JOHANNESBURG - Gauteng premier, Panyaza Lesufi, received a memorandum of demands from the March and March movement.
This after hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Johannesburg on the second leg of its Gauteng protest seeking undocumented foreign nationals to be deported.
A meeting between Johannesburg councillors, business owners, and the community in the Johannesburg CBD was expected to be conducted however it didn’t go as planned after many decided not to show up out of fear.
Three business owners, believed to be Ethiopian, were gunned down on Monday in the latest of a series of kidnappings and killings in the area.
A large number of shops are owned by foreigners causing frustration and unhappiness.
The growing number of foreign-owned businesses has further fueled concerns that their presence is squeezing the local economy and limiting opportunities for South Africans.
READ | Protest against undocumented immigration takes over JHB CBD streets
According to Black Entrepreneurs Alliance CEO Refilwe Monageng South Africa has just transitioned from political freedom yet they find themselves having to battle existence in their own country.
“The reason why people say they don’t find expression in celebrating Freedom Day is because we are in the economic struggle, we want to reclaim our economy which was taken and now they are going into the very same spaces we seek expression,” he said.
But for Dr Fikreyesus Daniel from the Ang Angga Association which represents foreign spaza shop owners the matter is far more complex than that.
Daniel said many Ethiopians who come to South Africa seek refuge as they escape political conflict and violence back home.
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He brings to his argument Nelson Mandela who travelled to Ethiopia in 1962 for military training under the name of David Motsamayi.
He said that Mandela was received and supported and questioned why similar compassion is not being extended today.
“The people of Ethiopia were with you, today we are in a problem, we are in conflict, we came to seek refuge why don’t you help us,” he said.
However, Black Entrepreneurs Alliance CEO Refilwe Monageng pushed back, arguing how they could seek asylum in South Africa when they have skipped eleven countries to get to South Africa.
He questioned why refuge was not sought in closer neighbouring countries instead.
READ | March and March turns focus to Johannesburg
Monageng said instead of fleeing their country they should rebuild it.
“When they come to South Africa it’s a middle-aged group and young people. You never see elderly people. They are still young meaning they still have tenacity, health consciousness and political consciousness to challenge the material conditions in your country,” he said.
Daniel denied having taken any one’s jobs insisting that South Africans has all the right to participate in the economy
He added that many migrants try to legalise their stay by applying for the necessary documentation through Home Affairs but are often faced with backlogs.
“Our target is simple, let due processes take their course,” he said.