S’THEMBISO MSOMI | A reputation South Africa can no longer ignore

It may be tempting to dismiss Ghana as melodramatic for wanting the AU to haul South Africa over the coals for what the West African nation describes as “xenophobic attacks against African nationals”.

South Africa can easily point to Ghana’s history with its neighbours to demonstrate that tensions linked to illegal immigration are neither new nor confined to South Africa.

Pretoria could cite the shameful “Ghana Must Go” episode of 1983, when the government of Nigeria’s then-president, Shehu Shagari, ordered the deportation of about 2-million undocumented immigrants, most of them Ghanaians. Yet Accra never took Nigeria before the Organisation of African Unity, the predecessor to the AU.

More recently, Nigeria’s senate president, Godswill Akpabio, complained about proposed Ghanaian regulations reportedly requiring Nigerian traders seeking to operate in Ghana to have at least $1m (about R16.4m) in capital and hire a minimum of 20 locals. Akpabio sees this as an unfair barrier to trade and contrary to the spirit of regional economic co-operation promoted by the Economic Community of West African States, in which both nations play leading roles.

Pretoria could point to all of this as evidence that South Africa should not be singled out when tensions over undocumented immigration are evident in many of the continent’s major economies.

But that would be missing the point. The reality is that, for much of Africa, South Africa has become a poster child for Afrophobia — a damaging reputation that poses a long-term threat to the country’s relations with its neighbours, the broader continent and Africans in the diaspora.

Beyond issuing statements and speeches condemning xenophobia whenever violence occurs, the government has failed to develop a comprehensive strategy to counter this perception.

Beyond issuing statements and speeches condemning xenophobia whenever violence occurs, the government has failed to develop a comprehensive strategy to counter this perception.

President Cyril Ramaphosa did strike the right tone on Freedom Day by devoting part of his annual address to condemning those who take the law into their own hands.

He spoke eloquently about how South Africa “did not walk into freedom alone” and reminded his audience of the sacrifices made by many African states in support of the struggle against apartheid.

“They spoke for us when we could not speak for ourselves. The leaders and people of Africa kept our struggle alive. It cannot be, and it must never be, that we trample into the dust the African fellowship that made our freedom possible,” he said.

Stirring words. But in an age of short-form video clips and social media, few are likely to remember what the South African president said.

What remains etched in the minds of many Africans outside South Africa’s borders are viral videos of stick-wielding men marching through the streets of major cities and blocking the entrances to residential buildings, public hospitals and government schools in search of undocumented immigrants.

To many, the scenes bear a similar look to the images of township violence and hostel conflicts that scarred South Africa in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

So when the peddlers of fake news on social media claim that scores of Ghanaians and Nigerians are being slaughtered on South African streets, many believe them — even though most recent anti-immigrant protests have not involved widespread violence.

International relations minister Ronald Lamola has in recent weeks used diplomatic channels to reassure concerned African ambassadors and foreign ministers.

But diplomatic engagements alone will not stem the tide of growing hostility and resentment.

South Africa needs to be seen — both by its citizens and by the rest of the continent — as doing all it can to protect everyone living within its borders.

That includes ensuring that all those in the country are properly documented and that those who are not are dealt with according to existing laws.

It also means that, while affirming everyone’s right to protest and march, the state cannot allow vigilante groups to take the law into their own hands by illegally demanding papers from people they suspect of being foreign nationals.

Given the current geopolitical climate — in which South Africa’s stance on several international issues has put it at odds with some of the world’s most powerful nations — the country can ill afford isolation from the rest of the continent.

There are already signs of a growing gulf. From the continent’s muted response when US president Donald Trump falsely accused South Africa of “white genocide” and reportedly moved to exclude the country from this year’s G20 summit, it is clear South Africa’s ties with the continent are not as strong as they should be.

To turn the situation around, the first step must be to regain control of immigration.