Now is the time for introspection

I AM sure I am not alone when I say that the attacks on foreign nationals in our country have left me both sickened and appalled.

It shakes the very foundation of who we are as as a collective and, quite honestly, it makes me question what has happened to our people’s basic sense of humanity.

Leaders play a critical role in influencing behaviour and, tragically, the irresponsible utterings in this case have cost people their lives. Some responsibility needs to be borne for this, but the fact that people chose to respond in this violent and inhumane way is inexcusable.

The issue at hand is a serious one, because it is true that the number of foreign nationals currently living and working in South Africa has soared to unprecedented heights, and when one considers how many South Africans are unemployed, one can appreciate that the situation is a potentially explosive one.

But surely we are reacting to the condition, instead of identifying what has caused it?

People have clearly moved here because there are opportunities for them in South Africa, so instead of attacking those who have chosen to come to our country, surely we should be looking at why people are making this decision in the first place and how they are managing to actually move here.

To my mind, we need to differentiate between foreigners who are in the country legally and those who are here illegally.

The glut of illegal immigrants needs to be addressed by policing and exportation, and improved border control management.

We managed to do this in the past, so what has gone wrong in recent years?

We cannot blame our management failures on those who have taken advantage of them.

In terms of the employment of foreign nationals, I believe there are some unscrupulous employers that take advantage of the fact that illegal immigrants have no rights in terms of our labour laws and that they are prepared to work harder for less. One cannot condone this behaviour, in fact, it is deplorable.

There is another side to this coin though.

There are foreigners employed by great firms who pay their foreign employees well and who appreciate their work ethic and their non-militance.

There is also the undeniable fact that many Africans from other countries enjoy a far superior education to what is available to our people. This gives them a distinct competitive advantage.

Ironically, too, despite our unemployment rate, we have a massive skills shortage.

In business, one doesn’t get to object to the fact that consumers are using and choosing a competitors product, you have to establish why and then adjust your offering to compete. Perhaps we need to look closely at the competitiveness of our offering?

Again, we need to look at ourselves.

We cannot afford to continue to disadvantage our people in this way and to force businesses to employ less than capable employees is not the answer, because it makes those businesses less competitive globally.

I am sure there are many factors to consider, but I do think that this utterly unacceptable state of affairs requires South Africans at all levels to do some serious introspection and to consider coming together to find real solutions.