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DEALING with the consequences of the problem we call Xenophobia is an on-going challenge but we will have little real success until we deal with the root causes, says Ms Janine Myburgh, President of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“While we battle xenophobia, Europe is experiencing massive problems with refugees from Africa. Thousands of them were rescued from sinking boats every month and this week over 400 have drowned.”

She said these were two aspects of the same problem. “We should be asking why people are fleeing from African countries and what can be done about it. I’m afraid we are all dealing with the fall-out from poor governance, corruption and the actions of war lords”.

“There are things we need to do and can do to avoid the kind of violence and looting we have seen, but we also need to get to the root causes. We need to talk to the African Union, to the European Union and the United Nations.”

Ms Myburgh said that South Africa recently received President Mugabe and honoured him like a national hero. “One of the problems we have is that something like a million Zimbabweans are working or looking for work in South Africa. Did we even discuss this President Mugabe?”

Another big problem was the export of capital from countries with vast oil and diamond resources. “If more of this capital was put to work in Africa to build infrastructure and improve health care and education we would not have the influx of people desperate for work. These are some of the things we need to talk about if we are to find long-term solutions to the xenophobia problem.”

It was important to understand that the people fleeing their own countries were among the best qualified and most enterprising workers. They were strongly motivated and they competed fiercely for jobs and trade. In many cases this competition was unwelcome and created some local resentment, but it also represented a huge loss to the countries they left behind. No country could afford to lose its most capable people without suffering severe consequences.

“Xenophobia is a much bigger problem than we realise. It is not a problem South Africa can solve on its own, but we can take a lead and focus on the roots of the problem. We must get the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations involved,” Ms Myburgh said.

Issued by Chamber of Commerce