South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki has been loathe to use his stature and office to nudge his fellow African leaders into improvements in their own countries. And now he’s paying for it, as his own population starts threatening the refugees from those failing countries:
A wave of violence against foreigners in South Africa has forced 13,000 people to flee their homes, the UN said Tuesday, as President Thabo Mbeki pleaded for an end to a “shameful” show of xenophobia.
South Africa has achieved a measure of practical tolerance and reconciliation that most nations could only dream about. And yet here we are.