Africa Focus: Foreigners not to be blamed for unemployment in S. Africa: experts

As South Africans are reflecting on the recent reoccurrence of xenophobia-related violence, a debate has emerged over whether foreigners, including Chinese, should be blamed for high umemployment which is believed to be behind xenophobia.

It is widely agreed that the latest spate of violence was fueled in part by misperceptions that foreigners, including Chinese, grabbed local jobs, thus causing high unemployment that is hovering around 25 percent.

In the violence that started in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg in mid-January and spread to other townships, about six people were killed and hundreds of foreign-owned shops were looted.

Since May 2008, South Africa has seen on-and-off xenophobia- related attacks, characterised by criminally acts such as looting of foreign-owned shops and killing of foreigners.

The incidents have tarnished the image of South Africa both regionally and internationally and served as a bad omen for foreign investment, South African academia and refugee law experts said.

In an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday, Loren Landau, Professor of Global Migration at University of the Witwatersrand, urged Pretoria to replace anti-xenophobia "quick fix" solutions with long-term strategies.

"The chronic xenophobia nature will not be able to be resolved until longer term interventions are put in place," Landau said.

He said the South African government must implement strategies that promote social cohesion in communities.

African Diaspora Forum (ADF) Chairman Marc Gbaffou echoed his view, saying the strategies must demonstrate to the locals that the presence of immigrants living in the country benefits the local communities and the economy as a whole.

There is no convincing evidence that foreigners are a primary cause of unemployment in South Africa but help create jobs and add to skills pool, Landau said.

"Given the numbers of foreigners in the country and the number of people who are unemployed, it is mathematically impossible for foreigners to be a major cause of unemployment," he said.

Abu-li Muhammad, Director of Johannesburg based Refugee and Foreign Business Forum (RFBF), said the South African government must ensure that locals realise that foreigners are making crucial contributions towards economic development of the country, both on community and national levels.

Take the Chinese for example. "Locals need to be told that the Chinese have brought huge investment in the country's key economic sectors such as mining and heavy industries," Muhammad said. "They need to be told that investments from foreign countries are creating huge employment in the country."

Last year Chinese developer Shanghai Zendai announced a 84- billion-rand (about 7.2 billion U.S. dollars) development plan in South Africa. The plan, expected to kick start soon, involves infrastructure development of residential, industrial and commercial centers in Modderfontein, east of Johannesburg.

Zendai South Africa, a subsidiary of Shanghai Zendai, currently employs more than 200 locals, and 300,000 people are expected to be working and living in this community when completed, Muhammad said.

Other Chinese companies are also making huge investments in the country, including Jinchuan Group, Tubatse Chrome Minerals and China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group. These companies have proved to be a boost to employment in South Africa, said Muhammad.

"All these stories are going untold and communities need to know that such investments are creating jobs to the South African brothers and sisters. When told, this will help end xenophobia in South Africa," Muhammad said.

A lack of education and misconceptions about foreigners contribute to tensions between locals and foreigners in local communities, Pretoria Law Clinic Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme Manager Patricia Erasmus said.

Erasmus lambasted the misperceptions that foreign nationals are in South Africa to "steal jobs, opportunities and women".

Gbaffou of ADF said permanent solutions and strategies to deal with xenophobia in South Africa will come when Pretoria "stop denying that there is xenophobia" in the country and accept xenophobia as a social and economic problem that needs to be addressed with urgency.

South Africa needs to build cohesion through a mix of strategies to end xenophobia and such strategies must include public education and campaigns to build tolerance, Gbaffou said.

There have been calls on the government to build institutions that will create incentives for cooperation rather than competition.

"Ongoing consultations between community leaders on both sides can foster better compassion and understanding and start to dispel myths about the perceived negative influence of foreign nationals in South Africa. Government should also work harder to implement integration and educational programs, as early as at school level, " Erasmus said.

"There is a need for local government to educate all role- players about the laws governing foreign nationals' right to work and trade," he added.

The South Africa government and the ruling African National Congress has condemned xenophobia, but this is not enough, said Zimbabwe Exiles Forum Director Gabriel Shumba.

"The scourge of xenophobia-related violence will not go until and unless the government tackles the issue of impunity for these monstrous atrocities. Since 2008 till now I do not know of any successful prosecution," Shumba said.

Xenophobia in South Africa is perceived to have significantly increased since 1994, according to a report by the Southern African Migration Programme.

Reports indicated that between 1994 and 2014, almost 80 people were killed in xenophobia attacks. Endi