By Celani Sikhakhane
- March and March protesters demanded that SADC leaders take undocumented citizens home, but police kept demonstrators away from the summit venue in Durban.
- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa told regional leaders to process Africa’s minerals locally to create jobs instead of exporting valuable raw materials.
March and March protesters came to Durban with a message for southern African leaders: take your undocumented citizens home.
But inside the Durban International Convention Centre, regional leaders had a different conversation.
The protesters were kept away from the venue by police on Monday as leaders wrapped up the 46th Ordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community heads of state and government.
March and March wanted the regional leaders to address undocumented migrants from their countries who are living in South Africa.
But the summit focused on economic development and how southern African countries could get more value from their natural resources.
One of the leaders targeted by protesters was Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
While protesters outside demanded that Zimbabweans living illegally in South Africa return home, Mnangagwa used his address to talk about minerals, manufacturing and jobs.
He said southern African countries should stop simply exporting their raw minerals and instead process them within the region.
“The primary goal is to ensure that we add value to our primary based resources and move away from exporting raw materials by building local processing refineries and manufacturing capacity across Southern Africa,” Mnangagwa said.
He said processing resources locally could increase trade between Southern African Development Community countries while supporting agriculture processing and infrastructure development.
“By processing our minerals, we create jobs, foster innovation and return the value that rightfully belongs to our people,” he said.
Outside the summit, however, March and March protesters were angry.
Movement leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma accused Mnangagwa of failing to address the number of undocumented Zimbabweans living in South Africa.
She also expressed disappointment that Zimbabweans living in South Africa did not join the demonstration to protest against their president.
“You see the Zimbabweans are not here to stage a protest against their President. This is because they are scared of him even though they are not in their country,” Ngobese-Zuma said.
“But what we want is for Mnangagwa to fetch his people that are in South Africa illegally and take them back home to Zimbabwe.”
March and March has been campaigning against undocumented immigration and demanding tougher action from the South African government.
Ngobese-Zuma used Monday’s protest to set another deadline.
She said undocumented foreign nationals should leave South Africa by 30 September.
Speaking to protesters at the Workshop in Durban, Ngobese-Zuma accused the regional leaders of ignoring their concerns.
She included President Cyril Ramaphosa in her criticism.
“Our President has even told the SADC leaders that he is ashamed of us for marching. This means they don’t care about our plight as South Africans,” she said.
Ngobese-Zuma questioned why authorities were struggling to deal with people who are in the country without legal documents.
“I wonder what is so difficult to deal with illegal immigrants and take them back to their countries because it’s the law that was written by them,” she said.
While immigration anger played out on Durban’s streets, regional leaders ended their summit with other major problems on their agenda.
During the closing session, King Mswati III of eSwatini assumed the chairmanship of the Southern African Development Community Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation Troika.
King Mswati said his term would focus on efforts to restore peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and political stability in Madagascar.
The summit therefore ended with two very different messages coming out of Durban.
Inside the venue, leaders spoke about turning southern Africa’s mineral wealth into factories, jobs and stronger economies while dealing with regional security challenges.
Outside, March and March protesters demanded action on undocumented immigration and accused those same leaders of refusing to listen.
Pictured above: Botswana President Duma Boko, King Mswati III of eSwatini, President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa at the Durban International Convention Centre.
Image source: Eswatini government.
