The South African and immigrants question: Unbundling causal factors not to ignore

By TONY ALABI Introduction: We are often quick in our divides to defend the arguments for the attacks of immigrants as South Africans, on occasion of perceived immigrant nuisance value and to label such attacks as xenophobia when on the immigrant side of the debate. More so, when earning points reasonably comes easy with citations of cruelty, lack of empathy and poor reasoning to these conflicts. There is the rage and actions taken by native citizens and the rage as pushback by immigrants.

Unless this subject matters are clearly interrogated beyond the street level of the mayhem, the individuals already fed with facts upon which they are acting and have always acted would rationalise their actions as appropriate and like wise the immigrants at the receiving end of the jungle justice. Unfortunately, the class of mindsets doing the rationalisation cuts across society from the bottom to the topmost; from the pauper to presidents in the continent and not just South Africans alone. Leaving no room for deep thinking that can lead to the social management of a phenomenon that can be delineated and easily isolated and solved with long term strategies.

There are four causal factors to these incessant conflicts between immigrants and South Africans in South Africa. The human factor, the socio-economic factor, the government policies and the lack of pragmatic consensus as the framework for migrating Africans at the continent level. The Human factor: Humans are territorial everywhere in the world.

It is the duty of modern nation states to discern trends and agents of national security threats ahead of its occurrences. South Africa has a good national security architecture. Evidently, there is an unwritten code of the older ANC led government of South Africa,that promotes a “come one come all” black policy into South Africa.

This sentiment is consistent with Pan African values of the continent. However, it appeared South Africa forgot that, her national integrity as a country stands the risk of buckling under intense human migration disruptions and its consequent social imbalances. The Mandela days experienced vast migration of blacks into South Africa as compensation for Africans who helped in South Africa’s struggle for freedom from white dominated rule called the Apartheid Government.

This Pan African immigration sentiment continues to trail the ANC led government as…