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…As economic activities paralysed over June 30th deadline
From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Republic of South Africa, came to a halt yesterday as a result of protests by its nationals who asked undocumented migrants to leave the country.
As a result of the protests, Reuters reported that workers stayed at home, shops were shut and buses sat idle across the country.
South African demonstrators, it was reported, gathered across the country for anti-immigrant marches that many fear will descend into violence.
Speaking with Daily Sun, the President-General, Nigeria Union South Africa (NUSA), Smart Nwobi, said so far, no casualty has been recorded.
Nwobi also said the protest which took place all over the country, was being monitored by the association.
“We are monitoring things with keen interest,” Nwobi said.
He further said that as promised by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa that security forces will ensure the protest was peaceful, he hoped that they would act accordingly and not allow hoodlums to hijack the protest.
Following the development, a good number of foreign nationals, particularly from Africa, refrained from opening their shops, nor go to work, even as many have been evacuated from the troubled country to their respective countries.
Reports indicated that some of the protesters who were fully armed with wooden sticks, gathered in Johannesburg, Durban and other cities in order to drive home their point.
“People are not working, the jobs are being taken by illegal foreigners. It’s not fair,” Reuters quoted 31 year-old Silindile Xaba to have said.
Xaba, according to Reuters, was among a group of women who were chanting anti-migrant slogans in Central Durban.
According to witnesses, landlords in Durban and Johannesburg were illegally evicting foreign tenants for fear of their buildings being vandalised.
A leader of the Congolese community, Mabako Majole, who stood beside around 100 people sleeping rough in downtown Durban, said: “All these people, they were chased out by their landlords.
“All these people are legal. They have documents.”
According to Reuters, “Marches in several cities are expected to draw many thousands of mostly poor or unemployed South Africans who blame foreign nationals for their hardships.
“Thousands of police were deployed and military were on standby on an emergency budget of 600 million rand ($36.6 million), a military spokesperson said.
“The wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, and what critics say is a failure by police to protect victims, have tarnished South Africa’s post-Mandela reputation as a defender of human rights and strained ties with other African nations.
“Immigrants are blamed for taking jobs, driving crime and putting pressure on public services — claims thatsocial scientists say lack evidence.
“Thirty years since the end of apartheid, South Africa remains unequal, economic growth is slow and a third of people are out of work. Despite this, it remains Africa’s largest economy and continues to draw migrants.
“The immigrant population stands at about three million or about four percent of the total, according to StatsSA — a relatively low share by global standards.”
