OPED: South Africa’s decades-long policy of “quiet diplomacy” enabled the political and economic disaster that has turned millions of Zimbabweans into economic refugees in South Africa.
Limpopo MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba’s sharp exchange with a bedridden Zimbabwean patient, captured on a now viral video, is notable not only for its heartlessness but for its honesty.
What do we do when we run out of hospital bed space for our own citizens?
The two to three million Zimbabweans in South Africa are competing with our own army of unemployed and burdening our own desperate shortage of medical facilities.
And they are giving populist politicians the chance to stir up mischief.
There are no easy answers, but attacking Zimbabwean migrants merely pits one set of poor people against another.
We blame Zimbabweans for every evil. Not only are they accused of taking the jobs of South Africans, but they are blamed for the crime rate, conflating a lack of documents with responsibility for all crime.
Just sending poor and desperate people home is neither moral nor fated to succeed.
We need to acknowledge that South Africa’s decades-long policy of “quiet diplomacy” enabled the political and economic disaster that has turned millions of Zimbabweans into economic refugees in South Africa.
A succession of ANC leaders looked the other way as then-president Robert Mugabe violently cracked down on his opposition and presided over an economy marked by corruption, hyperinflation and joblessness.
Today, in Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “Second Republic”, over 70% live below the poverty line – and the refugees continue to pour across the border.
Zanu PF today little resembles the brave liberation movement that defeated the white settler regime. It is a patronage machine captured by rogue businessmen prospering from the same system that is driving hungry people across our border.
The policy of non-confrontation at the end of the day is having the exact opposite effect to what was intended.
Far from being a good neighbour, South Africa has become a hotbed of anti-Zanu PF sentiment; and innocent Zimbabweans are being attacked and murdered. The policy of stripping permits and sending thousands of Zimbabweans home will only make an already desperate situation worse.
We cannot change the past, but we can learn from our mistakes.
Johannesburg-based political commentator Tafi Mhaka has pointed out that South Africa as a member of SADC has a duty to advance “common political values, systems and institutions” and to safeguard the wellbeing of all its citizens – including Zimbabwe’s distressed migrants.
With the 2023 election approaching, South Africa can help to ensure a level playing field by steering Zimbabwe towards genuinely free and fair elections.
Another violent failed election will be disastrous for the region. We need to concentrate instead on delivering the alternative.
A politically stable and just Zimbabwe will allow us to put our efforts into helping rebuild one of the strongest economies in Africa – and to ensure that we keep enough hospital beds for South
Africans.
Image source:GautengGov
