South Africa legislates Xenophobia...

... as anxiety escalates over loss of incomes and the inevitable loss of employment...

By Hosia Mviringi

Monnday, 17 May 2020

Black immigrant Africans in South Africa are squeezed in between a rock and a hard place in the aftermath of the Covid-19 national lockdown.

This comes as officials in the South African government openly alternate in agitating for violent discrimination against black non-South African citizens at work places.

President Cyril Ramaphosa

South Africans are known for their propensity to cast blame on black foreigners for every other hardship that befalls them as a nation.

In this case it is very obvious that the South African economy will not escape the adverse effects of a prolonged lockdown which by the time of writing this article is at day 53 and still counting.

South Africa had its economy downgraded to junk status by rating agencies Standard & Poor as well as Moody's on 27 March 2020, well before the nation went into Covid-19 induced lockdown.

This was based on the government's inability to honour its existing debt obligations thereby painting a bleak future in relation to its ability to pay back current and any future debts and certainly unpredictable future judging by the negative productivity figures.

The default on debt obligations had nothing to do with existence of undocumented foreigners on the South African soil.

Watch : President Cyril Ramaphosa makes the speech that set off deadly xenophobic attacks in July/August 2019.(Video Courtesy eNCA)

The honest truth is that the South African economy has been in distress for quite a while now having recorded negative growth for two consecutive quarters thus qualifying for an economy in recession.Indeed the South African economy was in recession well before the lockdown.

So here is an economy that is bogged down by double tragedies, a recession and an indefinite closure as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Video : A senior SANDF Commander tacitly instructs his officers (soldiers) to hunt down foreigners as they enforce Covid-19 lockdown regulations

The unenviable result is that a sizeble number of firms in South Africa will not be able to reopen after this unproductive episode of the lockdown.Jobs will be lost and government will suffer loss of tax revenue.

The anxiety and frustration likely to be felt by both the South African working class and the government alike can not be overemphasized, and foreign nationals living in South Africa will not be spared.

South Africa's Finance Minister Mr Tito Mboweni was first to make the ominous call in early May 2020 to systematically victimise and exclude all foreigners from gainful employment.

Said Mr Mboweni then,

"Post Covid-19 lockdown this economy is going to favor South African citizens at the expense of foreigners".

Then as now, this qualifies for a tacit government position to exclude the hardworking yet long suffering foreigners of African origin who are ordinarily resident in South Africa.

This is a cowardly act by South Africa which overlooks the great contribution of immigrant labour to the economy of the Southern African nation.

Proceeded Mr Tito Mboweni ,

"Every Spaza shop must be registered and licensed to operate, and most importantly must have a Bank account, a tax number and must open for health inspection so that our people are not fed with expired goods and so forth.

Dear reader, I urge you to read between the lines and listen to the unspoken words.

These conditions are carefully designed to frustrate , discourage and ultimately flush out the immigrant small businesses.

The conditions are also designed as an incentive to the locals to disdain and discriminate against immigrant owned small businesses.

"What could happen is that where there are areas where there is preference for foreign nationals,for example the restaurants, transport and security sectors, the Minister would most probably determine that in this sector only this percentage of foreigners is allowed to work.A quota system will be applied and enforced", said Mr Tito Mboweni.

It will be an inexcusable yet culpable cowardly act for South Africa to act blatantly against foreign black citizens when the economy is heading South, yet when the economy was on a growth path no one remembered to appreciate the great contribution by African and Asian immigrants who take up some of the dirtiest,heaviest and yet lowest paid jobs to get the South African economy going.

The South African government and Mr Tito Mboweni himself would do the right thing by explaining to South Africans why in the first place the economy was shrinking and government was already defaulting on its debt obligations.

The South African government would do a favor by explaining how the foreign workers have contributed to the devastating insovency of their national Airline SAA and its subsequent closure despite the entity having received a 600 million Rand package in bailout funding in 2019 alone.

It is nonsensical to blame foreigners for endemic corruption that has peverted the very fabric of the South African Socio-Political economy.

Loss of jobs at the South African Airways has nothing to do with foreigners taking away jobs.

It is also hypocritical to blame foreigners for effects of a well documented global economic crisis.

Mr Tito Mboweni can not hide behind the finger and blame foreigners for the falling value of the South African Rand to an all time low of close to 20 against the USD by time of writing.

Why did the employment quota system not save SAA from insolvency?

He must also face up to it and address the rising prices of basic commodities despite a sharp fall in demand for basic goods due to decreasing buying power during the lockdown period.

He must do justice and explain how the presence of foreigners has aided in the rising prices of basic commodities.

A Director in the Department of Employment and Labour Mr Thobile Lamati also literally empowered and encouraged South African private citizens and workers Unions to exercise themselves unilaterally and deal with any and all foreigners in workplaces and public spaces.

Speaking in a recorded speech Mr Lamati said that post Covid-19 lockdown, South African employees were empowered to identify and act to make sure that no foreign nationals were employed within their company ahead of locals.

This means that South African employees can act unilaterally, usually violently against any foreign employees.

Now this is particularly a dreadful situation given that memories are still fresh of the cold blooded killings of foreign nationals at the hands of xenophobic protesting South Africans barely a year ago in July/August 2019, at the instigation of the Office of the national President of the Republic.

South Africa is undoubtedly the strongest economy on the sub-region and thus the biggest economic attraction to the regional labour source markets.

It is also the biggest beneficiary of cheap yet hardworking immigrant labour on the continent.

Is this not the ideal time to give back to the wider African economy by at least sheltering her citizens resident therein?

I hope African governments will act timeously and engage their South African counterparts ahead of time before another man made calamity engulfs the region.

Xenophobia is an act of hypocrisy, cowardice and a crime against humanity, especially when it is instigated and abetted from the highest office in the land.

A strong leadership would seek non violent and non discriminatory ways to appease their restless citizens without violating the rights of fellow African citizens, legal or otherwise.

President Cyril Ramaphosa should never underestimate the impact of a xenophobic South Africa on the overall security of the whole sub-Saharan region, thus he should resist the temptation to act unilaterally on this emotive issue of immigrants.

To many this is a matter of life and death as it involves livelihoods.

All nations in Africa as elsewhere in the world are struggling and burdened by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Therefore governments need to sit down in consultation so that there is agreeable absorption strategy by recieving countries.

Recently Mr Ramaphosa convened a tele-conference with SADC heads of State to discuss a coordinated response strategy to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thus we expect him to do likewise and discuss with fellow regional leaders on a common strategy to deal with migrants.

Sponsored Notices

Available for sale is a residential stand measuring 448 square meters at ZIMTA Cottages, Saturday Retreat, New Cerney Park - Harare.Price US$10 000

Contact +263 719300 687 / +27 84357 6741 all WhatsApp. Price is flexible.