Stop ignoring undocumented immigrants

While some people in the ANC leadership continue to claim that the recent violence in a number of cities was not related to xenophobia, clearly President Cyril Ramaphosa doesn’t believe that … or he wouldn’t have embarked on a serious “damage control” campaign to convince other African countries that South Africans are, in reality, nice people.

A team of special envoys – Jeff Radebe, Ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo and Dr Khulu Mbatha – will visit countries including Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. According to the presidency, the envoys will “deliver a message from President Ramaphosa regarding the incidents of violence that recently erupted in some parts South Africa, which have manifested in attacks on foreign nationals and destruction of property”.

South Africa, the envoys will say, “is committed to the ideals of pan-African unity and solidarity” and the government here is committed to the rule of law. Once again, the ANC think Band-Aid statements will cure a far more serious and gaping wound in South African society.

First, the government needs to acknowledge that the attitude of South Africans towards foreigners – many of whom are accused of crime – is not to be dismissed with the label “irrational”.

Their concerns have not been addressed at all by government. That needs to happen by, first and foremost, controlling the influx of illegal immigrants into this country. The vast majority of people who have come here in the past decade are not refugees in the traditional sense; they are economic migrants.

And when it comes to surviving in a tough economy, should charity not begin at home? There needs to be a tough crackdown on crime, too. But, most of all, stop ignoring the elephant in the room – illegal migrants – in the name of Pan-African solidarity.

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