Being a son of a Zimbabwean does not make you a Zimbabwean

As the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama made no secret about his African roots.

Amid the legitimacy of his birth certificate being unfairly questioned by former US president Donald Trump, Obama made it clear he was an American leader, with strong family ties in Kenya, where his father was born – proudly producing a birth certificate as proof.

Among his many powerful speeches, is the Obama 2015 address to the African Union at the Mandela Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

He said: “I stand before you as a proud American. I also stand before you as the son of an African. Africa and its people helped to shape America and allowed it to become the great nation that it is. In the villages in Kenya where my father was born, I learned of my ancestors and the life of my grandfather – the dreams of my father, the bonds of family that connect us all as Africans and Americans.

“As parents, Michelle and I want to make sure that our two daughters know their heritage – European and African, in all of its strengths and all of its struggle. So, we’ve taken our daughters and stood with them on the shores of West Africa, in those doors of no return, mindful that their ancestors were both slaves and slave owners.

“We’ve stood with them in that small cell on Robben Island where Madiba showed the world that, no matter the nature of his physical confinement, he alone was the master of his fate.”

The spectre of political narrowness and obsession with birth theories has this week reared its ugly head on Twitter – following the election of Jolidee Matongo as an executive mayor of the City of Joburg.

Tweeted Top Dog: “I can’t believe last year the ANC gave a Chinese a seat in parliament and this year a Zimbabwean becomes a mayor of JHB. Are we just going to watch foreigners taking over?”

Zimbabwe Today remarked: “Today, a Zimbabwean Jolidee Matongo, became a mayor of Johannesburg in South Africa, responsible for $80 billion in GDP. Johannesburg is the economic and financial hub of South Africa. Congratulations to Jolidee, like all Zimbabweans all over the world, continue flying the Zim flag high.”

I have no brief to defend Matongo, but such tweets and comments can only serve to further fan fires of xenophobia and polarise SA – a country struggling to address its racial past.

Born in Soweto, Matongo is a South African, who should be allowed to voluntarily join any political party – with nothing stopping him from rising up the ranks to become an executive mayor. For several years, he served the ANC-led government in various capacities in Gauteng without being branded a Zimbabwean.

Being a son of a Zimbabwean does not make you a Zimbabwean.

Similar to Obama, it was only when he ascended to America’s highest office – the White House – that his political detractors sought to invent an unfounded theory that he was not an American.

As mayor and an ANC leader, Matongo should be challenged on service delivery and governance issues instead his place of birth – a dangerous theory that can only serve to divide the country.

Politics should be about playing the ball and not the man.