There have recently been two very interesting comments from cabinet ministers with regard to the contested issue of immigration and the presence (and cost of hosting) migrants. From the outset it should be clear that we must not read too much into these statements, as the overall environment with regard to refugees and migrants remains generally hostile and toxic, and increasingly political narra­tives feed into this toxicity.

It is precisely for this reason that, amidst the growing blame game targeting migrants for every pathology in South Africa, this narrative goes largely unchecked and uncontested except maybe by civil society. Thus, given that these xenophobic narratives acquire an almost normative status, the two ministerial statements, one from the health minister, Joe Phaahla and the other from police minister Bheki Cele, provide what one newspaper called a bit of a reality check.

On a most opti­mistic reading, these two statements could cautiously form the foundation of a more responsible, hon­est, inclusive and just narrative, especially from public representatives and politicians with the respon­sibility for shaping policy. It is hoped that such statements might provide a pause in the automatic default position of blaming foreigners for every dysfunction in South Africa.

In order to provide further context, and because statistics are bandied about expediently and often recklessly by many organisations, and further because at the moment much of the blame is being attached to Zimbabweans, it is worth noting that on 6th September 2022, the Zimbabwean National Statistics Agency said that South Africa is home to some 773 246 Zimbabweans. (Botswana has the second highest number of emigrants from that country, with just above 40 000.) 178 000 are on the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit system. Statistics South Africa says there are 3.95-million foreign nation­als in SA, which is 6.7% of the total South African population.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) in 2019 said there were 4.2-million foreign nationals in South Africa. This would include undocumented people, asylum-seekers, those with refugee status, and spe­cial permit holders. It is important to have the most reliable statistics in order to offer perspective to claims and counter-claims in such hostile environments. It cannot be stressed sufficiently how the infla­tion of numbers has led to an exaggeration of the situation. We need simply to recall the HSRC investi­gation in 2019 in several provinces of South Africa, which revealed that the majority of people thought that foreign nationals constituted 50% of the population of South Africa (which currently stands at 60.6-million). It is clear that reliable statistics are needed as a base for proper policy options.

In early September, as groups such as Operation Dudula became ever more vocal in their demand to bar foreign nationals from health facilities in South Africa, and as this demand was supported by the injudi­cious and virtually xenophobic utterances, for example, of the Limpopo MEC for Health, the national Minister of Health issued a more cautious and balanced comment. While he acknowledged that our neighbours could well put pressure on the health system, he emphasised two issues.

Firstly, that the Constitution guarantees basic health and emergency services to everyone living in the country, irrespec­tive of status. We should recall that, as things stand, all children under the age of six and all pregnant and breastfeeding women have the right to free health services, including childbirth and vaccination services, irrespective of status. Secondly, he made it clear that, even without the question of foreign nationals, the health system was under pressure.

At a meeting at Kalafong hospital he said, “There are many other challenges we must deal with to improve the quality of service. We acknowledge that even without the pressure of neighbours, we do have challenges in terms of allocation of funds, staff shortag­es, maladministration and corruption”.

He also noted that the President had issued several SIU procla­mations for a number of healthcare facilities to be investigated. He concluded that the issue of high demand from South Africans and neighbours was something his department was looking into, and that it was exploring creative ways of resolving these difficulties. It is also worth noting his consistent use of the term ‘neighbours’, rather than any of the array of other descriptions used with regard to mobile communities.

This statement clearly rebuts the growing populist narrative that the failings of the health system are mainly due to foreign nations. The Minister has unequivocally pointed to many other causes of the breakdown, and has acknowledged that the system would be broken even without the pressure of our neighbours.

The second ministerial comment worth noting was that of Minister Cele. Another staple of the anti-im­migrant narrative is the assertion that foreign nationals are largely responsible for spikes in crime, for drug related matters, and for prostitution. On 9th September, speaking at the Council of Mayors meeting in East London, Minister Cele stated quite categorically that foreign nationals are not the problem; South Africans are. He said that the fact that more than half a million South Africans were in the coun­try’s 243 prisons was a clear indication that immigrants were not worse than South Africans, regarding crime. Figures indicated that only 18 000 of the 544 000 inmates in South African prisons were immi­grants. He concluded: “Foreign nationals are not a problem. It’s South Africans. They are in prison in large numbers, which means they do things they are not supposed to do.”

These statements – and it must be repeated that not too much should be read into them – potentially lay a foundation for a more honest, inclusive narrative around issues connected to mobile communities. In simple terms, they debunk myths around sole, or almost sole, culpability for so many pathological situations being laid on foreign nationals, and instead underline the complexity of these situations.

They also dismiss the deflection that lays blame on foreigners and which has permitted the real culprits to get away without detection. Not only do they refute the idea that foreign nationals are the main cause of many troubles, they also debunk the myth that the cornerstone of fixing these difficulties lies in dealing with migrants. This more honest narrative allows for greater accountability, and for laying blame where blame needs to be laid.

Written by Peter-John Pearson, Director, Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Parliamentary Liaison Office