Xenophobia ‘a deterrent to investment’

ANALYSTS have warned that South Africa’s planned investment conference will hit a snag following xenophobic violence that claimed the lives of 12 people in Gauteng recently.

The violence could overshadow the investment conference set for November 5-7 in Sandton, where the government aims to mobilise R1.2 trillion by 2023 to revive the economy.

Economist Luke Dzipange Zunga, who is also Global Diaspora Chamber (GDC) chairman, said xenophobia was a deterrent to investment.

He said South Africa only viewed investors as Europeans, Americans and Asians, particularly the Chinese.

“A group of African migrants have proposed to contribute capital towards South African citizens’ programmes, but the government has not responded. It is either they are still working on it or they don’t see Africans as investors,” he said.

Small and medium enterprises operated by foreign nationals were looted and destroyed during the latest attacks.

“At this stage, the government has clearly articulated that everybody in South Africa is free to do business but must follow the laws of the country,” Zunga emphasised.

He attributed the flare-up of xenophobia to the slowed economic growth and meagre resources.

Zunga slammed African technocrats as stumbling blocks to economic growth and job creation. “Our technocrats are following the bank model (World Bank), and what they learned at Ivy League universities, which were not designed for poorly capitalised communities or nations.

“The banks are not the problem but following bank rules outside banks is the hold on economic progress. These investment drives are nothing more than repeating what African countries have tried but failed at,” Zunga argued.