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Former President Kgalema Motlanthe
- Former President Kgalema Motlanthe lamented South Africa’s treatment of undocumented immigrants.
- Motlanthe said George Bizos did not have citizenship and remained stateless for 31 years after the South African government denied him citizenship.
- He said there is a rush to send the oppressed back to their troubled homes, turning them into stateless beings floating across borders.
Former President Kgalema Motlanthe lamented South Africa’s treatment of undocumented immigrants, saying the country largely excludes immigrants from society.
While honoring the memory of renowned human rights lawyer, defender George Bizos SC, the former president alluded to his dissatisfaction with the way the South African government and society treated immigrants.
Motlanthe spoke at Bizos’s funeral, organized by the ANC. Bizos died at the age of 92 of natural causes on September 9.
He said:
Undocumented immigrants, economic refugees and asylum seekers from South Africa seek hope and opportunity in South Africa. However, they have been largely excluded from our society. There is a rush to send the oppressed back to their troubled homes, turning them into stateless beings floating across borders.
Motlanthe said that South Africa’s treatment of immigrants exposed the flaws in society.
“Population movement[s] they are in constant motion and the ghost of the past now sets the stage for the conflict of the present. Our response to migrants and refugees has exposed long-lasting and dangerous fault lines in our societies. Migration remains central to politics, the economy, society and the formation of culture in [the] African continent.
READ: TRIBUTE | George Bizos: Goodbye to a fighter for justice
“This raises fundamental questions about our response as a nation, identity politics and the ideals of humanity. What began with the hope for a better future, these treacherous journeys to build a new life are often met with racism, segregation, xenophobia, discrimination and more violence. The critical question is, ‘Are we treating these migrants differently than Uncle George was treated?’ “said the former president.
For more than a decade, South Africa has struggled with the identity of being xenophobic, with many foreign nationals killed, attacked or blamed for the ailing economy.
In February, City Press reported that Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said its processes for undocumented immigrants were inadequate and this was compounded by budget cuts, weak systems and overloaded state machinery.
READ | SA spends nearly R9 million to bring undocumented immigrants home, Parliament hears
Last year, Home Affairs spent about R42 million to bring undocumented immigrants to their countries.
Motlanthe said South Africa’s approach to foreign citizens was denying the country an abundance of legal minds like Bizos.
“Yet given the opportunity to enroll in education, apply their minds, skills, and creativity, become professionals in their own right, wouldn’t we find an abundance of advocates, specialists, contributors, and builders like Uncle George?” he said.
Bizos, known as former President Nelson Mandela’s treason trial attorney and confidant, fled his home country of Nazi-torn Greece at the tender age of 13. The family emigrated to South Africa.
Motlanthe said Bizos, whom he affectionately called “Uncle George,” had no citizenship and was stateless for 31 years after the South African government denied him citizenship on the grounds that he was out of shape.
Due to his unwavering and relentless spirit, this challenge did not stop Bizos from being a loyal contributor and builder to South Africa, Motlanthe said.
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