Politicians must stop blaming unemployment on foreigners, says Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch group Amnesty International is calling on politicians to stop blaming unemployment on foreigners.

The call comes as more opposition parties are joining growing calls for businesses to give South Africans preference for low-skilled jobs.

On Wednesday, EFF leader Julius Malema was denied entry at the Kream restaurant situated at Mall of Africa in Johannesburg.

Malema had announced at the Siyabonga rally in Durban earlier this month that he would be visiting the country’s hospitality sector to see how many foreigners were employed.

Malema had stressed that he was not against the hiring of foreigners but against African exploitation.

“High-ranking public officials and political leaders must stop blaming the country’s high unemployment problem and poor economic status on foreign nationals, refugees and asylum seekers,” said Amnesty International South Africa.

The Patriotic Alliance also lent its voice to the campaign. Party leader Gayton Mckenzie recently tweeted: “Your privilege makes you have zero feelings for South Africans who have become spectators to illegal foreigners having jobs whilst being at home with no prospect of a job.”

The Inkatha Freedom Party has become the latest political party to throw its weight behind the #putsouthafricansfirst online campaign.

The party has submitted a Private Members Bill to Parliament to regulate the employment of foreign nationals across all sectors – not just restaurants.

“We need to prioritise unemployed South Africans into job opportunities first,” said the party.

Amnesty is concerned the campaign against foreigners has the potential to re-ignite xenophobia in the country.

“It is easy to blame foreign nationals, refugees and asylum seekers for the country’s high unemployment problems, but the fact of the matter is that an economy like South Africa cannot rely on local skills alone to grow and create jobs,” said the organisation.

“Evidence shows that some of the biggest and industrialized economies around the world have grown because they have absorbed the foreigner workforce and skills,” said Shenilla Mohamed, Executive Director of Amnesty International South Africa.

“Blaming foreign nationals for the country’s unemployment problem will only fan the xenophobic flames against this vulnerable group in the country because they are always used as scapegoats for various problems facing the country,” she added.

The City of Tshwane has condemned the EFF hospitality sector visits, saying it views these actions as political intimidation and that such actions have no place in the city or country.

“To the restaurant owners of Tshwane, I want to make it categorically clear that you have absolutely no obligation to provide any information to the EFF should they enter your premises.

“Do not be intimated by their threats and unlawful behaviour. You are fully within your rights to ask them to leave,” said Tshwane mayor Randall Williams.

Amnesty International has previously highlighted how past acts of violence, including the killing of foreign nationals during xenophobic violence, have gone unpunished, leading to an entrenched culture of impunity.

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