Foreigners must be embraced in society
‘FOREIGN nationals and undocumented persons do not pose as great a threat as many political leaders may suggest.’
That’s the considered opinion of Steven Mmindje Kabakilwa, director of the civil society organisation African Solidarity Campaign (AfriSoC).
‘The real enemies are poverty, unemployment and inequality, and the false blame and misinformation can be laid at the feet of corruption and mismanagement of resources by some individuals within the government.
‘Honestly admitting this may assist us to correct things, because shifting the blame to a third person is not helpful, and neither is cheap politics.’
In an outspoken letter of condemnation issued this week, he listed a number of factors that point to South African officials, rather than foreigners, causing the problems, stating:
• Foreigners are not the people who are manning South African points of entry and exit. As such we have to blame officials, who happen to be locals
• Those who are issuing permits in cities and towns are not foreigners
• Those who are supposed to arrest the so-called illegal migrants or undocumented persons when they have committed crimes are not foreigners – they are SA law enforcement agencies
• Those who have let spaza shops for rental in townships are not foreigners but SA landlords who have rented them over to the so-called foreigners
• It is the duty of law enforcement agencies to ensure that those immigrants who don’t obey the law are arrested.
Admit failings
‘If we can learn to admit our failures then we will be able to correct them,’ said Kabakilwa.
‘In economies across the world, developments are propelled by immigrants regardless of country of origin.
‘The mighty America is the leading economy because of migration. ‘Those who want to reduce the effects of migration do it indirectly, by deploying their own citizens to countries where skills can be learned. ‘China for example, is moving to number one because many Chinese were sent to American institutions and universities to learn. ‘America does it differently: all brilliant students and academia are welcomed and turned into citizens of America. Those are basic things which have to be understood to grow economic activities for our country.
‘Chasing away African brothers and sisters will not solve the main problems, which include poverty, unemployment and inequality. ‘However, being honest, creating a corruption-free environment, improving good governance and better management of state resources will.’