Local Politics
All Politics is local. With this in mind I hope you realise my opinion
is of a member of the Diaspora who now lives in Africa.
I was in South Africa and did
research the History of labour migration. Since the Establishment of the
Colonial borders over a century ago men from all over Southern Africa have gone to Johannesburg in search of jobs.
The largest group came from Mozambique and consisted of 900 thousand
persons who worked in the mines around Johannesburg and actively participated
in the building of the city.
I believe that owing to this fact
there should be no restriction on employment for members of the Southern
African Development Community in modern day South Africa.
Some members of South Africa’s civil society recognise this fact and
have influenced the department of Home Affairs to make exceptions with regional
States facing difficulties such as Congo and Zimbabwe.
They offer their citizens a legal channel to work in South Africa. By
means of an asylum permit that has to be renewed with great hardship every
three months.
The reality then follows that
once an immigrant has his asylum that lawfully allows him to work he is
illegally discriminated against by South African employers who demand a South
African Identity Card in order to be eligible for employment.
This illegal manoeuvre serves to ensure that these foreigners remain
excluded from the formal sector of the economy and can easily be exploited.
As an amateur Historian I would
like to point out that the highest period of economic growth ever experienced
in South Africa coincided with the freedom of movement of labour across the
region.
Costa Magiga
