By Phakamisa Mayaba
With 30 June – D-Day for the demanded exodus of ‘illegal foreigners’ by grass roots organisations such as March and March — not too far off, what is one to make of the death of 19-year-old Nhlamulo Sambo? In what is already an incendiary climate, all manner of speculation has come to the fore in the wake of the youngster’s untimely demise.
Police – usually tight-lipped in front of the cameras – seemed eager to suggest that he took part in a robbery gone wrong when he was allegedly chased down and stabbed to death in the coastal town of Mossel Bay.
By contrast, his family and others have framed him as one of the first casualties of the impending pogrom foreshadowed by the anti-immigration protesters – specifically that he was murdered because he was ‘Nguni’, a subjective label which is playing an increasingly central role in the growing wave of anti-immigrant sentiment and mobilisation.
Sambo’s murder comes as videos of violence and mobs going from door to door and harassing foreigners share reel space with those of the Mozambican government reportedly repatriating hundreds of its citizens. According to a news clip on DW Africa, a certain Adelmar Mambo, a Mozambican national claiming to be fleeing the violence at Mossel Bay, said the mob didn’t care at all about his immigration status. That he is simply not South African was enough for them to warn him to leave.
The Malawian government has sprung to the rescue of some of its nationals, while the Nigerian Foreign Ministry spokesperson has indicated that some 1092 Nigerians have registered to voluntarily leave the country, citing ‘disturbing reports’ from groups like March and March and Operation Dudula. Ghana has already repatriated some 800 of its nationals, this as certain utterances made by their foreign affairs minister, Samuel Ablakwa, jolted his local counterpart, Roland Ramola, into coming out to publicly dispel them.
Meanwhile, the troubles I predicted in my previous article have materialised sooner than expected. Now they are bearing down hard, and it seems the horse has bolted all the way to Parliament, social media and the KZN town of Harding, scene of a chilling standoff between taxi operators and a group led by the perpetually cussing Ngizwe Mchunu.
If there ever was a moment that spoke to how things could spiral out of control, it was this: taxi operators, who are often associated with trigger-happy conduct over matters as seemingly trivial as disagreements over routes and fares, coming face to face with an anti-immigration mob that is growing bigger and more emboldened by the day. One wrong move in such circumstances, and what is an already turbulent and uncertain impasse could take a whole new turn.
Among others, a prominent anti-immigrant activist in KZN, Nkosikhona ‘Phakel’umthakathi’ Ndabandaba, has publicly instructed ‘arrogant’ Nigerians to leave the country. During an interview on Eyewitness News, he has distanced himself from violence, even though at least one video has shown him assaulting an unidentified man.
Mounting pressures and tensions have resulted resulted in the issue of immigration being ventilated in parliament, with members of the GNU sometimes voicing differing views. At the same time, the Special Investigating Unit has made significant disclosures about the roles of corrupt officials in the Department of Home Affairs in undermining the immigration regime. From an internal syndicate that facilitates documents to nefarious collusions and bribery, it makes one realise that illegal foreigners would not be so prevalent were it not for greedy local suits.
It’s unsurprising, therefore, that President Cyril Ramaphosa called a family meeting last Sunday, 7 June. While conceding that ‘there have been weaknesses in the way that migration has been administered’, he assured the nation that his government was ‘taking further measures to secure our borders’. On this score, he promised investment in modern technology, infrastructure and personnel as well as a ‘phased relocation of refugee reception centres to border posts starting with Tshwane Centre this current year’.
His list of strategies included the phasing out of the green ID; increasing inspections targeting companies employing undocumented foreign nationals; increasing penalties – including imprisonment – for employers who violate the Immigration Act; and setting up dedicated courts to deal with immigration to speedily support the deportation of undocumented migrants.
‘I must make it clear,’ he continued. ‘that only the authorised government officials may act against violations of the law. No other person is allowed, for example, to confront someone in the street, in the pathways of our country to demand proof of identity.’
This is fast becoming a key issue. Shortly after Ramaphosa’s address, March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma went on television to question whether the president’s aides were sufficiently informed about the severity of South Africa’s immigration problems to offer reliable counsel.
She claimed that border control were working at only 25 per cent capacity, called the president’s remedies ‘impractical’, and questioned how the state could expect citizens to fold their arms when the laws allow for ‘citizen’s arrest’. She went on to say that Ramaphosa had failed to take various ‘patriotic organisations’ into his confidence by, at the very least, agreeing to meet with them.
Vuyo Zungula, former chair of the African Transformation Movement, also lambasted Ramaphosa for effectively ‘gaslighting’ citizens by giving them ‘false hope’.
While Ramaphosa’s political partners gave him pats on the back, it was business as usual for people like Ndabandaba. Judging by the videos circulating on social media, the president’s words appear to have fallen on deaf ears, as the marches, stand-offs and warnings continue. In fact, rather than pouring oil on troubled waters, the added attention seems to have pushed then up a notch.
Featured image: Nkosiikhona Ndabandaba leading a march. Source: Nkosiikhona Phakel’umthakathi Ndabandaba Facebook page.