Opinion | A firm stance against illegal immigration is not rooted in prejudice
"We do not hate foreigners, but rather cannot let those illegal immigrants who are here and enjoying our resources, stay here."
I am writing to share an important perspective on our ongoing community discussions regarding immigration enforcement and border security.
It is vital to clarify that advocating for strict adherence to immigration laws is entirely separate from harbouring hostility towards foreign nationals or endorsing xenophobia, as one letter writer carelessly put it in her letter that appeared in The Witness recently.
A firm stance against illegal immigration is not rooted in hatred or prejudice towards any culture, nationality or people. Rather, it is a principled commitment to the rule of law, national sovereignty and the orderly management of public resources.
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Every nation, including South Africa, has a sovereign right and a logistical duty to manage its borders. When immigration occurs outside of established legal frameworks, it directly impacts municipal infrastructure, strains public services like healthcare and education, and disrupts local labour markets.
Addressing these practical, real-world consequences is a matter of governance and economic sustainability, not a reflection of personal animosity. People are responding to gaps that are there because government departments that are responsible for this work are napping.
We also have a problem of people who do not want to investigate the bigger picture and rather jump to conclusions and come up with big words like xenophobia to sound smart. We can demand legal accountability and orderly systems while fully respecting the human dignity of all individuals.
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Conflating legal enforcement with xenophobia prevents us from having the honest, constructive conversations that are needed to protect our communities and support a fair, lawful system of governance. True progress relies on maintaining this distinction.
I strongly support the initiative to deal with illegal immigration as long as it is done peacefully. We deserve to know who the people are within our boarders. If we support illegal immigrants and call any fight against it xenophobic, that means we are happy with being in South Africa not knowing who is here.
One could be inclined to label a fight against illegal immigrants, xenophobia if one is benefiting from the situation of people being in the country illegally; maybe hiring illegal immigrants and paying them peanuts as some companies do.
We do not hate foreigners, but rather cannot let those illegal immigrants who are here and enjoying our resources, stay here. This while we as South Africans are unemployed, lack proper medical services and all other basics that are needed that the government should be providing.
