Geordin Hill-Lewis, leader of South Africa’s second-largest party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has appealed for calm and urged South Africans not to be drawn into anti-migrant sentiment ahead of planned protests next week.
In a brief public address on Wednesday evening, Hill-Lewis said it should be left to law enforcement agencies and the Department of Home Affairs to deal with people who are in the country illegally.
He said the real causes of public frustration, including a sluggish economy and high unemployment, must be addressed, rather than directing anger at undocumented migrants.
The Cape Town mayor added that where the DA governs, it would work to ensure people’s lives were not disrupted by next week’s planned mass demonstration against illegal migration.
“Across South Africa, many people are angry and frustrated. I understand that frustration…
“But I want to say this clearly tonight: Our frustration must never become hatred. And it must never become violence.
“We must never allow certain politicians or vigilantes to abuse the hardship caused by a failing economy to scapegoat and incite violence against foreign nationals to promote their own agendas.”
Hill-Lewis said South Africans were not a hateful people and that this was a moment for the country to demonstrate its best values.
“If people have come to our country illegally, the law must be applied, but it must be applied with the full knowledge that we are dealing with human beings,” he said.
“So, we must condemn those who speak words they know may cost lives, but speak them anyway.”
Hill-Lewis stressed that the law must be enforced by the state — not by mobs, vigilantes, or politicians who stoke hatred for votes.
He urged the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the criminal justice system to step up and enforce the law without fear or favour.
“No individual or group gets to set deadlines for who may live in South Africa. No one may demand another person’s papers in the street. No one may threaten a family, close a shop, block a road, or loot a business,” he said.
Hill-Lewis said foreign nationals eking out a living in the informal sector were not the cause of South Africa’s problems.
“We must also be honest about the real crisis. South Africa’s deepest problem is not a vulnerable person selling vegetables on a corner who happens to not be born here,” he said.
“It is an economy that does not grow, a state that does not work, and a government that has failed to create jobs, secure our borders, fight crime and deliver basic services.
“That is the real work: jobs, growth, safety, clean government, well managed migration and a state that works.”
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