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ILLUSTRATIVE: Children under the shelter of a spaza tent on June 19, 2016 in Khayelitsha, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / David Harrison)
Politicians and economic elites are pushing anti-immigrant messages and policies ahead of the 2021 local government elections, turning these people into scapegoats to generate support.
First published by ISS today
In August, in Parliament, President Cyril Ramaphosa was asked how he intended to ensure that trade in the informal economy was reserved only for South Africans. He replied that it was necessary “to avoid populist temptations to blame foreigners for economic problems and unemployment”, taking into account “the frustration of South Africans who felt driven out of the economy by foreigners.
He too Announced that an inter-ministerial committee (IMC), co-chaired by the Employment and Labor and Home Affairs departments, had been established to deal with issues of labor, migration, border security and skills shortages.
In the past, despite the hostile positions of politicians on immigration and the high levels of xenophobia in the country, most of South Africa’s political parties have not politicized immigration too much in their election manifestos. However, political discontent, economic insecurity, and social grievances, exacerbated by Covid-19, have led to nativist rhetoric. Driven by opportunism, economic elites and politicians have begun scapegoating immigrants to build support.
Former Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba (Leader of Action SA) and the heads of the South Africa First movement and the African Transformation Movement have accused foreigners of violating immigration laws and stealing jobs of the locals. The same anti-immigrant messages, reflected in social media campaigns and populist slogans, will likely play a notable role on the road to the 2021 local government elections.
Ramaphosa’s call to fight the rising tide of populism is not simply a warning to opposition parties. It is also aimed at those in the ruling ANC who have spread xenophobic statements and blamed foreigners for South Africa’s many socio-economic problems. As a result, foreign-run businesses in the informal sector have been targeted, leading to exclusionary policies and proposals to ban foreign-owned spaza stores.
In 2012, the ANC Peace and stability The discussion paper stated that “non-South Africans should not be allowed to buy or manage spaza larger businesses or businesses without having to comply with certain legislated requirements ”. He also questioned whether municipal statutes should apply equally to asylum seekers and citizens.
In the same year, Limpopo police were instructed to selectively shut down foreign-owned businesses during Operation Hardstick. The Supreme Court of Appeals ruled in 2014 that the closure of businesses operated by refugees and asylum seekers was illegal and considered them entitled to run their businesses and apply for business licenses.
The myths associated with informal trade include the belief that foreigners dominate the sector. However, the evidence of a study conducted in Johannesburg suggests that only two in 10 informal traders are not South African. Also, investigation highlights the economic contributions made by foreign traders to local economies and their positive impact on job creation for South Africans.
At the same time, informal urban economic activities have proliferated among foreigners. This increase is partly a product of the history and evolution of the dynamics in the region, such as the new Institute for Security Studies investigation on migration and governance in southern Africa.
The fracture of the contract labor system in southern Africa in mining has paved the way for spontaneous and informal regional cross-border movements. Data from the 2017 Quarterly Labor Force Survey reveals that 47% of migrants are employed in precarious and unregulated environments, and of these almost 39% are employed in the informal economy.
Anxiety about foreign companies increased after a wave of xenophobic riots in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal between March and May 2015. The violence prompted the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces to establish a Joint Ad Hoc Committee to investigate the violence against foreigners.
The committee’s final report blamed the foreigners, stating that they had contributed to the violence by dominating trade in certain sectors in informal settlements. The committee also found that migrants had used business models “to discourage competition, such as forming monopolies, evading taxes, avoiding customs, and selling illegal and expired goods.” This reflects a political tendency to demonize foreign-owned informal businesses.
In September 2019, Small Business Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni revealed the plan for legislation to ban foreigners from certain sectors, including the small business sector. Along the same lines, in October 2020, the Gauteng government introduced the Gauteng Municipality’s Economic Development Bill to prohibit foreigners without permanent residence from operating informal businesses in municipalities.
Since October 2020, the South African police and the Limpopo government have targeted Zimbabwean migrants and informal traders in that province. As a result, several hundred people have been deported.
Until now, policy makers have paid little attention to the profits of foreign traders in the informal sector. Instead, they have favored arguments about unfair business practices and perceived disadvantages for South African distributors.
The White Paper on International Migration, released for Home Affairs in 2017, recommended a new visa regime for informal traders and small and medium-sized enterprises in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This policy seems advisable and is in line with SADC’s economic policy initiatives to promote trade and regional integration and reduce poverty.
However, the informal economic activities of foreigners in South Africa remain a thorny issue, exploited for political gain. A new wave of populism could provide fertile ground for anti-immigrant sentiments.
The question is to what extent the newly formed IMC will be able to effectively address labor and migration issues and provide guidance to government. A more evidence-based approach to policy and practice would help dispel myths and misconceptions about migration.
Hopefully, the IMC will be more effective than the Joint Ad Hoc Committee in investigating violence against foreign nationals. The committee did little to address the root causes of xenophobia and dismissed the resulting violence as criminal activity. DM
Sergio Carciotto, Senior Research Consultant, Migration, ISS
