picture source: dailymaverick.co.za[/caption]My 8 year old son got slightly burnt on his arm by a hot iron and a few minutes after, the burnt spot peeled to reveal a round peach scar and when he showed me, the words he said really broke my heart. He said, “Mum, if I did not feel pain, I would burn my whole body so that I could turn peach all round and I would not be killed for not being South African.” You can imagine what I felt after hearing those words. I wanted to cry but I could not. I wanted to gather him in my arms but feared to shock him as I did not think he knew the gravity of the words he had just uttered. I only mastered enough composure to tell him that he has a beautiful brown skin and there is no need to burn his skin to escape the hostility against black non South Africans.
