Amakwerekwere

[Chorus]

They call us names basibiza ngamagama
Bathi singamakwerekwere
Bathi singamakwerekwere
Bathi singamakwerekwere
They call us names ba re bitsa ka mabitso
Ba re makwerekwere
Ba re makwerekwere
Ba re makwerekwere

[VERSE]

We both black but I guess I look darker than you
You know how white people give us that fake smile
& then we both feel annoyed?
Well, I feel the same way too
When you look at me
You? How can you?
Out of all the people on this planet, I wonder
How & why I should I be hated by you
You don’t know where I am from & can’t walk on my shoe
My bad, I don’t have one, well that is true
Our hate for each other goes back & forth
As if we were not cut from the same damn cloth
It keeps going on & on, can’t we turn that off
From the south, west, east, then back to the north
My armpits are smelly, I’m carrying my dirty laundry
My apologies, I never meant to come to your country
I crossed illegally, I just ignored the boundary
I couldn’t take it anymore, I’m here because I’m hungry (now they)

[Chorus]

They call us names basibiza ngamagama [ngamagama]
Bathi singamakwerekwere
Bathi singamakwerekwere
Bathi singamakwerekwere
They call us names ba re bitsa ka mabitso [ka mabitso]
Ba re makwerekwere
Ba re makwerekwere
Ba re makwerekwere

[VERSE]

I’m out here feeling like I’ve overstayed my visit
You don’t want me here anymore I’can see it
Because you call me funny names that are so explicit
Now I’m angry, my black-ass come & kiss it
Some of my country men came here to do bad
I can’t justify that, it’s a little bit sad
They rob & kill us too, so I’m also scared
Back home, they killed both my mom & dad
I don’t commit crime, i just cut hair
This my first time, I just got here
But I got fear
No qualifications, no career
At least when we are here
My sister can go for a pap-smear
I miss home but i love this atmosphere
So next year
I want to go back to school & study hard
So i can become an engineer (but they call us names)

[VERSE]

Yah wena Patrao, nhliziyo ka nyoko
Awuboni ukuthi uyas/thaida la, susa le stoko
Asithengis’ amaveg’ la kushi nyama yenhloko
Shaya ngathi uyavaya before ngik’bonis ispoko
You see I’m not xenophobic
I’m angry and fed up
That narrative is too old so man up
Open your eyes wide open, get up
Go fix your own damn country, wena
You emotional blackmail us
Claiming that we all black but you are bad neighbours
We’re the original dwellers, not flavours
You are jealous, you envy what God gave us
The leaders get along while the poor fight amongst themselves
That’s how it is, ask yourselves
Fake foods are getting sold out in those shelves
Contaminated candy for kids younger than twelve
When it comes to doing fraud, foreigners excel
Hijacking buildings, they don’t even pay tax, hell
While our sisters are taken & drugged by our brothers
From another country because sex sells?
I don’t mind you crossing these borders
But when you pull through, make sure’ you don’t bother us
When we suffer the media is not for us
Once we fight for this precious land of ours
These cowards scream xenophobia
With cameras all over our faces as they record us
What do you see when you look at my face, hate?
A genuine brother or an enemy of the state
The world can still become a better place
If we treated one another as a single race
I rest my case

Necklace them
Necklace them
Necklace them