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Stunned and ashamed by events in Soweto this week, it may be tempting for some of us to look the other way or simply disbelieve what we see.
Words are inadequate to describe or condemn such disgraceful behaviour. And yet silence, or to talk about anything else, would seem like a dereliction of duty.
“I’ve seen the future and its works” said American journalist Lincoln Steffens after a brief visit to the then nascent Soviet Union. IN Soweto this week, we saw what could be our future, and it is scary.
So many of our social ills were on display: unemployment, alienation, drugs, and lawlessness, complete and utter disregard for authority. They all converged to create a witches’ brew but the root cause is xenophobia, the dislike of people from other countries. The authorities were preparing their denials and excuses this week even as the looting was in full swing but xenophobia was the spark that lit the flames. There will be copycats in other parts of the country. There are just too many idle hands around.
People trying to make something of their lives, after going through hell to get there, are violently dispossessed of the little they’ve been able to amass. It’s simply adding insult to injury. Xenophobia has joined crime as another of our badges of honour. South Africa is rightly seen as a vulgar and intolerant society.
The blame lies with government. It has shown astounding naiveté in dealing with issues of immigration. Or, as one man put it recently, it has simply buried its head in the sand.
It has learnt nothing from the xenophobia attacks that shocked the world seven years ago, leaving 58 foreigner’s dead. A Mozambican man burnt alive became an iconic figure for intolerance. That should have alerted the authorities to the seriousness of the matter.
It clearly didn’t.
We condemned these incidents and simply move on.
But disapproval is enough. What is required is decisive action.
The influx of people, from other parts of Africa, after years of seclusion under apartheid, has come as a shock to some. They see foreigners stealing their thunder just as they emerge from the yoke of apartheid.
What aggravates the situation is the fact that most foreigners live among the poor in the townships, where they compete for facilities that are almost nonexistent.
But anti-immigrant feelings are not confined to the poor. Such prejudices are found in al strata of society, amongst all races. I remember one man telling me that as a black person under apartheid he had to carry a pass and was never allowed to be in the city centre at night, let alone live there. Now, he said, the government was allowing “these people” to highjack buildings in the Central Business District. The disgust was unmistakable.
Government policy doesn’t seem to bear any relation to realities on the ground. The influx probably rates, along with crime and unemployment, as one of the public’s biggest concerns. That has political consequences, regardless of what one thinks of it. And government has simply refused to face up to it. Its silence has ensures that myths abound.
One strongly held belief is that the ANC has thrown open the borders and allowed foreigners to come in unhindered as an expression of its gratitude to those countries that harboured it in exile. Its nonsense, of course, but nobody in authority has sought to repudiate it.
Immigration is a sensitive subject all over the world. Europe putting up shutters to African migrants who continue to drown in leaky boats in their attempt to get to the Promised Land. Even the British Labour Party, whose commitment to third world issues has been party of its DNA, wants to restrict immigration.
IN the United States of America, immigration has a huge bearing on presidential elections. And with its congress currently failing to agree on an immigration policy, armed vigilantes patrol the Rio Grande in a vain attempt to stop waves of Hispanics emigrants.
But what sets us apart from the rest of the world is the violence that’s often visited upon foreigners by disgruntled citizens. The use of violence to settle differences, one may argue, is a uniquely South African condition.
Apart from a failure to explain its policies, the government also tends to exacerbate issues. Is it realistic, for instance, to give work permits to hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans in the face of high unemployment amongst South Africans?
Where are the jobs supposed to come from?
What South Africa needs is skills and we should hunt for them as though we’re trying to attract foreign investment.
But migration cannot be prevented. The movement of people and goods is an essential part of the modern economy. What is required is a realistic immigration policy, free of sentimental drivel that takes into account South Africa’s needs and its capabilities. And, crucially, that should then be explained to the public.
