Mogomotsi Mogodiri
Pretoria - The news that the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) has taken our government to court to overturn the termination of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEPs), while infuriating, should not come as a surprise.
Whites are fond of slavery and their support expressed through structures like the HSF, AfriForum and others are a testament to this sad reality.
The HSF has in its wisdom decided to defend the supposed rights of foreigners at the expense of South Africans.
In so doing, they have unconsciously exposed their lack of patriotism.
They would rather have foreigners working in our country while millions of South Africans, especially the youth, are unemployed with little or no prospect of getting employment opportunities any time soon.
This outrageous but brazen move on the part of the HSF to drag our government to court in a desperate attempt to stop it from vigorously enforcing immigration laws is written colonialism that legalises slavery.
The absurdity in the legal action is propelled by the obsession of enslaving natives, but disguising it as caring for Zimbabweans who “will see their lives turned upside down by the termination of the ZEP”.
This is not only a lie, but also duplicitous as those who will be affected not only have a country to return to, but also have been given a year’s grace to apply for other permits as per the Immigration Act 13 of 2002.
But why the duplicity and lies?
Most, if not all, whites love the nebulous rule of law, but hate our country’s immigration laws with a passion. Let us not forget that all the white Zimbabwean expatriates who settled in our country ran away while the war of liberation (Chimurenga) was raging, or immediately thereafter.
They are the beneficiaries of colonialism, which facilitated slavery, and they falsely thought that apartheid South Africa would afford them the same (colonial) privileges they enjoyed under the colonial rule of Zimbabwe.
History proved them wrong, and like their other white supremacists in our country and elsewhere across the globe, they are still nostalgic for that cruel past.
In any event, is it not about time that we ask: How, and under which immigration dispensation, were these white Zimbabwean expatriates allowed into our country, and even to acquire South African citizenship?
This is a matter the Department of Home Affairs will need to tackle as part of a bigger project to review the citizenship of all foreigners in our country so as to cleanse our population register and review and overhaul our immigration laws, policies and regulations.
This exercise is crucial given that our public infrastructure, including health and educational facilities, is bursting at the seams due to the weight brought to bear on them by numbers that weren’t, and can’t be, accounted for.
We are also experiencing violence and crimes like prostitution, drug and human trafficking and human tissue and other illicit activities that can be directly attributed to immigrants. This assertion does not presuppose that South Africans do not commit crime. They do, and those criminals should face the might of the law.
Our country also experiences an ever-deepening unemployment crisis. Should we then prioritise foreigners because we want to be seen to be “progressive”, or should South Africans be the ones attended to first?
This is a no-brainer! The government has a mandate to look after and promote the interests and well-being of South Africans.
It is therefore ludicrous for the HSF and its fellow travellers to think about blackmailing us through dubious labels like xenophobia. It is even more treacherous for these unpatriotic structures to try to stop our government, through the courts, from executing its constitutional mandate of ensuring properly regulated migration and border control and management.
The HSF’s court action is vexatious and frivolous. Worse, it is based on lies and should rightfully not even be entertained by the courts, as it is a disgraceful abuse of the court processes and is made even more scandalous by being based on falsehoods.
Here is the reality. The ZEP was a temporary dispensation as a response to specific circumstances in Zimbabwe, and all those holding them are aware of their temporary nature.
That situation has changed even though it might not be to everyone’s satisfaction. Does that mean our country should keep that temporary dispensation in perpetuity, and Zimbabweans should simply sit comfortably on their laurels and not contribute to creating the change they want in their country?
Absolutely not! This dispensation and our botho/ubuntu of welcoming and accommodating them has had the unintended consequence of nurturing a sickening sense of entitlement on the part of Zimbabweans.
Those who listen to or read their disgusting utterances and postings on social media and elsewhere know exactly what I am referring to.
As if that is not enough, foreigners threaten us (South Africans and our government) with violence when we vigorously enforce immigration and other laws.
Their irritating arrogance and disregard of our laws cannot, and should not, be allowed to continue. Hence, South Africans rightfully expect and demand law enforcement agencies, intelligence, immigration officers, the police and all other agencies tasked with enforcing our laws to act without fear, favour or prejudice.
The other lie is about an emotional picture being painted about these poor Zimbabweans who are stateless, having nowhere to go, and our government being cruel and inhuman.
Nothing could be further from the truth! These immigrants have their country to go to, or somewhere else where lawlessness is allowed and tolerated (there is no country like that except ours) if they wish.
Our government is as caring and human as they come.
It has allowed for a grace period of 12 months for those holding ZEPs to apply for other visas.
Instead of all 178 412 applying, only a meagre 2 301 visa and 3 014 waiver applications have been received, six months into the 12-month grace period.
It seems their misguided sense of entitlement and encouragement by dubious bodies like the HSF inform the vast majority of them not to do so.
Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, is correct to stand his ground by not extending the ZEPs, while cautioning those affected against being misled and their hopes falsely raised by the HSF and their ilk.
We support him in leading the charge to enforce our immigration laws. We are also behind his decision to vigorously oppose the ludicrous HSF court action. It would be appropriate for the court to slap the HSF with a punitive cost order for wasting its valuable time, and as a deterrent.
All patriots must rally behind our government in defence of our sovereignty and promotion of national security.
While the government vigorously enforces immigration laws, South Africans must contribute to these efforts by not harbouring and employing illegal immigrants, as this is against the law.
They must also report all manner of illegality to the authorities.
Our national security and sovereignty will not be sold at the altar of political expediency at the expense of our future.
It is time that we stop the weaponisation of our judiciary, especially the Constitutional Court, that neo-Nazis have turned into potent instruments to entrench white privilege and supremacy, including legalising slavery.
Pretoria News