Foreigners not responsible for South Africa’s woes — Journalist, Ngalwa

A South African journalist, Secretary-General of the African Editors Forum and Treasurer-General of the South African National Editors’ Forum, S’bu Ngalwa, tells OLUFEMI ADEDIRAN that political interests, rather than widespread public hostility, are fuelling the anti-foreigner campaign in South Africa. He also dismisses claims that migrants are responsible for the country’s economic and security challenges

What do you think is driving the ongoing anti-foreigners’ protests in South Africa?

There have been protests at different times over the past few years. It has not been a constant occurrence, but there have been periodic flare-ups. What is driving the xenophobic protests this time around is political opportunism. Some political actors are pursuing a political agenda while hiding behind the cloak of civil society.

The so-called March-and-March Movement behind the xenophobic protests is a movement with no clear origin or structure that appeared from nowhere. But for a movement that is supposed to be spontaneous, it appears to be well-funded. You see it mobilising people, paying for buses and moving protesters between provinces.

Let me give you an example. KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape are neighbouring provinces, but if a bus leaves Durban for East London for a protest, that is a journey of about 600 kilometres. Somebody has paid for that. Somebody has provided the funding and sustained those being transported to that location for the duration of the protest.

That tells you this is not a spontaneous grassroots movement but a well-funded campaign with specific political objectives.

Why do you think the protesters are being politically sponsored?

It was not clear initially, but it is becoming clearer as the movement openly reveals its political affiliations. I say this because its so-called leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has publicly declared support for former President Jacob Zuma’s MK (uMkhonto weSizwe) Party and campaigned for it. The party has also openly endorsed the so-called March-and-March Movement.

So Nigerians and others must understand that this is not a South African public uprising against foreigners. By some estimates, there are about five million foreign nationals living in South Africa, and many have lived here for years.

In 2021, Jacob Zuma was jailed for defying the Constitutional Court. What followed was unprecedented violence in post-apartheid South Africa. There was widespread looting for two weeks, costing the country millions of dollars. That violence was largely confined to two provinces, one of which was KwaZulu-Natal, Jacob Zuma’s home province and also the base of the March-and-March Movement.

There is also a man called Gayton Kula, the bare-chested, round-bellied man often dressed as a Zulu warrior and seen leading the protests. He was arrested in 2021 for allegedly being behind the violence linked to Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment.

What was the real reason for the violence?

It is widely believed that the violence was not really about Jacob Zuma but about destabilising the government and perhaps taking over power. Gayton Kula is now one of those leading the March-and-March Movement.

What you are witnessing is political theatre on a national scale. Because of the issues being raised and the nature of politics, it is easy to excite people and attract public attention.

Yes, the South African government has failed to deal effectively with immigration, but that is the sum total of the problem we are facing. Ordinary South Africans are less concerned about a few Africans running shops. Their bigger concern is the state of the economy.

What is the role of the South African government in this anti-foreigner campaign?

My belief, and the general view, is that this is not government-sponsored because the South African government has nothing to gain from it. In fact, the situation is costly for the government. South Africa’s economic interests across the African continent are threatened by this anti-foreigner campaign.

So there is no reason for the government to be behind it. The campaign has gained traction because we operate a liberal democracy where people have the constitutional right to protest. You cannot simply stop people from demonstrating.

Where the government has fallen short is in enforcing the law. Under our laws, people cannot engage in a peaceful protest while carrying sticks and spears.

Specifically, do you think the South African government is behind the anti-foreigners’ campaign?

Government inaction has fuelled the perception that it is sponsoring the protests, but I can tell you that the current South African government has far more to lose than to gain from the situation.

The March-and-March Movement is aligned with Jacob Zuma’s opposition MK Party. I believe the intention of those behind the protests is to overthrow or take over the government, whether through elections or by building a mass popular movement.

Let us see what happens on June 30, the deadline the protesters gave foreigners to leave the country, and let us see how the government responds. Having observed South Afric an politics for years, I see this as a political project with a clear political agenda.

The government is being cautious in dealing with the protesters because it wants to avoid bloodshed. Remember, South Africa has not fully recovered from the Marikana massacre of 2012. Those behind these protests are exploiting government failures while disguising themselves as a grassroots movement, which I do not believe they are.

Do you believe the campaign is genuinely aimed at removing foreigners from South Africa, or is there a bigger agenda at play?

The ultimate goal of politics is to win power, and I believe that is no different here. The intention is to build a populist movement that could eventually lead to the capture of political power.

However, I do not believe they will succeed because South African society is generally conservative when it comes to violence and populist campaigns. Their objective may be to take over power, but whether they will achieve it is another matter. Personally, I do not think they will.

How true is the claim that foreigners, particularly Nigerians, are taking over jobs and are behind crime in the country?

South African prisons are overflowing. The government cannot keep up with the prison population, and I can tell you for free that 90 per cent of the people in prison are South Africans. So, this is nothing but political propaganda. It is populist and deliberate disinformation aimed at fomenting violence and whipping up public sentiment.

They repeat a lie over and over until it begins to sound like the truth, but there is no such thing. What you see instead is non-compliance by some employers with labour laws. South Africa is very strong on the protection of workers’ rights, and the government is serious about enforcing the minimum wage. Most companies, however, do not like that.

So, they employ and exploit undocumented migrants who are willing to work under any conditions. This gives ammunition to those campaigning against foreigners in South Africa. They are exploiting some legitimate concerns to achieve political gains.

Nigerians who have been repatriated have alleged ill-treatment by South Africans. What do you think is the true picture?

I cannot question somebody’s personal experience. If that is what they genuinely experienced, I have no reason to doubt it but to accept it. I would not want to speculate on why they said so because I was not there. Therefore, I cannot say whether it is true or not. Perhaps those people really did go through a difficult experience.

What I can say is that there are people who have lived in South Africa for more than 20 years and have no such complaints. It would be difficult to imagine a foreigner who had lived in South Africa for two decades claiming to have been persecuted throughout that period and yet choosing to remain in the country.

What is happening this time is that people are genuinely fearful because the protests and mobilisation appear to be gathering momentum. Even as a South African, I have never seen them at this level before. It is something we have not witnessed previously. It is simply an ill-conceived campaign intended to build grassroots support and ultimately capture political power.

Is the government worried about this movement and the way its activities are gathering momentum every day?

I think the government is seriously concerned about the situation, but it is being cautious in how it responds. The government has made it clear that no one who is not a law enforcement officer or a government official has the right to demand identification from anyone. So yes, the government is taking the matter seriously.

Beyond the negative publicity the issue is generating for South Africa, the country is already facing consequences. There have been protests in Accra, Ghana, against South Africa. The question now is what the South African government will do because these groups do not represent the majority of South Africans. They do not speak for the entire country. They are simply loud.

The government must take restoring South Africa’s reputation seriously. It should ensure that the law is enforced against those who break it while claiming to represent the legitimate concerns of South Africans. These are opportunists, and the government must deal firmly with them.

So, let us see what happens on June 30 when the ultimatum they issued for foreigners to leave the country expires. We have far bigger problems in South Africa, and they will not be solved simply by driving foreigners out. I can assure you that many of those who leave will return before long.

What do you think can be done to prevent a ripple effect in other African countries?

It comes down to two things. First, the South African government must initiate and sustain stronger diplomatic engagement with other African countries, particularly through the African Union.

More importantly, the government must be clear, consistent, and unequivocal in its opposition to some of these protests and their demands.