Reclaiming ourselves in a time of hate

It is easy to forget who we are, especially when the hate, greed and fear of oppressive systems permeates our hearts, minds and bodies.

Yet we are fortunate that there are living embodiments of love all around us - in the millions who use their low wages and social grants to keep alive family, friends and neighbours, who would otherwise be dead; in the people working everyday against the local impact of a global system built on unemployment and precarious employment, corporate greed and bureaucratic corruption, which commodifies human rights. We are fortunate that there are those who work everyday on rights to land, housing, education, health, food, water, transport, safety, work and economic policy that upholds life instead of destroying it in the interest of a handful.

May we be inspired by the love, courage and insubordination to injustice of those who paid the highest price, from Victoria Mxenge, assasinated by apartheid agents in 1985, to Fikile Ntshangase in 2020, assassinated while involved in legal proceedings against a mining corporation.

South Africa has youth, women, trade union, political and community-based movements and religious organisations, elected public representatives and even government bureaucrats, who work hard to uphold humanity.

But the system can swallow us whole...this extract from ‘Fragments’, a poem I wrote to my comrades, at the time I registered opposition to government’s arms deal in the 2001 Defence Budget Vote, reflects one such moment.

‘we live and speak

no longer conscious

of our wholeness

our connectedness

we have begun to believe

we are fragments

our stories disconnected

from each other’s

we no longer hear our own voices

we no longer see our own faces’

We are in another such moment, and we must dive beneath the noise to understand who holds power to destroy entire countries, including our own. Today, over 60 million South African people and our government are being defined by a small, highly vocal group. This is not accidental. This is carefully planned, systematically rolled-out strategy.

In 2025, AfriForum’s accusation of a ‘white genocide in South Africa ’ was reiterated by Elon Musk, trillionaire owner of Starlink and X, and by US President Trump. It was swiftly exposed as a lie aimed at undermining government’s mandate to transform SA’s inequality and Apartheid-era ownership of wealth, including land and corporations profiting from South Africa.

On the 2nd of Jan 2026, an article headlined, ‘Africa must fragment, South Africa first’ was published by the Times of Israel. It argued that ‘South Africa must lead the way for fragmentation…for historical, ethno-cultural homelands – such as those of the Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Sotho, Venda and Tsonga – along with the Western Cape’

The strategy is clearly spelt out - destroy SA’s sovereignty and return to Apartheid homelands - fragment, isolate and punish South Africa. These are the consequences SA faces for attempting to transform inequality and for standing for humanity. SA’s CJ case against Israel, gave Palestinians hope, and inspired millions around the world who unite against a genocidal world order built on military, political, economic and ideological war.

November 4th, SA’s local government elections, is their target. Empire has deployed willing hands, eager to do its dirty work, including an eerily similar strategy to apartheid sponsored ‘Black on Black’ violence. Prior to SA’s first democratic elections in 1994, the apartheid state ramped up ‘third force and vigilante’ attacks, while claiming ignorance of the carnage it caused.

Today, corporate-owned media is allowing unfettered airtime to a media-savvy ‘influencer’ who encourages her followers to attack people who are African. Who benefits from Afrophobia, presented as reasonable solution to problems of migration, unemployment, crime, housing, education and health? Someone is paying for their paid bots and curated algorithms on social media. Who is creating viral campaigns that instigates violence that chases many from their homes?

The South African Government has committed to uphold the rule of law and it must do so, without fear or favour. Police are bound by law to arrest criminals committing violence as well as those inciting violence. The criminal syndicates, gangsters and neighbourhood bullies who thrive in cultures of lawlessness, must be arrested and so must those who called for these attacks. The police must act now.

These attacks are against African people, many of whom are children and women - there is no xenophobic deadline for illegal European or US citizens. The 30th June undermines our collective humanity with its well-funded strategy of creating fear and chaos - the strategy that destroys countries, continents, our planet. No one, not even those who are local or global partners of this crime, will be spared the fallout. You cannot destroy the earth and fly out to Mars without consequence.

As I complete writing this, messages from family and friends pop up. A message from a beloved family member, out monitoring the safety of refugees in this icy winter’s night, describes the fire that someone makes and Bob Marley’s music that lightens the icy fear of Congolese refugees.

Their first democratically elected prime minister, Lumumba, was assassinated by the Belgians, with US, British and Apartheid SA. They deployed Congolese men to do their dirty work and rewarded Mobuto, with fabulous personal wealth and the seat of power. Lumumba wanted to use the Congo’s wealth for Congo’s people. Instead, today foreign corporations continue to mine the Congo’s wealth, whilst war and chaos create poverty and countless refugees.

When life is hard, may we be insubordinate to the fear seeping into our hearts, minds and bodies. May we dive beneath the waves to see what moves beneath the surface and help ourselves and each other reconnect to joy, to love, to courage. May our writers, journalists, artists, poets, musicians and healers mirror our creativity. May we be kind to ourselves and each other as we resolve not to be pawns in Empire’s game of destroying humanity in our country, our continent and our world. May we claim our individual and collective birthright - our inherent dignity. May we see our own faces. May we hear our own voices.

Pregs Govender, June 30, 2026

Writer and Author. Former trade union educator, MP and Commissioner of the SA Human Rights Commission