On Wednesday, South African Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula rejected allegations of xenophobia after he said that “Pakistanis and illegal foreigners” are to blame for the country’s soaring unemployment rate.
Addressing the South African Youth Economic Council (SAYEC) conference on Wednesday, Mbalula alleged that Pakistani businessmen are artificially undercutting their prices to drive locals out of business, and called on the government to investigate where they were receiving their supplies from.
He remarked that “Pakistanis and illegal foreigners” had “taken over township business,” robbing locals of job opportunities. He described Pakistanis as “the biggest loan sharks around,” saying, “They’ve got an open book and they loan you and your whole pension is going to the Pakistanis. You can even loan up to R500. Your whole pension is going to the Pakistanis every month.”
He added that his uncle had sold his shop “to the Pakistanis because he couldn’t compete with” their prices, adding that “the business of spaza shops that used to belong to our people have been taken over by Pakistanis. They can no longer survive and have no option but to surrender.”
Mbalulu’s remarks about migrants drew harsh criticism from civil society organisations. Sharon Ekambaram, the head of the Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), lambasted the minister for his “reckless” comments, highlighting that such “rash public statements” tend to “have a dangerous resonance with young people who are desperate for opportunities and feel deprived” and can incite vigilantism in the country, with anti-migrant organisations like Operation Dudula orchestrating “collective violence.”
More than 50 shops and businesses — mostly owned by African migrants — have been destroyed as xenophobic violence increases in South Africa pic.twitter.com/7uJjnIsAfw
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) September 3, 2019
She insisted that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government must hold its officials accountable, and thus filed a complaint against the minister with the South African Human Rights Commission.
South Africa has been reeling under intense economic pressure, with a record-high unemployment rate of 35%, of which youth unemployment accounts for 65%. Unemployment is steadily rising due to a global surge in inflation, leading to high levels of poverty and inequality that have only been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The frustrations that boil over from this have frequently led to violent clashes between the immigrants and native citizens, with locals blaming foreigners for stealing jobs and businesses meant for locals.
Against this backdrop, thousands of citizens have held repeated protests under the moniker ‘Operation Dudula,’ which means “drive back” in Zulu, wherein they have voiced their anger against the presence of foreigners and even attacked migrant traders. In February for instance, vigilante mobs marched against illegal migrant workers in the Soweto township, demanding “foreigners, go home.”
In fact, many migrant shop owners in the Orange Grove region have recently received eviction letters titled “Attention Non South African business operator” from Operation Dudula, with vigilantes demanding extortion money and forcing immigrant businesspersons to shut down.
Similar demonstrations and attacks against foreign nationals had earlier been witnessed in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. In fact, protests in 2019 resulted in the death of at least 12 people, including ten South African nationals.
Operation Dudula Orange Grove branch spokesperson Oupa Prophet Ngwato, however, claims that it is merely a pacifist son of the soil movement, alleging, “We have not actually threatened anybody, we are asking according to the law, that small businesses will be reserved for locals only.”
In fact, the group’s leader, Nhlanhla Lux Dlamini, has instead pointed the blame at law enforcement, saying Operation Dudula simply seeks to “restore law and order.”
However, several members have been arrested by the Norwood police for allegedly intimidating Pakistani nationals in Orange Grove and damaging property.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, too, has expressed concerns over social tensions between locals and immigrants. In his Human Rights Day address back in March, he observed that “the recent and to some extent constant waves of violence that besiege our nation at various times show us that we are at war, and in the process, it is our collective actions as communities that derail and erode our fellow human beings’ human rights.”
He appealed to the people to respect democracy and human rights and not “to turn against people who come from beyond our borders,” highlighting that South Africa’s anti-apartheid history has taught it to remain a “welcoming” nation, particularly for the “refugees fleeing persecution elsewhere.”
“Collectively, we are not battling to end poverty. We are battling ourselves. Let our actions not destroy our humanity,” Ramaphosa said.
He stated that his government shall keep an eye on “pockets of groupings that are trying to foment a type of negative attitude” towards migrants.
Attacking those we suspect of wrongdoing merely because they are a foreign national is not an act of patriotism. It is immoral, racist and criminal. In the end, it will lead to xenophobia, whose consequences we have lived through in previous years. https://t.co/NMPFg9PVES pic.twitter.com/kxfoGeg4Ap
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) April 11, 2022
However, he also suggested that tensions may be due to illegal immigration, stressing that anyone who wishes to live in South Africa “must be documented and have the right to be here and work here.” In this regard, he also revealed plans to introduce a quota for foreign employees in South African companies.
As per official statistics, South Africa is home to around 3.9 million migrants, including political refugees, wherein competition for access to jobs and resources has led to the foreigners being made “scapegoats,” according to global rights group Human Rights Watch.
Jay Naidoo, a founding member of the Cosatu workers’ union, opines that even if all the immigrants were to be expelled, the country’s “level of crime would not drop, neither our level of joblessness.”
In fact, following the anti-migrant protests by Operation Dudula in February, several hundred South Africans launched a counter-protest against xenophobia. Activist Mark Heywood accused the Dudula members of creating “a xenophobic fire,” alleging that they are taking “advantage of the anger the people feel about poverty, about unemployment, about hunger, and they are trying to turn that anger onto foreigners” from other countries.
Mbalula’s comments this week are in stark contrast to these efforts of tackling xenophobic sentiments by both the president and civil society members, with some viewing his accusations at foreigners for stealing jobs as a “deflecting” tactic that takes attention away from the governmental accountability for the country’s socio-economic hardships.