Poor governing practices globally and in South Africa has plunged us into the current immigration crisis. It’s one of the main reasons why Keir Starmer had to throw in the towel as British Prime Minister.
His government’s tardy reaction to shiploads of African immigrants who flooded the isles from the French coast was just too much for Brits who are angry and irked about everything in their country.
It’s a complex issue driven by two separate viewpoints:
- All immigrants are criminals, so get rid of them.
- How can anything else be done to the people other than just accommodating more and more?
In South Africa it is also partially true that criminal elements entered along with immigrants and established so-called “no go” zones in some areas – where drug dealing and human trafficking is rampant.
It’s also a fact that they compete with poor South Africans for scarce basic resources. If service delivery was in a good state, it may have been easier to help an additional stream of people.
But the horrid and corrupt conditions that exist in some state hospitals and clinics, for example, creates disagreements and ire in long queues.
The complaint that immigrants enjoy preference in workplaces and dominate the informal trading sector is a matter with two sides.
An eagerness to work, initiative, entrepreneurship and regular attendance at work are some of the reasons some employers mention when asked why they prefer immigrants. These are the same factors that lead to the success of a small shop in any place.
An owner of a medium-sized business in Johannesburg told me he only employs immigrants. By implication, some of his reasons may offend but are repeated to bare all perspectives.
According to him, his business has seen a healthy growth since he started employing immigrants as a result of their work ethic and friendly interaction with clients.
He says there are no disruptive union activities and the absenteeism rate has drastically declined.
For years comrade minister after comrade minister of Home Affairs has dragged their feet on setting up proper legislation on immigration.
Leon Schreiber, the DA minister who now holds the post, discovered a meaningless white paper left behind by his useless predecessor Aaron Motsoaledi.
He pushed a reworked white paper through Cabinet, but it was too late to defuse the immediate crisis. Thus, the police must spend millions of rands to maintain order and protect basic human rights against organisations like March and March, which also has criminal elements and rival drug lords in their ranks.
Also be careful of gloating about the chasing away of thousands of immigrants; someone may easily decide it’s time to get rid of “colonialists” as well.
Pursue the instigators of violence and disruption, control the borders sooner rather than later, deport illegal immigrants in a humane manner before there are thousands, and improve service delivery to a level that creates enough space for citizens and taxpaying legal immigrants.
That is the only way.
- Barnard Beukman is editor of the national Afrikaans weekly, Die Papier.
