The great debate: Cameren Peter and Shivani Ghai write that Africans wholly understand that the reality of how they are received in the wider world remains shadowed by a history of racism that prevails to this day.
When HIV/Aids took root in Africa, and public fear began to spread, there were many snake oil salespeople who exploited public anxiety, proffering herbal and other remedies that were useless at best and potentially harmful at worst. We find ourselves at a similar juncture as we navigate the Covid-19 pandemic.when Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina announced that his country had developed a herbal treatment for Covid-19And it did.
In the absence of verified scientific proof for or against the mixture’s efficacy against Covid-19, the perceptions and prejudices of online commentators began shaping and polarising the discourse. In all, the conversation travelled through 49 countries, with Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Madagascar and Senegal leading the charge. The four forerunners were perhaps unsurprising, given their histories of colonial resistance.Volumes peaked in week three, and thereafter Nigeria and South Africa came to dominate the conversation after week five.
Africa and Africans have never had the space to breathe; they have simply moved from one form of exploitation to another. Later, several well-recognised research institutions, both Western and African, announced they were investigating the healing properties of the artemisia plant through formal testing and clinical trials.
Why would South Africans have any faith in a touted remedy that was, at that stage, scientifically unproven and cautioned against by the medical fraternity? Xenophobia, or more precisely, Afrophobia, has plagued South African society. Outbreaks of xenophobic violence that target African migrants and refugees have shocked the continent and brought condemnation globally. African countries and leaders in particular have raised their concerns openly in the media and chastised South Africans for it.
They also formed negative opinions without scientific proof over whether the remedy was effective or not. They chose to ignore that the remedy might well have constitutional benefits that strengthen the chances of coping with Covid-19.
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