Xenophobia & the King's Speech.

I'm very much a Pan-Africanist, I believe in Africa making strategic alliances to increase economy, infrastructure & security. But I also do not believe in unity for the sake of unity because that just causes contempt. 

Now, South Africa is known to be xenophobic. This is because some people are defensive of the economy. The old "foreigners occupying space meant for locals" story. Which is mostly true in South Africa, easier jobs are easier to obtain for foreigners & foreigners cost less & are less likely to complain or be part of a worker's union so they cost employers less. But as much as foreign labour is good for employers, they're not always good for locals. Recently, there were news that foreigners are selling expired & toxic goods at their spaza (tuck) shops. I've lived in townships & have seen the local spaza shop economy replaced by foreigners & this is because our people were simply not competitive enough at times. Somalian foreigners obtain bulk savings by bringing their money together to get discounts & deals direct from producers of products. Foreigners even manufacture some of their own products to sell at their shops. And, sadly, we've even heard of cases of foreigners bullying local shop owners out of business. Some foreigners in South Africa are, genuinely, breaking the law with their businesses but it's laws that are not reported by South Africans themselves because many South Africans dislike authority. So both South Africans & foreigners end up being quietly lawbreakers because nobody wants to report illegal activity. 

Now, I've already blogged about the unchecked migration of people into South Africa. But who is in charge of this? Who is in charge of Home Affairs, migration & border security? Why is everyone but the people responsible talking? And the people talking are not reporting to authorities or to the people responsible for the mass illegal immigration & human trafficking in South Africa. You'd think the people in charge of Home Affairs, migration & border security don't care or want illegal immigrants in South Africa. 

The King's Speech: 

I watched a film called The King's Speech once, starring Colin Firth & he played King George IV of England. A king who had a problem of stuttering & through going to a speech therapist, this King of England eventually learnt how to speak without stuttering. We do not have such a problem in South Africa but we do have a Zulu king who speaks "off-the-cuff" & is taken too literally at times by South African media. 

South African media needs you to be very specific on what you mean while being politically correct & that is a very difficult thing to do on-the-spot. As a public figure or traditional leader, you simply need a speech written for public events because some paid journalists & people with agendas will turn light words into a serious matter. 

I'm not really that xenophobic but do believe immigrants should enter a country legally & contribute positively to the land they're allowed into. Hopefully, the people in charge of the systems controlling immigration into South Africa explain what's happening or people in South Africa may get rowdy (as they're known to do) & attack foreigners indiscriminate of whether they are legal or illegal.