The interior ministry said its laws protected foreign traders under the umbrella of legislation designed to protect asylum seekers and refugees. The department responded to a complaint from the pan-African agency, Concerned Africans Forum (CAF), asking for the department’s intervention in the alleged victimization of traders of African descent by locals operating as Operation Dudula – which was intended to to stop foreigners dominating the local trade industry. CAF said the South African group’s actions undermined the constitution and its values. The department said the law was under review…
The interior ministry said its laws protected foreign traders under the umbrella of legislation designed to protect asylum seekers and refugees.
The department responded to a complaint from the pan-African agency, Concerned Africans Forum (CAF), asking for the department’s intervention in the alleged victimization of traders of African descent by locals operating as Operation Dudula – which was intended to to stop foreigners dominating the local trade industry.
CAF said the South African group’s actions undermined the constitution and its values.
The department said the law is under review to strengthen protection for asylum seekers and refugees, in conjunction with the UN Refugee Protection Agency.
Interior Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s spokesman Siya Qoza said the law, insofar as it relates to asylum seekers and refugees, is currently protecting the rights of refugees. “Even the UN has made this point,” Qoza said.
The case was settled in January, during a meeting between the department and Assistant High Commissioner for Protection of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Gillian Triggs.
ALSO READ: ‘Too many of us don’t have jobs’: Operation Dudula protests near Soweto
Motsoaledi and Triggs had discussed the need to strengthen South Africa’s asylum and refugee system in areas such as legislative reform, social assistance, judicial engagement and sustainable refugee solutions.
In statements made after the meeting, both the minister and Triggs expressed satisfaction with the talks.
CAF’s chairman, Dr. Mongane Serote, a South African poet and cultural activist, blamed the “violent, illegal, discriminatory and politically motivated attacks targeting migrant communities” and informal traffickers in South Africa.
He said the incidents were orchestrated using false claims that the perpetrators were protecting the interests of vulnerable South Africans.
According to Serote, informal traders make a vital contribution to the South African economy and improve the food security of vulnerable populations. “Violent attacks on foreigners, for whatever reason, will not help resolve the deep political, economic, social and cultural crises in SA.
“Political expediency that seeks to exploit the presence of migrants in South Africa is misleading and will negatively affect all South Africans in the long run,” Serote said.
He was concerned that it had become a trend in post-apartheid South Africa that legitimate community anger at poor living conditions had been misused to mobilize against migrants.