Neocolonialism can be defined as the continuation of the economic
model colonialism after a colonized territory has achieved formal political
independence. This concept was applied
most commonly to Africa in the latter half of the twentieth century. European
countries had colonized most of the continent in the late nineteenth century,
instituting a system of economic exploitation in which African raw materials
were expropriated and exported to the sole benefits of the colonizing powers.
The idea of neocolonialism, however, suggests that when European powers granted
nominal political independence to colonies in the decades after the Second
World War, they continued to control the economies of the new African
countries.
In neocolonial societies the ruling class often attempt to break
up and destroy working class solidarity by dividing the poor and working people
against each other. They use ethnicity, sexism. They try to break multinational
unity of the working class by dividing white workers and people of colour. The
ruling class also uses xenophobic hysteria, native born against immigrant
workers.
Kwame Nkrumah in his book, "Class Struggle in Africa"
published in 1970, clearly outlined this on page 66, when he wrote that: "In
neocolonialist States where there are immigrant workers, and where unemployment
is rife … the anger of workers is surreptitiously fomented and directed by the
neocolonialist puppet regime not so much against its own reactionary policies
as against the “alien” workers. It is they who are blamed for the scarcity of
jobs, the shortage of houses, rising prices and so on.
The result is that within the continent, an African immigrant
worker is victimized both by the government and by his own fellow workers. The
government brings in measures to restrict immigration, to limit the
opportunities of existing immigrants, and to expel certain categories. The
indigenous workers for their part are led to believe by the government’s
action, that the cause of unemployment and bad living conditions is
attributable in large measure to the presence of immigrant workers. Mass
feeling against them is aroused and helps to increase any already existing
national and ethnic animosities. Instead of joining with immigrant workers to
bring pressure on the government, many of them strongly support measures taken
against them. In this, they show a lack of awareness of the class nature of the
struggle and the bourgeoisie benefit from the split among the ranks of the
working class.
Workers are workers, and nationality, race, tribe and religion are
irrelevancies in the struggle to achieve better living standards.
In the context of the African socialist revolution there is no
justification for regarding non-African workers as a hindrance to economic
progress and there is similarly no justification for the victimization and the
expulsion of migrant African labour from one territory or another. In Africa, there should be no African “alien”. All are Africans. The enemy-wall to be
brought down and crushed is not the African “alien” worker but balkanization
and the artificial territorial boundaries created by imperialism."
Pressure must therefore be brought on the
government of South Africa to acknowledge the existence of Afro phobia in the
country and take steps to quell it. In the alternative, African governments should
severe all diplomatic ties with the government of South Africa.
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