Xenophobia talk ‘risks democratic progress’

MIGRATION and xenophobia could be front and centre as we head into May’s elections.

These were the fears expressed by experts earlier this week at an event hosted by the Sonke Gender Justice and the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town.

South Africa has witnessed widespread xenophobic attacks in Gauteng, Western Cape, Free State, Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal since 1994.

Some of the issues that apparently contribute to xenophobia include poor service delivery and competition for scarce resources.

A number of political parties have made calls for tougher measures to manage migration, but “playing the migration card” risks a move towards campaigns rooted in populism and fear.

Commentators have warned that this risks next month’s election turning into “an unprincipled competition as to who can take the hardest line on migration”.

According to fact-checking body Africacheck, between 4% and 7% of the South African population is foreign-born.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s statement on the pressure migration puts on the health system last year came under fire.

Last year, during a National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union summit, the minister said that foreign nationals were burdening South Africa’s health system.

He added that South Africa had to re-examine its immigration policies to control the number of undocumented and illegal immigrants in the country.

At the time Motsoaledi said that the weight of foreign nationals on the health system was not xenophobia, but a reality.

He said the hospitals were full but there was no way patients of foreign descent could be turned away when they needed medical care.

With 24 days left to elections, Sally Hurt, head of advocacy at the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, dispelled this narrative, saying there needed to be a shift in policy and that health was a big topic as we head to the polls next month.