South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says he will soon dispatch his government’s envoys to engage regional leaders in talks to find lasting solutions to the ever-problematic immigration and xenophobia crisis in his country.
Ramaphosa’s administration has come under pressure as vigilante groups have taken the law into their own hands, demanding documentation from foreign nationals and threatening violence against those deemed illegal in South Africa.
Foreign nationals including Zimbabweans have been given until the end of this month to leave South Africa with the groups, led mainly by tribal figureheads, threatening unspecified action against those that will defy the instructions.
According to statistics, South Africa is home to millions of foreign nationals who have found their way into the once rich Southern African nation in search of jobs and life opportunities.
This has spawned a huge outcry from the local South Africans who have cried out loud as they have been reportedly squeezed out of economic and job opportunities by foreigners.
Zimbabwe, statistics suggest, leads the pack of countries with highest numbers of foreign nationals in South Africa.
Ramaphosa said his government would put up a concerted effort to engage with his regional counterparts.
“The final part of our response (alongside a cocktail of other measures) is to work with other countries in our region and across the continent to address the broader challenge of migration,” Ramaphosa said in a recent address.
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“We need to address the factors that drive migration on our continent and elsewhere. South Africa cannot address migration challenges alone.”
The South African president, under pressure from his critics for what they define a soft-stance approach on foreign nationals, said Sadc and the African Union also needed to play a role in finding a lasting solution to the migration challenge.
“As South Africa, we will continue working with our sister countries to build an Africa in which people move by choice and not by desperation,” he indicated.
“As part of this effort, I will be sending envoys to a number of sister African countries to outline the measures that we are announcing this evening.”
Recently, a group of former liberation war fighters under the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association challenged government to initiate talks with South Africa over the welfare of Zimbabweans in South Africa.
Ramaphosa, in his address, said his government was putting in place a coterie of measures to curb the influx of undocumented foreign nationals into South Africa.
Ramaphosa, however, warned vigilante groups from taking the law into their own hands, charging that his government has enough manpower to crush any unrest that could possibly emerge as a result of vigilantism.
