During the early days of the Covid-19 global pandemic, when the novel virus was wreaking havoc across SA and vaccines were in short supply, there was a big debate about who should get priority access within the general population.
There was consensus that frontline workers such as healthcare workers and employees of grocery stores should be prioritised. When the vaccine became available to the general populace, there was consensus that vulnerable groups such as people with comorbidities and compromised immune systems should be first in line to be vaccinated. This was based on a compassionate and humane understanding that those who were more vulnerable to the disease needed protection. But when the government included prisoners in the category of vulnerable people, compassion diminished.
There was uproar from the public with many arguing that prisoners did not deserve to be protected while multitudes of people were getting sick or dying while waiting for vaccines. The government’s argument was reasonable — prisoners were a vulnerable group because of the conditions in which they live. South African prisons, characterised by overpopulation and limited infrastructure, provide perfect conditions for the spread of airborne diseases such as Covid-19.
Vaccinating prisoners was also an economic consideration. Our correctional facilities are unable to offer an acute level of healthcare to individuals who become sick and require hospitalisation. For this reason, an outbreak in prisons would have burdened the health systems and hospitals that were already under-resourced and constrained. Vaccinating prisoners would thus reduce the financial costs of hospitalisations for the government.
Despite the sound reasoning behind the government’s prioritisation of vaccinating prisoners, many South Africans were unhappy. However, the government was adamant that people do not lose their human rights on account of being convicted of crimes. It was a moral and just stance for the government to take and it reflected our country’s long-standing commitment to the protection of human rights.
Undocumented immigrants, even those who commit crime, are human beings who need protection from the government.
A week ago, minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshaveni, made a shocking statement about the thousands of illegal miners stuck underground in Stilfontein, North West town. Ntshaveni stated that the government would not be sending assistance to the miners because they were engaging in criminal activity, and that the plan was to “smoke them out” so they could resurface and be arrested. Ntshaveni was advocating for the miners to be choked off food and water supplies as a way of forcing them out. Many people agree with her that government should not have to provide assistance and care to criminals, particularly as many of them are undocumented immigrants. This is a dangerous argument.
There is no question that illegal mining is causing devastation in many communities across the country. Most illegal mining takes place in poor working-class communities and contributes to already high levels of crime and violence. It is also costing the economy billions of rand annually and threatens our economic security, foreign investor confidence, and the long-term sustainability of mines.
The environmental damage it causes is also astronomical. Illegal mining contaminates the environment with mercury, creates sinkholes, and causes underground fires and explosions which often destroy public infrastructure such as underground water pipes and electricity lines. There is no doubt that illegal mining is bad and that illegal migration is a problem. None of this justifies the inhuman approach that Ntshaveni is proposing.
Undocumented immigrants, even those who commit crime, are human beings who need protection from the government. Like prisoners who were prioritised for Covid-19 vaccination, they do not cease to have human rights on account of their “undesirability”. Our government must not fall into the trap of populism by disregarding its commitments to the international human rights framework that defines who we are as a country. Once we decide that some people’s human rights can be trampled on, we will have begun our descent.
SowetanLIVE
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