Rehana Rossouw
HYSTERIA whipped up about people pouring across South=20 Africa’s borders to steal jobs from legal citizens is=20 based on unreliable information and does not take into=20 account South Africa’s moral duty to build a strong=20 regional economy.
This is the message from a high-level delegation of=20 parliamentarians and representatives of non- governmental organisations who recently completed a 10- day fact finding tour of Lesotho, Mozambique and=20 Zimbabwe to investigate cross-border migration in=20 southern Africa.
Parliamentarians on the tour were the chairman of the=20 select committee on Foreign Affairs Raymond Suttner, Dr=20 Rob Davies of the committee on Foreign Affairs, Desmond=20 Lockey, chairman of the select committee on Home=20 Affairs, and Marcel Golding, chairman of the Mineral=20 and Energy Affairs portfolio committee.
Current estimates of illegal immigrants in South Africa=20 vary from two million to eight million, and are=20 extremely unreliable, said Professor Wilmot James,=20 executive of the Institute for Democracy in South=20 Africa (Idasa), which organised the trip.
He said the process of quantifying the scale of=20 immigration is hampered by the fact that neighbouring=20 states do not have the capacity to collect information.=20 What is known is that while the repatriation of=20 Mozambican refugees from other southern African states=20 has proceeded smoothly, in South Africa they are less=20 willing to leave because they have better economic=20
There has also been an increase of contract migrants=20 employed on South African mines and who are less=20 affected by retrenchments. It can, however, be argued=20 that they contribute directly to South Africa’s growth=20 and wealth, James said.
South Africa’s neighbours are also concerned about the=20 recent “brain drain” migration to South Africa of their=20 skilled workforce as these talents had been produced=20 and paid for by their countries of origin.
“What became clear on our trip was that our borders are=20 not well patrolled and are extremely porous,” said=20 James. “But pouring money into border control is not=20 the answer. We need collaboration on an effective=20 regional policy for border control operation, not to=20 hunt down people as they cross but to develop controls=20 consistent with human rights.”
James said South Africa should debate whether=20 foreigners take jobs from South Africans or whether=20 they fill jobs South Africans don’t want to perform. He=20 suggests that foreigners, especially from South=20 Africa’s neighbouring states, are treated as part of a=20 broader pool of talent and resources for regional=20 economic wealth.
“We don’t need influx control. We need to examine our=20 policies of naturalisation and develop a humane=20 approach to illegal immigrants,” James said. “During=20 our visit we met the Minister of Finance of Lesotho who=20 made it clear that the economy of his country was=20 dependent on feeding migrant labour to South Africa.
“In Mozambique, the morality of our actions became even=20 more stark. South Africa played an integral part in the=20 war that ravaged Mozambique’s economy and its officials=20 clearly believe South Africa has a moral responsibility=20 in promoting development there. Unfortunately, that=20 means maintaining the migrant labour system.”