For the presidency of the US, Donald Trump campaigned strongly against foreigners and got a strong mandate from Americans. To fulfil that mandate, he went on an
aggressive campaign, accompanied by offensive, racist, and insulting language against
foreigners, and deporting nationals of various countries from his country.
Recently, he ordered massive military-style raids of residential areas and workplaces in Los Angeles to arrest and deport foreigners. This sparked equally huge protests against his actions by the residents of that city.
Unlawfully, he deployed the National Guard to the city to quell the protests.
Other cities in a few states of the US saw demonstrations against his actions, and lawsuits against him were instituted in the courts.
Now, like the US, South Africa has an illegal migration headache. We have seen citizens march in a few cities against the sizable presence of illegal migrants in the country.
We even have a civil society organisation formed specifically to campaign against illegal immigrants in South Africa. There are a few political parties that have been spewing a lot of hateful bile against foreign nationals in the country.
We need to tackle the issue of illegal migration with the urgency it deserves. If we don’t, we might live to regret our inaction when there is still time.
The problem with anti-illegal migration sentiment is that it tends to blur the lines between legal and legitimate migration with the illegal variety.
All countries in the world need migration for their social and cultural enrichment, as well as economic growth.
The development of agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction, hospitality and other sectors of our economy depended a lot on the contribution of foreign nationals.
Today, the role played by non-South Africans in academia, insurance, banking and engineering is simply invaluable. Our country and society are better for it. If we allow anti-migration sentiment to fester through our incompetence in immigration management, our country will be poorer.
We should do our best to avoid a Trump-like insular bigot from being elected into political office in South Africa. We can minimise this by managing migration competently.
In addition to bolstering the capacity of the Border Management Authority, the police and the army, who work in tandem to protect our borders, we need to come down hard on employers who hire illegal migrants.
These employers distort the labour market, incentivise illegal migration and cause resentment of citizens against foreigners as the latter are preferred over locals.
Illegals are not unionised and tend to accept lower wages and, more often than not, are docile.
The state must come down hard on such employers who create slave-like labour conditions in our country. Illegal migrants would not be attracted to South Africa if they didn’t know they would get employment.
The state, in all its manifestations, must clamp down on illegal foreign nationals building shacks in informal settlements or engaging in informal trading. No foreign national, legal or illegal, is allowed to engage in such activities in any of our neighbouring countries.
Asylum seekers must be processed quickly and given their status so that they may be assisted.
This month, Botswana, which had closed the Dukwi refugee camp due to the decline in refugees as a result of the improved political environment in the region, has just reopened it to accommodate an influx of asylum seekers.
Human migration is a worldwide phenomenon that enriches societies immensely. However, it needs to be managed. Otherwise, it produces social tensions and hostilities that can be inimical to stability and good order.
Los Angeles offers lessons to South Africa. If we don’t learn, we might have a demagogue in the shape of Trump coming into political office, riding on the anti-migrant sentiment in the country.
Of course, that will ruin our relations with the rest of the continent.
• Professor Mosibudi Mangena is former Minister of Science and Technology
