No To Tribalism

Makapa Makhoro and Tera Mvubu at their first year Gala Dinner

As much as we like to smile and greet each other, there’s always that something about not being the same tribe. Face it, it’s true, it still happens. Whether at work place, School, where you live, gym etc. Well there’s just that wall factor.

This other day I was in a taxi, going to school, I got the front seat, a guy was sitting next to me, outside was another guy, winking, blinking I don’t know, but he was smiling at me and trying to utter a few words in Sesotho, I “lol’ed”; so the taxi took off, the guy next to me asked “are you sotho”? And I answered “yes I am” and he was like “well I can see that guy is tryna charm ya, …….so is it true that you guys don’t date Xhosas”? lol why that question anyway, that’s tribalist, I gave him that puzzled look but anyway I didn’t mind and I answered again “yes we do”.

But I kept wondering though, lol, why had the rumour started in the first place, if its not true…agh, never mind that.

In my first year, no offense, I noticed, and I still do, most tswana guys have got dreadlocks, anyhooo id notice that a group of guys will all be speaking the same language, and you would notice they are not multi cultural, the are the same tribe and they are all friends, but Jesus this is south Africa and we are diverse, I’m still surprised there are people who still prefer to have “certain friends” as friends.

This other time my friend tell me she walked in at the ladies room, and there were a group of Zulu speaking girls, all Zulu speaking and she was like ok “ i wasn’t surprised by the fact that they all spoke Zulu, mind me,I was just surprised to hear zulu speaking girls studying at a tertiary institution in Caoe Town nogal, you know coz they say it’s a xhosa territory, well now the Zille territory lol” but honest truth, you find many Zulu’s studying in places like JHB, Durbs, etc, but where Xhosas are dominating….never! Now those people just don’t get along, god knows why.

Look at the fact that Zulu taxi drivers only speak zulu at the JHB taxi rank,i mean that place is diverse, all cultures are there, and you’d find that everyone understands one another…well hayi Zulu taxi drivers. It has even become a joke now, stereotype if you may call it that. But those dudes just don’t negotiate, finish and klaar!

As for Sotho’s residing in Cape Town, lol most of them like to gossip thinking that some people do not hear them, I’m not criticising, I’m one of them, but it’s the truth hey.

So this other source of mine, tells me a personal experience with a Venda guy, well she says they had a “fling”, she told it like this: “well we were “doing it” or about t anyway, so the dude grabbed a condom all on his own, without a request from me lol, I was stunned and impressed at the same time, coz u know how guys usually are, they like to wait for you to say hey!, so he saw the reaction on my face, you know the impressed look, and he was like “ look lady, don’t be surprised, I don’t want a xhosa baby” so I got maaaad, I got up, its not like I wanted the Venda baby anyway, but that was just rude bro! rude and tribalist…

We are all brothers and sisters all born under the African sun, form Africa’s soil, why do we still discriminate against each other, if it’s not racism, its tribalism or xenophobia, sexism, homophobic, the list goes on. We are all different but we should learn to embrace and accept one another for who we are, 1994 was the year of Democracy, we can date, marry whomever we choose, but yet we still pinpoint and classify each other by our races, cultures and sexuality.

Well I don’t know why that still happens, and you probably don’t know too, but its up to us to change that, you know as they say when saving water “every drop counts”. Well we can do the same, “every change of mindset will make a difference”.

Till next time, ciao!