Next weeks June the 30th will see wide spread marches against the open borders and illegal undocumented migrants in South Africa. This has been brewing for some time and one has to see both sides of the coin and have an open mind.
South Africa's unofficial unemployment rate stands at around 60% which is a major thumb suck and could in fact be far higher. The government has a way of manipulating the figures and there should be no in between as you are either employed or unemployed, but they have categorized the unemployed into groups so their stats do not reflect officially. there is a category called discouraged job seekers who have basically given up all hope of employment. One can hardly blame them knowing for every job they are applying for they are facing hundreds of applicants seeking that same job. One butcher advertised a position and had over 80 applicants queueing outside for that one role. Many of these applicants will not be South African and why there is a bigger issue here.
The official unemployment rate is 33% which we all know is not true and this would be a great number if this was the real figure. This shows how dire the unemployment is in South Africa when you are cheering for 1/3rd being unemployed.
The facts are there is a direct correlation between migrants which includes the illegal migrants who are not documented and the unemployment rates. One would be foolish to consider that the open borders have not directly impacted employment and why the people of South Africa are not happy.
The biggest issue is not the marches themselves, but more the mixed signals the government has been sending. The government is trying to play both sides and with this you cannot please everyone. They are saying that every migrant will be protected via humanity laws and that extra police and army deployed on the streets will ensure everyone's safety.
The government cannot ban these marches because then they would be siding with the migrants and lose their support from the citizens of the country. Then on the other hand you have the police making public news announcements that anyone offering accommodation to illegal migrants and safe harboring them will be open to a R10K fine per person they are protecting. If the march was safe for foreigners then why are there fines being issued or threats of fines if this June the 30th is not a legitimate date. The police fining anyone harboring migrants after the 30th June is legitimizing this date and the government is talking absolute nonsense in order to keep face with the locals and the rest of Africa.
Sunday evening I may have either one or two legal migrants moving in until the dust settles. Both of them are legal and documented as we could not employ them if they were not. They do not feel safe enough for Tuesday the 30th next week and feel they could be in danger.
On a personal note I do not agree with the number of migrants in South Africa legal or illegal because they are here for one reason and that there is no work in their home country. if you are seeking asylum due to fearing for your life that is one thing, but economic migrants is another. The majority have no skills and are taking jobs away from the locals which is the big problem and why xenophobia is very much active in South Africa.
The 30th June from where I sit is very much a threat to any migrant with documents or no documents because the locals are that desperate. Will there be violence because I expect to see violence from the 1st July for those who have not heeded the warnings and departed. Tens of thousands are being evacuated by whatever means of transport necessary which tells you the warnings are serious and this is no game. Busloads of Malawians are leaving this weekend and have been doing so for the last two weeks already. The Zimbabweans I am not so sure and these are the biggest numbers of migrants and they will be forced to leave if they have not already.
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