders in South Africa and the continent … to bring to a halt all acts that project Africa as a continent that eats its own,” said Ezekiel.
Prophet T.B. Joshua also condemned xenophobia, saying no African country can survive alone.
The leader of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) said people across Africa should not allow boundaries to put barriers between them.
“No African country can succeed alone. Africans need each other to develop. We are indispensable to each other; we cannot do without each other. No one is self-sufficient”.
Some South African religious leaders questioned the role of political leaders in the violence.
Roman Catholic Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, who heads the KwaZulu-Natal Church group, said the clerics are concerned that some politicians are responsible for the violence through their derogatory and inflammatory statements about migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable people, according to the African News Agency.
“Poverty and competition for scarce resources are some of the factors contributing to this violence,” said Napier. “Violence is not a solution, and blaming the weak and the marginalized is not a solution.”
This is not the first time South Africa has experienced xenophobic attacks.
Before the country’s independence in 1994, immigrants still faced violence and discrimination. The problem continued in post-independent South Africa, with about 67 people dying between 1994 and 2008. The attacks peaked in 2008, with violence and looting targeting Mozambicans and leaving more than 60 people dead.
Those attacks ended with the deployment of the army, but nearly 20,000 people were displaced and countless injured. The violence resurfaced in 2015 and 2018 and has been occurring in poor neighbourhoods in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
South Africa, with a population of about 55 million, estimates that more than 2.2 million foreign nationals from African countries live there. Although most migrants have arrived in search of jobs, the country’s unemployment rate is estimated at 29 %.
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