Migrants and the world of work in SA: exposing the ‘job stealing’ lies of
the xenophobes
Daily Maverick
05/07/2022
Ever since the eruption of widespread xenophobic violence in 2008, the
widely deployed claim that “foreign nationals are taking our jobs” is now accepted
as fact by many. But statistics and research prove the opposite.
In and among the plethora of other claims directed at international
migrants, such as being disproportionately responsible for crime and more
particularly drug dealing, that of “taking jobs” has now come to dominate the
general discourse of the latest crew of xenophobes.
These include Herman Mashaba and ActionSA; the Gayton Mackenzie/Kenny Kunene
duo of the Patriotic Alliance (PA); the misnamed African Transformation
Movement; the putative uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKVMA);
the social media scoundrels of “#PutSouthAfricaFirst”; the so-called “RET”
faction of the ANC; the ministries of home affairs and labour; and the most
recent addition of political performance artist Nhlanhla Mohlauli and his
“Operation Dudula” rent-a-crowd.
In one form or another, they have all engaged in an all-out propaganda war
grounded in a concocted, pre-packaged and false narrative of “foreign
nationals” as job-stealing villains.
Not only has such a narrative found fertile ground among significant
sections of South Africans who are economically poor and politically
marginalised, it has now been given some legislative content through the
recently introduced National
Labour Migration Policy (NLMP).
This policy will now “reserve” certain economic sectors for those who hold
South African citizenship and set quotas “for the employment of documented
foreign nationals in major economic sectors”.
This “job-stealing” propaganda package is, at one and the same time,
de-historicised, deceitful and dangerous.
False narratives
One of the crucial ingredients that sustains the false narratives of
right-wing, populist demagoguery is the manipulation of history and facts,
wherein political and socioeconomic context and content are selectively and
manipulatively remembered and applied.
In this case, the xenophobes want people to forget or simply ignore the
reality of a post-1994, anti-poor and anti-worker economic policy framework and
practice (by both the public and private sectors) that has, over the past 25
years, led to the casualisation of work becoming the dominant feature of South
Africa’s world of work landscape; and no more so than for international
migrants.
It is this consciously planned and seismic shift in the world of work that
has fed a continuous and intensified attack on the working conditions and
quality of life for the vast majority of the workforce in South Africa, whether
citizen or international migrant.
This has been further abetted by several other historical developments: the
failure of the ANC-run state (at all levels of government) to solidify and
sustain the provision of basic services and needs; the profit-at-all-costs,
divide-and-conquer approach of employers; the proliferation of local economic
and political mafias operating in the small retail and housing spaces; and
foreign policies and actions in the region that have privileged support for
oppressive political regimes and contributed to the destruction of local
economies.
A comprehensive
statistical study carried out by the Studies in Poverty and Inequality
Institute in 2017 found that the “fastest rise in employment since 2008 has
been in the informal sector”. The National
Labour and Economic Development Institute estimated in 2019 that between
2000 and 2017, non-permanent work increased by an incredible 371%.
This historical trend has only been turbocharged by the past two years of
pandemic-related socioeconomic austerity, out-of-control profit gouging and
nationalist economic chauvinism.
Casualised work
Not surprisingly, it is this ever-expanding and hugely precarious world of
casualised work — encompassing both the “informal sector” and certain parts of
the formal sector — that “houses” the vast majority of international migrant
workers.
These workers (including those fortunate enough to actually have the
relevant documents) most often find themselves in positions of unstable,
precarious employment.
This entails working for unscrupulous employers without any labour or legal
protections, unable to access benefits, toiling for long working hours, being
physically and otherwise abused, becoming indebted and earning very low
wages.
Making matters worse for the majority is the general dysfunction and
corruption of the Department of Home Affairs, which renders them “illegal” due
to not having or being unable to access or renew the appropriate
documents/permits.
This reality, alongside the limited availability of up-to-date statistics,
makes it difficult to fully determine the number of international migrant
workers in the country, not to mention associated work demographics and
location.
Damn lies
Nonetheless, what is crystal clear is that the wild claims of tens of
millions of undocumented/“illegal” international migrants flooding South
African society and in the process, taking large numbers of jobs away from
South African citizens, are nothing but damn lies.
Casting an eye over the past decade or so, a 2016
study by the South African Migration Programme found that “despite
speculation about the penetration of migrant entrepreneurs in the informal
economy, only 20% of informal economy business owners had moved to Gauteng [the
province with the most international migrants] from another country. This means
that fully 80% of informal enterprises in Gauteng are South African-owned”.
The study also stated that in respect of the entire workforce in Gauteng,
82% of the working population (ie 15-64 years old) were non-migrants, 14% were
domestic migrants who had moved between provinces and just 4% could be classed
as international migrants.
Moving forward, a comprehensive
study by the African Centre for Migration & Society — using figures
from StatsSA — found that there are two million international migrants (ie
those who are foreign-born) of working age (15-64) in South Africa. This
represents 5.3% of the entire labour force, most of whom are more likely to be
informally employed.
More recently, in late 2021, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke
(responding to the latest claims of xenophobes) had
the following to say: “If one uses the output of foreign-born persons
enumerated in Census 2011 and adds to it the net international migrants for the
period 2011-2016 as well as the period 2016-2021 from the 2021 mid-year
population estimates one would get an estimation of 3.95 million persons. This
includes migrants of all types and is collated regardless of legal status [and
age].”
Specious arguments
Besides blowing the generalised statistical lies of the xenophobes out of
the water, all cumulative evidence gathered by professional/academic
researchers over the past decade also destroys the equally specious arguments
made by xenophobes that international migrants are a drain on the economy
because they are not paying taxes and are abusing social/health services
etc.
The truth is that a majority of international migrant workers actually have
made and continue to make a positive economic contribution by providing jobs,
paying rent, paying VAT and providing affordable and convenient goods.
It is hugely worrying that the bald telling of lies — whether here in South
Africa or elsewhere — is fast becoming politically and socially mainstreamed.
But it is beyond tragic that these lies are increasingly acting as the
fire-lighters of intensifying conflict and violence, whether framed by
xenophobia, gender, ethnicity, religion or sexuality.
As history has taught us, the more often lies are repeated, the more likely
it is that increasing numbers of people will come to “believe” them and act ac cordingly.
This is extremely dangerous.
Let us never forget what lies, repeated often and loudly, can incubate and
feed.
www.samigration.com
