S’THEMBISO MSOMI | The continent is watching South Africa

Just over a month before March and March’s arbitrary June 30 deadline for undocumented immigrants to leave South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa bestowed on music legend and entrepreneur Oscar “Oskido” Mdlongwa one of the highest honours this country can confer.

It was a fitting tribute to a man who has had such a tremendous influence on post-apartheid South African dance music — helping to export it to international audiences – and on popular youth culture as a whole.

Even though the award was announced amid reports of growing anti-foreigner sentiment, there wasn’t a single objection to Oskido, who is of Zimbabwean parentage, receiving the Order of Ikhamanga (Silver).

Instead, there was widespread jubilation. The man who started out as a mechanic, supplementing his income by selling hot dogs outside a Hillbrow nightclub in the early 1990s, is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of kwaito, the dance music genre that became the soundtrack to South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy.

In the process, he not only transformed himself into one of South Africa’s most successful and internationally renowned DJs and music producers but has also helped launch the careers of dozens of artists, some of whom went on to become millionaires.

South Africa faces the real prospect of being put on trial by the rest of the African continent.

“Oscar Warona” (“Our Oscar”) was the nickname South Africans gave him as his popularity as a DJ grew. It was the heyday of the “new” South Africa, when “unity” was the motto and few cared to question another person’s skin colour, accent or mother tongue.

It was a South Africa that promised a brighter future not only for those recently freed from apartheid but also for many across the rest of the continent who had been disappointed with their own countries’ post-colonial experience. Yet, 32 years into its existence as a post-apartheid society, South Africa faces the real prospect of being put on trial by the rest of the African continent.

Ghana and Nigeria have announced plans to haul Pretoria before the AU to answer charges that South Africans are xenophobic and that the government is failing to protect African immigrants who are losing their lives and livelihoods at the hands of armed vigilantes who have taken over the country’s streets.

Despite diplomatic efforts by international relations minister Ronald Lamola to assure Ghanaian president John Mahama and the Nigerian government that South Africa is doing all it can to ensure the ongoing anti-migrant protests do not get out of hand, there is growing concern that the country is losing the trust and support of other African states and may soon find itself a continental pariah.

These concerns were palpable this week at a winter seminar on migration convened by the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton. Many speakers and audience members warned that unless South Africa, the AU and other member countries carefully manage the fallout, the situation could escalate into a full-blown crisis with serious consequences for both the country and the continent.

Standard Bank Group CEO Sim Tshabalala, whose company operates in 22 African markets, told the audience the company had noticed “profound” and “visceral” hostility towards South African businesses following the recent anti-migrant protests.

His MTN counterpart, Ralph Mupita, agreed, saying there was “outrage out there”, particularly in Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria, where the telecommunications company has a major presence.

Although MTN started in South Africa, over the past three decades it has grown into a truly continental business, with only 18% of its earnings coming from South Africa.

Tshabalala pushed back against many of the claims made by March and March and other anti-migrant groupings that immigrants are stealing South African jobs and draining the country’s resources.

“Immigration ... has the effect of reducing unemployment, not increasing it. This actually makes a lot of sense … Migrants are not only workers; they are also consumers. They are tenants. They are commuters. They are farmers, they are borrowers, they are traders and they are entrepreneurs,” Tshabalala said.

He cautioned South Africans to look at the case of the UK, which left the EU in a process now known as Brexit, partly because of concerns about migration. By exiting the EU, the UK had hoped to reduce immigration and boost economic growth. Instead, Tshabalala pointed out, its GDP was reduced by 8% while unemployment increased by 4%.

For former president Kgalema Motlanthe, while a sluggish economy and competition for scarce resources among the poor are largely responsible for growing anti-immigrant sentiment, other contributing factors include a lack of appreciation of South Africa’s long history of migration and the interdependence of its economy with those of the rest of the region.

He told the audience: “South Africa’s modern economy was, quite literally, dug out of the ground by migrants. The discovery of diamonds at Kimberley in 1867 and gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 created an almost insatiable demand for labour that the local settler population could not and would not supply.

“The mining houses met that demand by drawing workers from across the subcontinent: from the Eastern Cape, the Transvaal and Natal, and, decisively, from beyond the borders of what would become the Union: Mozambique, Basutoland (Lesotho), Bechuanaland (Botswana), Nyasaland (Malawi) and Swaziland (Eswatini) …

“The contemporary anxiety about “foreign” migrants from the region is therefore historically ironic: those migrants, or their forebears, built the economy that now debates their admission.”

Motlanthe said that given the structure of the South African economy and the resultant conflicts, it was incumbent on government “to always take charge as it responds to the cries of the unemployed, poor and marginalised”.

“Failure to maintain authority on the part of government invites lawlessness and near anarchy, with devastating consequences. Political leaders need to know that they are not only responsible for the way they lead but also for what is done by those they lead, particularly in times of crisis and upheavals.”

Many speakers criticised what they called a lack of leadership shown by the government in the run-up to the March and March deadline, saying it created the impression of a government that had “surrendered power to the mob”.

MTN Group chair and former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas pointed out that South Africa was not the first country on the continent to have expelled immigrants in large numbers. But, he said, the difference between South Africa and countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast was that, in those cases, the expulsions were directed by the government.

“What we are witnessing in South Africa is more dangerous: a populist movement emerging from the streets that, in some places, has assumed the power to enforce its own version of the law.

“When the state loses its monopoly on the legitimate use of force, it loses more than control of the streets. It loses the authority to decide who is protected by the law and who is not. That authority passes instead to whoever can assemble the largest mob or wield the biggest stick. No democracy can survive that for long.”

Jonas warned that the recent protests suggested South Africa was in danger of going the way of several Western counties that have witnessed the rise of narrow nationalist and populist politics that reject democratic principles.

“When people see others primarily as threats — whether criminals, extremists, foreigners, disease carriers or sources of offence — social solidarity declines."

He said the country “should drop the pretence” that the recent protests were “somehow organic”.

“The protests have been driven, firstly, by opportunistic politicians who are manipulating people’s fears and anxieties for electoral advantage with the November local government elections in mind. Secondly, criminal syndicates and hooligans see an opportunity to expropriate people’s businesses and loot the possessions of those who are driven out.

“Thirdly, we are witnessing the operation of malign outside networks of funders, organisers and social media operators of bot farms. They bus protesters across provinces. They amplify outrage online. They manufacture narratives designed to pit neighbours against neighbours, communities against communities, and countries against countries.”

Despite the majority of South Africans not being supportive of the hostility displayed by anti-immigration groupings, the images seen by other countries on television and social media are of a country that has turned violent against foreigners, Jonas added.

“The danger is not simply to our reputation. South Africa’s prosperity is increasingly tied to the rest of the continent. Its banks, retailers, telecommunications companies, logistics firms and manufacturers are expanding across Africa because that is where many of the fastest-growing opportunities and markets are to be found.

“At precisely the moment when the African Continental Free Trade Area seeks to deepen integration and reduce barriers between African economies, South Africa is sending the opposite message — that Africans are welcome as customers, investors and consumers, but not as people.”

However, he said he believed the controversy provided South Africa and the continent with an opportunity to put some of Africa’s problems on the table for discussion and resolution.

“The challenge now is to transform the crisis that the protests have created into a serious discussion among ourselves and with our African neighbours about how to confront the challenges of migration and find solutions together.

“If we are to have an honest conversation about immigration, we must ask why so many Africans leave their homes in the first place. As long as states remain weak, institutions are captured, and public office is used for extraction rather than service, millions of Africans will continue to seek opportunities elsewhere.”

This sentiment was shared by the foundation’s trustee, Gugu Motlanthe, who said South Africa and the continent “cannot continue governing by denial”.

“If we retreat from Pan-African solidarity, we will pay a premium and be discounted, and unfortunately future generations will inherit the cost of our inertia,” she said. “The overwhelming majority of migrants do not arrive with the intention of harming South Africa. They arrive seeking precisely what our own constitution promises: dignity, opportunity and hope.

“At the same time, South Africans are entitled to expect that immigration laws will be respected and fairly enforced. These two principles are not mutually exclusive.”

Dr Ishmael Yamson, chair of MTN Ghana, told the audience that the experience of West Africa — which in the past has had its own share of anti-immigrant sentiment — showed that trade between countries cannot happen without the movement of people.

“The lesson is simple: people move where opportunity exists,” he said. “Our task is therefore not to stop people moving. Our task is to ensure that Africa creates sufficient opportunity for its people wherever they may choose to live and work … Goods do not trade themselves. People trade. Economic integration is not a theoretical aspiration. It is a practical necessity.

“No African country, regardless of size, can achieve its full potential in isolation. Our markets are too fragmented. Our infrastructure gaps remain too large.”