Foreign advisories against South Africa ‘do not change the price of bread’
· Citizen
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says countries issue advisories to their citizens abroad all the time, and South Africa cannot stop them. What the South African government is calling for is for the laws of the country to be respected.
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On Thursday, Ntshavheni briefed the media on the outcomes of the recent Cabinet meeting, and immigration issues dominated the questions that followed.
Several countries, including Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria, have issued advisories for their citizens in South Africa amid protests against illegal immigration in the country. While others, such as Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, have labelled these advisories as “not good” for South Africa’s image, Ntshavheni said undocumented people “must do the right thing also”.
“In terms of advisories, countries do whatever they do. The advisories are issued left, right and centre by all sorts of countries, all kinds of countries, every year, every time. And it doesn’t change the price of bread. The price of bread is that South Africa has laws that must be respected and abided by by all, citizens and non-citizens. And we’re saying those who are undocumented must do the right thing also.”
She further pointed to the ‘hypocrisy’ of other African countries that are speaking against South Africa while doing the same thing in their own countries.
“It’s a reputation issue because countries that in the last few months deported in mass foreign nationals in their own countries are now speaking up against South Africa, which we have not done.”
Illegal activities by foreign nationals
Further, Ntshavheni said that, as these advisories are being issued against South Africa, the accompanying discussion should focus on illegal activities by foreign nationals in the country.
“What’s worse is those [undocumented] that are involved in criminality, because that’s the discussion that is not being had. Those who intimidate South Africans not to run spaza shops and go to an extent of abducting them, kidnapping them, burning their shops, threatening them, beating them up.
“Those who are involved in selling drugs to our children, drug pipelining in our communities and those who are involved in shooting people to enforce Sharia law. There’s no Sharia law in South Africa. You cannot undermine the laws of these countries and want to impose your own laws. Those who want to claim they’re kings in our own country, and you say South Africans must sit quietly. South Africans will not sit quietly. We cannot be undermined in our own country.”
Ntshavheni on Ghana’s letter to the African Union
Ghana has reportedly formally asked the African Union (AU) to place the protests against illegal immigration in South Africa on the agenda of the AU Mid-Year Coordination Meeting scheduled for 24 to 27 June, in Egypt.
Ntshavheni said that should the AU place the matter on the agenda, South Africa would not hesitate to explain the situation on the ground.
“Our position is that we have nothing to hide as the South African government. We will provide, if the AU decides to put the matter on the agenda, we will provide the report, including the facts that are related to the matter, that there are no xenophobic attacks in South Africa.”
Ntshavheni: ‘No xenophobia in South Africa’
Ntshavheni condemned the viral circulation of fake videos and images purporting to show attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa. There is no xenophobia in South Africa, she reiterated, while also condemning the attacks on foreign nationals.
“The fake videos and images are not only fake, but they are intended to undermine the good reputation of South Africa internationally and undermine South Africa’s pursuit of a better Africa agenda,” said Ntshavheni.
“South Africans are within their right to protest against the spiralling illegal immigration challenge, but violence linked to those protests in the past is not acceptable, and law enforcement must deal with the instigators of such violence decisively.
“There have been attacks on foreign nationals, which is unfortunate, and law enforcement has to do their work, and we have been insistent on them doing their work.
“We’re saying to South Africans, we accept that you cannot be undermined and let law enforcement do their part. When we are failing, protest to us to say you are failing us on this. And then we’ll take up that. But you have no right to take the law into your own hands.”
She further condemned those who hijacked peaceful marches by South Africans to attack foreign nationals and commit criminal acts.
‘South Africa is not doing enough’
Ntshavheni further dismissed sentiments that the South African government was not doing anything to curb illegal immigration.
“There is ongoing work to address the problem of illegal immigration, which includes the strengthening of border management through the work of the BMA, speeding up deportations, dealing with criminality within the immigrant communities, and protecting jobs and opportunities for South Africans.
“On opportunities for South Africans, the Cabinet has directed the Department of Employment and Labour to intensify inspections of workplaces to ensure compliance with employment laws across vulnerable sectors such as hospitality, farms, trucking and construction, among others.
“Cabinet further directed municipalities to ensure the enforcement of municipal bylaws, with priority given to trading bylaws.”
However, South Africans must also play their part by refraining from hiring and subleasing their business licences to undocumented foreign nationals.
“When the government made an intervention last year to say that all informal businesses, including spaza shops, must have business licences, trading licences, there were even waivers of registration fees, and what we needed were the papers that were in the country.
“And we must also be clear, refugees, not the ones who go home during Christmas holidays, true refugees that are fleeing for one reason or the other, and have been registered in accordance with South African law and international law, as refugees, they are allowed to do business in South Africa and to find employment in South Africa.”
South Africa helps African countries
Ntshavheni further dismissed assertions that South Africa has ignored the struggles of other African countries, citing the Zimbabwean and Lesotho special permits, which have been renewed several times, allowing their holders to apply for other visas for which they qualify.
“We issued a Zimbabwe special permit because we were accepting the situation in that country, which made it difficult for Zimbabweans to survive, both the political strife and the economic situation.
“And we said as a country, with our records of human rights, with our commitments to human rights, with our constitution, with the history of our own struggle, we cannot afford to have our neighbours starve to death when we are available. There was nothing that justified Zimbabweans to be refugees in South Africa. That’s why we issued a special permit, given the situation prevailing in that country. When the special permits expired, we continued to renew them.”
She said the South African government also acknowledges the developmental challenges in other countries; hence, the country continues to support industrialisation in other countries to ensure governments are able to take care of their citizens.
“We fully support the agenda of Agenda 2063 of the African Union for silencing the guns to allow development in Africa to prosper. That’s why South Africa has been the biggest champion of the African Continental Free Trade Area, so that we could then grow together,” she said.
“Everybody collectively, the African governments must work individually and collectively to develop their own countries so that their citizens do not feel the need to migrate to another country to seek better opportunities.”