IMMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA, ARTIFICIAL BOUNDARIES,

XENOPHOBIA, STATE REPRESSION, POLICE BRUTALITY AND

'RIGHT TO MOVEMENT' RESISTANCE

53 Artificial Boundaries

THE RIGHT TO MOVEMENT & ARTIFICIAL BOUNDARIES

The colonial legacy now driven by our neo-liberal governments continues to undermine the fundamental ethical values of human beings .

Human sovereignty as opposed to state sovereignty recognize the values of humanity, and supports the African philosophy,

‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’, An individual is incompl ete without the other…

A borderless world is becoming and the common social, economic, cultur al and moral fate of humans is evolving. The story of Mzilikhazi tells the later history of human nature in the cont ext of Africa. He crossed rivers without a passport, neither did he sought refuge, asylum, nor temporary residence where he finally landed, now Zim .

• illegal immigrants, refugees, kwerekweres, asylum seekers, etc .

There became colonialism

• commodification of nature and humanity

• Slavery / human trade

• divide and rule as a principle

• Humans traded as foreigners ,

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ROBBED OF THEIR BIRTHRIGHTS

• plantation owners and slave drivers certainly did n ot want to advertise and document their dark trade

African foreigner in Africa

Illegal African in Africa

the dispossessed, dehumanized, and destitute inborn

Freedom of movement is a human right and a historical phenomenon

• People were nomads, settlers they moved with their livestock during famine, drought, floods etc.

• Colonialism later came into play and created colonies and territories doomed to protect imperial interests .

The false solutions by international bodies such as (UNHCR)

promoting the legacy of slavery , and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) still lack meaningful migrant representationMankind existed before territories and boundaries and thus the latter is foreign, illegal and refugee. The democratic constitutions and global conventions play a rudimentary role in attempting to maintain a culture of reverence for all communities as a global ethic - the right to movement , and provide the political and cultural setting for greater democratization and accountability

NOMADSNOMADSNOMADSNOMADS

• The global civil is revolting against the neolibera l, sub-imperialist hegemony, hence a call for people driven governance through d ecolonization of mindsets, policies and practices.

• For instance, the global counter summits; Conferenc e of the people, BRICS form below , and TICAD counter summit… fight recolonisation

FEARING THE 1884 – 85 SCENARIOS WHERE SA BECOMES THE GATEWAY.

CONFERENCE

OF POLLUTERS

& recently the DOP in South Durban.

Now After

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED !!• Transnet has signed a R1.8

billion deal to buy the old Durban International Airport

We are tired of the lies and the abuse of government and

private business using their “money power” to influence

decisions that affect us. Enough is enough!!! …How

many more communities need to relocate? How much

more can our ecosystem take? How many more

generations have to live through this vicious cycle? How

many more deaths must happen on our roads by trucks

before we make the movement to rail?

Patrick Bond

• Need for holistic problem solving and fighting the system

• Little or no achievements have been made to oust drivers of the system i.e. leaders of political / liberation parties. But does this bear a permanent solution? Possibly no because the system remains …

• The human rights outlook must be grounded on the concept of global sovereignty - individuals not states are the basic units of international life

• Our constitutions and social contracts remain illegitimate unless they embrace people’s freedom of movement.

• The nature state, pre-political existence or pre-colonial Africa had no artificial boundaries about 130yrs ago

• The struggle for a free Africa was betrayed with more displacements

• evictions, landlessness,unemployment, inequality, injustice, repression, ecological degradation along with sustained violence against humanity and nature.

• This can therefore be assured and achieved if a global sovereignty of the people is realized.

Unequal societyUnequal societyUnequal societyUnequal society

STATE REPRESSION • The African revolution was betrayed by liberation g overnments/ parties

• gullible governments’ fought colonialism and maintained the colonies• The British, French, Portuguese, Belgian, Spanish a nd Italian ( White )

imperialism is now history but neo-colonialism remained, turning the African states into economic blocks or business centers managed by Black imperialists.

• The imperial charities; health, education, technolo gy and infrastructure, were avaricious motives for prestige, greatness and secu rity or as masks to curve Africa – and now led by our governments

• Selfishness, greed and irrationality became the nat ure of rule, ‘ survival of the fittest, rule of the jungle’.

• No rule of law , land grabs and human rights violations while exposing people’s livelihoods to the vicious corporate machinery and instruments as a result failing to respect, uphold and defend human rights hence xenophobia, tribalism, ethnicity, racism, patriarchy, poverty, regionalism, slavery…

Revolting the Revolting the Revolting the Revolting the System System System System

• Also profoundly evidenced in 2008, the Zim political impasse and gross human rights violations was a result of both regional and international political making leading to Zimbabweans fleeing to SA , only to be welcomed with xenophobia .

Mbeki , former SA president mediating the crisis told the world that there is no crisis , while people were dying, assassinated, abducted, maimed…

While China sponsoring tons of arms , ammunition, AK47 assault rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades to Zim through its An YueJiang cargo in April 2008.

• The March 2012 ANC peace and stability policy proposal on migrants provides that most of the appeals form refugees from conflict countries will be rejected as manifestly unfounded .

• Shifting migration offices to the borders

• “South Africa must take robust steps to be able to refuse asylum seekers who have transited through one or more safe countries.

• introducing transit permits despite life-hunting conditions

• making it difficult for migrants to survive the jaws of colonial repression

Pressure at the Department of Home Affairs-SA

The Zim documentation program, yet to be extended t o other migrant nationals however did not get much response.

• The so-called forced and voluntary , political and economic migrancy – merely justifies who gets what where and when

• where the international and regional protection instruments plays a rudimentary role to arrest the status quo … a fuss!

• State repression and corruption is rife through state apparatus ; police, army, hawks, and customs that are further involved in bri be and rape

• Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), said this document is designed to perpetuate xenophobia and that is the easy way to get rid of foreigners by making it “ manifestly unfounded ”

• Government repression enforces and legitimise the discriminative distinctions , classifications or categories of human beings as slaves and corporate commodities ; foreigners, Kwerekwere

• The legitimate purpose of government must be to preserve the unalienable rights of individual liberty

• States’ immigration policies had grown more restrictive and aimed to keep people captive in capital chains

• African migrants are considered as risk to security and stability , where non-African migrants are treated as tourists ?

XENOPHOBIA AND IMMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICAXenophobia becomes one component of humanitarian pr oblems across divides• Afrophobia was hugely described as hate or fear of another person .

“Africans against Africans – Afrophobia, Power oppressing poor ,

Strong dominating the weak’ “poor against the poor ”

• As a systemic crisis that affected human and nature everywhere

• Migration as a human trend did not start in 2008, and there were many reports of murder, meetings and violence against migrants before

• Despite life threatening conditions home , immigrants face hostility in the host countries

• exploitation, cheap labor, human trafficking, child labor, sexual abuse…

• from a qualified teacher to a garden boy , from professional nurse to a kitchen girl.

Some run small businesses • Over 5o sharing one house

(Balloons)• One Kitchen, toilet and bath• In and Out time restricted • R15 per night, no bed• Easy target for police• “They come at lunch and or

midnight”

handcrafts trade• Metro Police

raids

Brooms,Dusters,Catapults, Beads…

• The May 2008 attacks claimed over 62 lives, thousand s displaced and over 20 were locals . (Since Sun May 26 SAPS are guarding migrant shops after mob violence in Diepsloot township)

• Possessions and valuables were abandoned in the rushto leave.

Prompt international response saved lives but facilitated premature sower-sweet return home with hostile repercussions

Mozambican immigrant Ernesto

Alfabeto Nhamuave who was set on

fire in Reiger Park during

xenophobic clashes that shook the

whole of Johannesburg on May 18,

2008.

Thousands forced from their homes by mobs in South Africa

Despite life threatening conditions home, immigrants face hostility in the host countries

Thousands fenced in tents, and face diseases and re newed subjection

some preferred the bush

and sweet-sower deportation

• illegal arrests, pepper spraying, trumping up charges, beating,

• demand bribe, illegal detention, robbery, assaults

• looting, raids, torture, intimidation, drug planting, denying access to services,

POLICE BRUTALITY

DHA

• unfair judgments on appeals, prolonged detention, d emanding bribes, beating, illegal deportation

SAPS

• demand bribe, illegal arrests, pepper spraying, tru mping up charges, beating, illegal detention, robbery, assaults, looting, raid s, torture, intimidation, drug planting, denying access to services,

Army and Hawks

• demanding bribes and illegal renditions

Government/Politicians • arbitrary migration policies and laws, campaign aga inst migrants,

misinformation, propaganda, blaming foreigners for housing and job shortages, and poliphobia

Judiciary

• draconian and Afrophobic

Correctional services

• Death traps, inhuman and brutal

Businesses

• Exploitation, cheap labour, non-compensation

Neck-lacing

COMMUNITIES

• Looting, mob justice, beatings, attacks, destruction

• arson, higher rental and commuter fairs

• Threatens or put fear

“HOWEVER NOT ALL APPLES WERE/ARE ROTTEN”

• and people born in South Africa are not immune from such exploitation e.g.

Fairly a third in every group was the Good Samaritans,

• Over 20 people died in 2008 xenophobic cross-fire,

• In 2012 a Durban man killed himself after unfair discrimination at the DHA

• Local rural-urban migrants also blamed for housing and service shortages

RESISTANCE

The humanitarian community is progressively rising in p rofile, impact and capacity to develop a shared operating contrivance globally • The civil society pledged ‘never again’ and engaged in advocacy and efforts

against the killing of migrant communities

• The realisation was that non-service delivery was because of inept governance , not migrants and that a man is inherently free

• Communities redirected anger to government and some allowed reintegration of displaced migrants

• We now have to fight black imperialism for Africans to realise the envisioned independence One has rights not because of any defined orientati on but on account that one is a member of the human family

• freedom of and after movement, speech, gathering, assembling and a ssociation is not a privilege but uncontested right, adding security, health, work, operate a business, open bank accounts, have drivers licence, own property and moral value

• The so called refugees, foreigners or kwerekweres were the 3mn Brothers & Sisters(Khumalos & Ndlovus)

• Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Tanzania, (DRC), Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria…; countries de-industrialised by South African business

Some undertones leading to xenophobia include compet ition on employment, basic services, housing, retail business, women, cheap lab ourer and drug dealing.

Crossing Crocodiles infested Limpopo RiverCrossing Crocodiles infested Limpopo RiverCrossing Crocodiles infested Limpopo RiverCrossing Crocodiles infested Limpopo River

• communities bargain for stabilisation programmes, harmony and reintegration but structural failure remain omnipresent and freedom has not yet been extended to refugees.

• I suppose a happy life on earth is only possible if societies are designed to divine rules

• We conquered the symptoms of xenophobia , now we have to conquer the bureaucratic, structural xenophobia or (which I may call Poliphobia).

• Patriarchy and deep structural forces are responsible for xenophobia

e.g. a local councillor spearheaded the rampage aga inst immigrants in Durban – 2008

• The fact that perpetrators enjoy so much impunityhas negative effects for integration

• Where civil society efforts and victims lose trust in the justice system and thus prefer not to repor t their cases.

Despite amplified awareness against xenophobia,

• there are little or no efforts to fight structural xenophobic tendencies such as

• by police, department of home affairs, banks, health d epartments, communities and the system that governs them

• let alone tribal, ethnic, racial, linguist, nationa list and fundamentalist battles. • With government taking weak response people organize d themselves to

mitigate and adapt• “No one is

illegal; we all have the right to life and to exist, movement, freedom, respect, dignity, security, health, education, welfare, equality and justice…”

• Civil societies compellingly resorted to solidarity , respect, tolerance touphold and defend human rights violation against mi grants.

MAYIBUYE IAFRICA! ONE AFRICA ONE PEOPLE!

ONE PEOPLE ONE NATION!

• Civil society discouraged fragmented tendencies and practices and encouraged holistic problem solving –

• Advocacy groups and individuals fought in their spa ces and xenophobia subsided

• i.e. the Kwazulu-Natal (KZNRC), Coalition Against Xenophobia, Racism, Ethnicity and Poverty (CAXREP), South African National Civic Organisation – Forum for Peaceful Human Coexistence in Africa (SANCO-FOPECIA), COSATU- Kwazulu-Natal Refugee Council (KZNRF), Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), IPT, Community Policing Forums (CPFs), South African Communist Party, Police, Intelligence, academics, universities, Gift of the Givers, Churches…

CONCLUSION

• Integration between local and immigrant communities shows that people can live in harmony

• The xenophobic violence was associated with denialism of structural inequality lack of history knowledge and colonial orientation

• Xenophobia can still be another time bomb since long-term solutions were not offered to deal with root causes and to ensure that constitutional rights of migrants are respected both in law and in practice .

China Ngubane

Being a being, I come from nature, the state of natural ordains