Envisaged law will protect migrants – government

The department of home affairs said its laws provided protection for foreign traders under the umbrella of legislation meant to protect asylum seekers and refugees.

The department was reacting to a complaint made by the pan-African body, Concerned Africans Forum (CAF), which asked for the department’s intervention in the alleged victimisation of traders of African descent by locals who operated as Operation Dudula – which had the intent of stopping foreigners dominating the local trading industry.

CAF said the actions of the South African group undermined the country’s constitution and its values.

The department said the law was being reviewed with a view to strengthen the protection of asylum seekers and refugees in partnership with the UN Refugee Protection Agency.

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s spokesperson, Siya Qoza, said the law, in so far as it related to asylum seekers and refugees, currently does protect the rights of refugees. “Even the UN has made this point,” Qoza said.

The matter was thrashed out in January, during a meeting between the department and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ assistant high commissioner for protection, Gillian Triggs.

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Motsoaledi and Triggs had discussed the need to strengthen the asylum and refugee system in South Africa in terms of legislative reform, social assistance, judicial engagement and durable solutions for refugees, among others.

In post-meeting statements, both the minister and Triggs had expressed satisfaction with the talks.

CAF’s chair, Dr Mongane Serote, a South African poet and cultural activist, blamed the “violent, unlawful, discriminatory and politically motivated attacks, which targeted migrant communities” and informal traders in South Africa.

He said incidents were orchestrated, using false claims that the perpetrators were protecting the interests of vulnerable South Africans.

According to Serote, informal traders make a critical contribution to South Africa’s economy and enhance the food security of vulnerable sectors of the population. “Violent attacks against foreigners, for whatever reason, will not help to solve the deep political, economic, social, and cultural crises in SA.

“Political opportunism that seeks to exploit the presence of migrants in South Africa is misguided and will have a long-term negative effect on all South Africans,” Serote said.

He was concerned it had become a trend in the post-apartheid South Africa that legitimate community anger around poor living conditions had been wrongly used to mobilise against migrants.