Government has set a ‘very dangerous precedent’

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JIMMY MOYAHA: Early this week we had the ‘March on March’ protests that were set to take place on the 30th of June 2026. Those protests did take place, and subsequent to that we heard that these sorts of protests and marches would be organised every Thursday until at least the end of the year – or at least until the government would listen to the demands being laid out.

We’re going to look at this and look at the potential impact this could have on the South African economy and on businesses and lives in South Africa.

I’m joined on the line by the chair of the South African Institute of International Affairs, a gentleman who needs no introduction beyond that. Tata Moeletsi Mbeki joins me on the line now to see what we make of these developments.

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Tata, lovely having you on the show. Thanks so much for taking the time. Let’s perhaps start with your initial thoughts around the events that have unfolded this week, and perhaps contrast against the events of July 2021 and where we sit as a country at the moment.

MOELETSI MBEKI: Well, I think this is a very dangerous precedent that the South African government is allowing to happen. You can’t have citizens going out on the streets and telling people who are living in South Africa that they have one week or two weeks or three weeks to vacate South Africa, or vacate the City of Cape Town or the City of Durban, or whatever they choose. People who live in South Africa should [be able to do so].

This is totally unacceptable. It should never have been allowed to happen.

The South African government should never have allowed what happened with ‘March and March’, with [agitators] telling people and giving them deadlines to leave the country. They have no such authority.

The government should have put its foot down and banned the march.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Tata, we are in the midst of local government elections that are set to take place towards the end of this particular year. Do you think this might have something to do with how the situation is being handled? Should it have anything to do with how it’s being handled on both sides?

Whether it’s on the protesting side or whether it’s on the government side, does this have anything to do with the timing of where we find ourselves from a voting perspective?

MOELETSI MBEKI: No, I don’t think it has anything to do with the elections. We have a failed government in South Africa or, to probably be a bit more generous, we have a failing government in South Africa.

The main components of the South African government have been rejected by the voters because they failed. The ANC after 30 years in power – the voters reject it. The DA has been sitting on that 22% vote since 2014, and it is not able to grow.

So we have political parties that are failing in the country, and failing the country.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Tata, can we look at the local and international implications this then has locally. I’d like to look at our economy and what these sorts of disruptions and protests could potentially mean for an economy like ours which has stagnated and is struggling with growth.

Internationally, from an investment perspective, what does this then say to the international community?

MOELETSI MBEKI: Well, first, African countries are very important trading partners for the South African economy because our trade with the African countries, if I’m not mistaken, is the only trade that gives us a surplus in terms of our trade.

So our trade with African countries is very important to the economy of our own country. If we start harassing citizens of other African countries we are putting our economy at huge risk.

Secondly, we have many South African companies – banks, retailers, mining companies, telecommunication companies – that are trading all over the African continent.

We have to treat African people with the respect that they deserve – with the same respect that we treat Americans, that we treat the Chinese, that we treat the British or Germans. It is totally out of line for the government to [show them disrespect]. It is a threat to our economy, but it’s a threat.

It shows a government totally out of touch, an out of control government – which means it is telling foreign investors that the South African government is not on top of control of the country.

It can’t control the country, so mobs can run around telling people, ‘You have to do this, you have to do that’ – whatever it is that the mobs happen to like.

Now, who is going to invest in a country with a government that is totally unable to control its population?

JIMMY MOYAHA: Tata, speaking of control, I want to look at some policy directives and decisions – particularly labour policy – and how it perhaps is that we find ourselves in this situation. We know that some of the concerns that have been raised centre around foreign workers, around cheap labour, around undocumented individuals.

If we are to look at our current policy and our current legal frameworks within the country, we’ve got one of the most forward-looking constitutions, possibly in the world.

Is there a part of policy that we as South Africa should be looking at if we are looking to address these concerns legitimately? And how do we strike that balance between what would be legitimate concerns and how it is that we are handling them?

MOELETSI MBEKI: Well, Jimmy, there is no modern country in today’s world that does not have workers from other countries. The world’s economy has become so complex and so sophisticated that no one country has the skills for its population to have all the skills that it requires.

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The United States is the biggest economy in the world. If you go there, you’ll find a lot of Indians, for example, in their telecommunications and advanced technology industries. Nobody has all the skills that they need. We need skills from outside the country and we need to manage them properly.

Now, the question of an incompetent government – there’s nothing anybody can do about it except we South Africans. But it won’t be made competent by scapegoating immigrants in South Africa.

JIMMY MOYAHA: What do we then need to do to deal with this and address this particular concern?

Whether or not we address it from a documentation perspective or address it from a labour-force perspective, how do we deal with matters like this to prevent them from happening in the future? As you rightly mentioned, we’re not the only country that has foreign professionals working in their country.

How then do we find the balance, extract the intellectual capital that we can from the labour force, build the country and not create a divisive nation?

MOELETSI MBEKI: You see, we have to now look at what the drivers of illegal immigration to South Africa are. Driver number one of illegal immigration to South Africa is corruption in the South African government. [Corruption is] the main driver.

The corruption in the departments that handle foreign workers, foreign inflows, are South African departments like the Department of Home Affairs. This department has been riddled with corruption.

That’s why the British government imposed visas on South Africa. We never used to need visas to go to Britain. But the corrupt element within the South African government allowed terrorists to get South African passports and then use the South African passports to kill British citizens. That’s why the British introduced visas.

So, point number one, we have to address the corruption in the South African government. That’s one of the main drivers of illegal immigration.

Point number two, the ANC has been wining and dining political parties which are destroying the economies of their own countries – Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe, Frelimo in Mozambique, Chama Cha Mapinduzi in Tanzania, the MPLA in Angola. These are the parties that have been destroying the economies of their own countries and therefore compelling their people to become economic migrants and refugees.

That is the other driver. The South African government, and especially the ANC, has to stop congratulating rigged elections in Mozambique, rigged elections in Tanzania, rigged elections in Zimbabwe, rigged elections in Angola – because that’s what leads to conflict in this country.

And sadly, the South African government has to support the democratic movement in the neighbouring countries – parties like Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change. We saw thousands of people killed in Tanzania, and the South African government has said nothing about it. We saw hundreds of people killed in Mozambique by the Frelimo government.

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And we are seeing the Frelimo government importing heroin from Afghanistan to on-sell into South Africa, and the South African government is doing nothing about arresting the Mozambicans and trying those who are selling heroin.

The London School of Economics produced a report with the names of the people who are importing heroin and on-selling heroin into South Africa. The South African government is doing nothing.

I can go on and on about the fundamentals of illegal immigration to South Africa, but our own government is very complicit in this process.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Tata, before I let you go I want to get your thoughts on how we grow and build together – whether we’re doing it as a country or as a continent. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement is in place. This is something we’re supposed to be leveraging to improve development and trade on the continent.

That, in turn, would then mean improving relations with our neighbouring countries and their citizens. Where do we need to start to build our economy and strengthen our relationships on the continent?

MOELETSI MBEKI: Well, the private sector of South Africa is already playing a very positive role in the economy of the continent.

It is the South African government that is playing very negative and a very destructive roles in our relations with the rest of the continent.

We have our banks like Standard Bank all over Africa, helping the development of African countries. We have companies like Vodacom and MTN – they are all over Africa, helping with the communications of countries like Nigeria.

MTN went to Nigeria. Nigeria had, I believe, only 60 000 telephone lines. Today there are millions and millions of telephone lines built by MTN, a South African company.

So the South African government needs to go and learn from the South African private sector and South African businesses what they are doing to help build Africa so that there is development in African countries, instead of supporting corrupt and dictatorial regimes like Frelimo, Zanu-PF, CCM [Chama Cha Mapinduzi] in Tanzania and MPLA in Angola.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Well, we certainly do need to be dealing with these issues in the most constructive manner; otherwise we might find ourselves with more damage being done to the South African and African economies – in direct contrast with what we’re aiming to achieve as a continent.

We’ll have to leave this conversation on that note.

The chair of the South African Institute of International Affairs, Tata Moeletsi Mbeki, joined us to take a look at the protests taking place this week, and the potential impact they could have on South Africa and the continent should they continue.