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We Must Face Our Afrophobia

As a South African, one felt scandalised by the recent looting of foreign-owned shops in around Gauteng. The spectacle was ugly and it put us on the world stage for the wrong reasons. But this looting has brought to the fore a number of issues, not least of which is the need to have a mature discussion in the country about immigration. The distinction between xenophobia and afrophobia made the secretary-general of the ruling party, Gwede Mantashe, can form the beginning of such a discussion. It poses the question why immigrants from the rest of the continent, as opposed to other parts of the world, are the ones most exposed to hare crimes?

The deaths of taxi driver Mido Macia in 2013 and Ernesto Nhamuave, who was burnt to death in 2008, are grim and shameful reminders of afrophobia in our country. Both Macia and Nhamuave were Mozambicans. This hostility and suspicion towards other Africans has now been extended to Somalia. Although no foreign national died in the recent violence, these attacks are a wake-up call to the South African government to take afrophobia seriously and develop specific measures and strategies to tackle it. We cannot claim to have one of the besy constitutions in the world and what is the beacon of democracy in Africa, and yet treat other Africans as second class citizens.

Parliament, I would suggest, needs to debate this issue as soon as it re-opens. We need to see progressive politicians and non-governmental organisations coming together to deal with afrophobia, xenophobia and bigotry in general. At a time when South Africans are themselves struggling economically and with finding jobs, the temptation is all too easy to blame foreign nationals. Indeed, one has often heard fellow citizens say, "the foreigners are taking our jobs." I myself often worry and think about the scores of unemployed young people in our country when I visit a restaurant and see that the waiters and waitresses are almost exclusively foreign. However, we need to test the validity of such assertions.

There is no doubt that foreign nationals fill skills gap and labour shortages in areas where locals are not trained or even willing to do the job. I have come across fantastic medical doctors from the north of Limpopo who are playing a critical role in our health-care system. Should we chase them away? In the hospitality industry and home-care services, foreign nationals also tend to dominate. Is it because locals are not prepared to do these low-status jobs or is it because of other factors? We need to understand all of this if we are to have informed views about migration and roles played by foreign nationals.

In seeking to justify our hostility towards foreign traders, I have heard fellow citizens say: "How can our townships spaza owners compete with these foreign nationals who undercut them through lower prices, because of their bulk?" The argument has also been made that locals are generally not good traders and cannot hold their own against foreign traders because the latter come from families where trading is like a culture, whereas locals are disadvantaged by a lack if experience and their past. I have no intention of underplaying the effects of our parts, but at the same time I worry when the resourcefulness of black South Africans in underestimated. Was it not small black entrepreneurs who built the taxi industry into what it is today?

It takes some doing to build an industry that transports the majority of South African commuters daily - and without a government subsidy. The black community is replete with stories of small traders who grew into successful entrepreneurs. I am here talking about the likes of Richard Maponya, Reggie Hlongwane, the late Sam Buthelezi and Dr Sam Motsuenyane, among others. These men faced down apartheid laws and beat economic deprivation to achieve success in business. I refuse to believe that such resourcefulness ended with them. It is still there in the black community. Thus, I was pleased to read in the Sunday Independent this past weekend that Lawrence Mavundla, a seasoned businessman who cut his teeth as a hawker, is spearheading an initiative to help local shopkeepers around Pretoria buy in bulk so that they can meet punch for punch the competition posed by foreign traders.

Having said this, I believe a lot can still be done for small businesses and township economy in our country. Lastly, I would be failing in my duty if I did not point out that poor relationships with local people are sometimes caused by the behaviour of individual incomers. I therefore appeal to foreign nationals not to abuse the hospitality of South Africans, but to seek to be part of the communities in which they trade.

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