A VIEW OF THE WEEK: More police officers won’t stop 30 June sham
· Citizen
In the bitterness of winter, while I am cursing having to get out of three blankets to go use the bathroom in the middle of the night, I take a moment to be grateful that the mosquitoes are sleeping
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Mosquitos have a habit of sneaking up on you and pouncing just as you are finding peace from a stressful day.
And similarly, anti-illegal immigration marches are not about to go away.
A 30 June deadline for all illegal immigrants to leave the country is now only days away, but has gone from being a paper tiger threat given during a march to one that the government has given legitimacy.
It has left us all, like when mosquito season comes, a little anxious about what lies ahead.
Digging below the surface, you will find that political parties are profiting and even driving these marches, while those in power are also conveniently using it to distract from other crises and failures that have all contributed to this powder keg.
Regardless, and sadly, it seems to all be going to script so far.
Checking the wrong people
Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia this week warned that the full might of the law will be used to prevent violence and criminality next Tuesday.
But simply throwing officers on the street won’t stop the chaos. It is as effective as cutting steak with a plastic knife.
If you want meaningful immigration control, you need to address corruption.
It does not help to flood city centres with police or labour inspectors to check businesses, if most of them will simply respond to any illegal activity by opening their pockets for a bribe.
We can also create a never-ending route from illegal immigration hotspots to the border, but the problems will continue to persist until you deal with home affairs and border officials who are happy to be paid to turn a blind eye or actively sell fake documentation to immigrants.
Police spokesperson Colonel Mavela Masondo reiterated this week that police officers are expected to maintain discipline and professionalism at all times while wearing the uniform, but many have turned it into a clown suit.
While illegal immigration is a crime and a major issue in the country, we cannot fix the country by simply marching people out of their homes and over the border.
Before we check immigrants for papers, we need to check police officers for dirty money and broken morals. The first step is to make sure law enforcement officials are keeping the law themselves before we can trust them to make sure others are.
Corruption as normal as breathing
Corruption will continue to flourish despite task teams and fancy speeches laced with promises, because they are allowed to grow in a garden of wilful incompetence and weak political will.
President Cyril Ramaphosa may have a lot on his plate with an impeachment knocking on the door, even if he does have some friends like Parliamentary Speaker Thoko Didiza, who will choose him and the ANC over the country they promised to serve.
But this is no excuse for, as pointed out by immigration expert Stefanie de Saude Darbandi this week, him to just repeat stale old promises and dress up policy that has already been delayed by his government for years as a new response to the immigration crisis.
Zuma behind it?
Former president Jacob Zuma may have tried to distance himself and his party from the marches, but there is no escaping the fact that they profited from the unrest that exploded after his arrest in 2021.
His fingerprints may not be found on the surface of these marches, but as a shrewd politician, he knows how to bend public frustrations away from the things that really matter, like education, jobs, and accountability, and instead direct anger at a common “other” or enemy.
Let’s not get so distracted or caught up in the buzz that we forget where it came from.