Ramaphosa needs to set record straight in Africa on migrant issue

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Since the end of its international isolation and the collapse of formal apartheid, SA has positioned itself as “the gateway to Africa”.

Though located at the bottom of the continent’s map — very far from Europe, America and some parts of Asia — very few challenged this status because of SA’s status as the largest and most industrialised economy on the continent.

Overseas companies that wanted to extend their operations into Africa mainly set up their continental headquarters in SA because telecommunications, banking and other infrastructure were far more integrated with the rest of the world here than anywhere else in Africa.

The country’s economic strength, relative to other African economies, meant that its businesses could extend themselves to new markets in Nigeria, Mozambique, Ghana, Sudan and such like as major foreign investors.

Coupled with this were South African government policies that always saw the country’s economic future as dependent on the economic success of the continent as a whole.

Hence SA’s involvement in key infrastructure programmes as well as peace initiatives in various parts of Africa.

Now all of this seems to be under serious threat due to a growing anti-South African sentiment in a number of African countries.

They believe that those of their citizens who live here are having their businesses destroyed, their properties illegally confiscated and their lives threatened by local xenophobic mobs while the South African government is doing nothing about it.

We have seen, in recent weeks, politicians in countries such as Nigeria and Ghana calling on their governments to take drastic measures against South African companies such as MTN, DStv and Stanbic in retaliation for what they believe to be the unfair treatment of their fellow citizens residing here.

Of course, the story is far more complicated than that and, even though March & March and similar groups have been staging protests demanding that foreigners leave our shores, the vast majority of South Africans are not xenophobic.

If anything, in most of our communities, locals have welcomed outsiders with open arms as long as they are here legally and abide by the country’s laws.

What is troubling, however, is that incorrect information about the situation is spreading like wildfire across the continent and our government seems unable to counter it.

This is a matter President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet should be attending to as a matter of urgency because isolated from the rest of Africa, SA stands no chance of thriving.

We would rather the president was currently touring African capitals and setting the record straight than have him in Paris with a French president who is already on his way out.