Thoughts on #SayNoToXenophobia

Love Your Neighbour and Say No To Xenophobia

the hashtag say no to xenophobia

The hashtag #SayNoToXenophobia came into existence in the year 2015 , when a group of South Africans felt deprived of having to find employment opportunities in South Africa, as opposed to foreign nationals finding jobs in the country. South African citizens started attacking people from other counties, accusing them of stealing their jobs, and chasing them out of the country forcefully. The term Xenophobia became a well-known word in South Africa in the year 2008. The words simply means “Intense dislike or fear of people from different countries”.

Someone decided to voice out their thoughts on the topic and started a hashtag titled #SayNoToXenophobia. This made it is easy for everyone who had something to say about Xenophobia to engage in conversations all over social media platforms by using the hashtag . The hashtag had an influence on social media in both negative and positive ways. 

Apologies to those affected by the
xenophobic attacks

Positively, 

-It gave everyone who had access to social media an opportunity to voice out their opinions and engage with other people who were using the hashtag. 

-It made foreign people aware of the support they were receiving from those who were against Xenophobia. 

-It also gave businesses an opportunity to communicate with their publics on the issue of xenophobia, Public Relations Practitioners (PRPs) were able to reach a wide range of audiences on various social media platforms, making them aware that their organizations are standing with foreign nationals against xenophobia. 

Negatively, 

-Social media is time-consuming, people have jobs and they have to work, by them being part of a huge conversation like #SayNoToXenophia, they are required to check their messages constantly. 

-The hashtag attracted people who were currently on social media sites, therefore, if anyone was not on the site while the hashtag was trending, they could have missed the news. PRPs who were not online when the hashtags were used have performed a poor stance as they are required to be up to date



We are all foreigners somewhere

Not only did the hashtag have an impact on social media and Public Relations Practitioners, It opened a lot of people’s eyes. People from other countries are also human beings, they deserve to be cherished and loved regardless of where they come from. Living in fear is not a pleasant thing, do not treat people in a manner in which you would not like to be treated in. Imagine if you, as a South African decided to relocate to another country and they tortured you, would you still apprehend Xenophobia.

A video by foreign nationals stating that they are also Africans





People from our neighbouring countries bring no harm to South Africa, all they want is to move from a place which brought them no hope, to a place which brings them hope. Let us treat our brothers and sisters from other countries with uniformity.

Dikeledi Seripe in support of the #saynotoxenophobia campaign





Thoughts on #FeesMustFall

Disputes on University fees

In response to the increment of South African university fees, students all over the country began a social media stance to combat the rising of university fees. A hashtag erupted on Facebook and Twitter; “#FeesMustFall” was all over our news feeds.

UJ students protesting for #FeesMustFall

The hashtag was accompanied by acts of rage, and uncontrollable riots. Universities were unproductive and some even had to shut down. Students were not interested in their academic work at the time, they wanted their wishes to be heard. Fees could not rise because some students felt that they could not afford university fees before, what more when the fees rise?

Those who cannot afford university asking if they too do not deserve education

 University fees were dropped to the equivalent amount that they were in before it was announced that fees would rise, some students were happy, but some were not. Some students wanted the university fees to fall out completely, they wanted free education for all, as in no school fees would be paid. Now this is where my argument comes in…

students using technology in class

If universities provide education for free, how are our lecturers going to get paid? How are universities going to adapt to the never ending society changes such as, installing technology-based teaching services as well as generate active learning environments? Because no lecturer will want to work for an institution which does not pay them. Today’s generation is driven by technology, no student will want to learn the old school way, and no one will want to be driven back to when our parents were in school, it was tough for them.

We as students should think of how dropping the fees will benefit everyone, not just ourselves. As a Public Relations student, I feel that going public on social media about university fees has helped us a lot, the government gave us a platform to raise our arguments from social media to the streets, and the union buildings. They leveled with us and we got our way, but asking for more than what we bargained for was not the way to go.
 

A short video of what happened during the

#FeesMustFall protests

Social media is the voice for many people, be it about personal, academic or social issues; it has the power of awakening a big topic for everyone to engage in conversations, and let their voices be heard.