South Africans attempted to take the immigration problem into their own hands, killing 22 immigrants over the last few weeks- 6 in the last two days. Many immigrants have been chased from their jobs and homes over the last few weeks. The violence must stop, however, South Africans do have the right to be upset. This should be an eyeopener for the South African government, to address the issues that are causing this hatred and violence.
Since Apartheid, there have been a handful of Black South Africans that have flourished; however, most have not. The image that an outsider acquires from seeing a Black president and cabinet members, successful Black businessmen, successful black doctors and lawyers, etc.- is that the average Black man is doing well for him self in South Africa. The fact is that the average is either unemployed, 23% of the population, or fighting to hold his job. Finding housing has also become extremely difficult and at a premium. The inequality has only risen because of these misconceptions and with an increase in illegal immigrants, it will only get worse.
South Africa is surrounded by extremely impoverished and politically unstable countries. Therefore, it is easy to see why immigration is such a problem. It is the nature of human beings to want a better life for your family and yourself, so if you put that on the scale of these countries, we are talking about life and possible death. For example, we discussed the violence going on in Zimbabwe where money is currently worthless because of hyperinflation. Why work if the money you are working for is worthless? Why stay in a country that turns to violence because no one has any reason to work and pay for goods- instead they turn to looting and violence. Zimbabweans actually makes up the largest number of these immigrants fleeing to South Africa, because of just these very reasons.
These immigrants work for less and hold jobs that South Africans want and need. They also lower wages because South Africans can no longer go on strike to get better treatment or better wages, simply because they will just be replaced with immigrant workers. These are legitimate reasons to be upset and enraged, especially when you don't see your government doing anything about the problem and accepting the misconception that the average Black South African is doing well for themselves. Violence is not an acceptable response, however, the government must respond by opening their eyes and realize that the answer to these problems lies on the Southern African Development Community(SADC). I am not saying reward the violence, rather realize that the violence may escalate exponentially if you do not show that you are on their side, as well as not against the immigrants.
Taking the steps that the SADC was set up to do, will show just that. South Africa must help the bordering countries, economically and politically, so that immigrants do not feel the need to flood into South Africa- the economic powerhouse of Sub-Saharan African. The basic concept of the SADC is to split economic gains amongst the southern countries, make sure the countries are politically stable and transparent, and evolve together. Obviously these all have been weakly enforced over the last few years. South Africa needs to invest in the surrounding countries much more than it has. Yes they will be taking a hit in total capital; however it will stop the spread of inequality and improve long term growth by stabilizing the region around them. Foreign investors are much more likely to invest if the area is stable and the roads throughout the south are kept up for shipping purposes. The key is to invest in South Africa's future by investing in the surrounding countries, and this should be done through the SADC. There is no short term answer to immigration- they must show an effort for the long term.
