Online Reporter
THERE is something about us, as Zimbabweans, which makes us such a special group of human beings.
We are a group of people who are very kind, we spread the red carpet for our guests, we greet them with a smile and we always strive to make sure that we make their stay as comfortable as it can ever get.
Many visitors to our country have testified to this and have spread the word around the world that, when it comes to hospitality, we are at the front of the queue as a people.
That’s how we are born — to love the other fellow, to respect them and, even those who would have wronged us, we tend to forgive them.
The COSAFA Under-17 final between South Africa and Angola at Ngoni Stadium in Norton on Saturday showed that we are a truly amazing group of people.
Thousands of Zimbabweans converged at the stadium to watch the showcase even though our Young Warriors had been knocked out of the tournament at the very first hurdle.
In many countries, the final would not have attracted the locals and would probably have been played in an empty stadium.
But, we are different.
That is the reason why there were thousands of Zimbabweans at the stadium to provide a fitting conclusion to the tournament.
But, that is not all.
There was a lot of support for the South African team, who won the tournament after a 2-1 victory over their battling Angolan counterparts.
Over the years, we have seen our Zimbabwean brothers and sisters, who have settled in South Africa, suffer at the hands of some of their misguided hosts in xenophobic attacks.
These misguided elements believe that our brothers and sisters who are in their country are the reason why they are unemployed, even when they don’t have the basic skills for the jobs that our colleagues do over there.
They wrongly believe that we are the reason why there is so much crime down there when that is not really the case.
Yes, we have some rogue elements who went down there and they are involved in criminal activities but the majority of Zimbabweans are hardworking individuals who are there just to try and earn an honest living.
It doesn’t also mean that if we remove all the Zimbabweans from South Africa today, there will be no criminal activities in that country.
Against that background, one would have expected some hostility towards the South African Under-17 team in the final at Ngoni Stadium.
But, we are not such a kind of people.
That is why there was a big outpouring of support for the South African team on Saturday.
The message was very clear – we know that those murderous xenophobic merchants don’t represent all South Africans.
That is why the South African players and their coach saluted the crowd after the match — they loved how we backed them.
Hopefully, they will tell the true story, when they go back home, that we are just a bunch of good people.
