President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation last night on the government’s plans to ensure peace during the anti-immigration protests scheduled for June 30.
The fact that Ramaphosa saw fit to address the issue in a public broadcast on TV indicates the seriousness with which his government is treating threats of a “national shutdown” if undocumented foreigners do not leave the country by the set deadline.
In the days leading up to the president’s address, various government officials and analysts had warned that, left unchecked, the June 30 protests could escalate into deadly riots the type of which we last saw in July 2021 after the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma.
Eager to prevent a recurrence of the tragic events that claimed the lives of at least 400 people, the government has announced preventive measures and is engaging various sectors of society in the hope of maintaining peace and stability.
While the steps being taken are important, we should point out that the country would not be here if our political leadership didn’t abandon its responsibility to lead.
For months we have watched on television as groups marched across the country, visiting hospitals and public schools and taking the law into their own hands by demanding to inspect the identity documents of people they suspected to be in the country illegally.
Though most of these protests have been peaceful, there have been instances of assault and — just last week — the deaths of two Mozambicans.
As one of the biggest and stable economies on the continent, SA is among the countries battling to manage migration.
The increase in the number of undocumented immigrants in the country has served to heighten social tensions, mostly arising from an economy that is not growing enough to create enough jobs for its citizens.
Instead of dealing with the underlying causes of these problems, our politicians have been speaking with forked tongues — calling for respect for the rule of law while joining in the pointing of fingers at foreigners for SA’s high unemployment and crime rates.
We can only hope that the measures announced by the president are not merely because his cabinet has been spooked by the possibility of July 2021-like riots and the isolation of the country by other African nations, but a sign that, finally, the government is prepared to take the lead.