Speaking during a biannual conversation hosted by the University of SA’s Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs in Pretoria, Mbeki said blaming migrants diverted attention from the underlying causes of economic hardship. “It is very, very wrong, absolutely wrong, to say these crises of unemployment and poverty are caused by undocumented migrants,” Mbeki said.
“It’s false, completely false. There are people who are trying desperately hard to protect the culprit, the real person who is messing up.”
Mbeki said unemployment and poverty required an accurate diagnosis before people could develop effective solutions. “The problem of unemployment and the problem of poverty are very serious problems,” Mbeki said.
“We have to solve them, and to solve them, we must make the correct diagnosis.”
Mbeki acknowledged that undocumented migration remained a challenge and said immigration laws should be enforced. “There is a challenge of undocumented people in the country,” Mbeki said. “There’s a law in this country which says if you want to come here, you must get your visas. That law must be respected.”
The remarks come amid increasing tensions over undocumented migrants and renewed public debate about immigration enforcement, employment and access to public services.
Mbeki also addressed recurring military coups in the Sahel, linking the seizures of power partly to public frustration with political systems dominated by small groups of influential families.
Using Mali as an example, Mbeki said regular elections created the appearance of democratic competition while political power continued to rotate among four families. “What you don’t see is that all of these elections that have been held in Mali over these decades have been about changing power between four families,” Mbeki said.
“That’s why you then get a coup. The people say, ‘We’ve had enough of these four families.’”
Mbeki said military takeovers involving younger soldiers in Sahel countries reflected dissatisfaction with political systems that had failed to deliver meaningful participation and change.
–ChannelAfrica–
