We are not the only country in the world grappling with an influx of undocumented immigrants and porous borders.
In the northern hemisphere, it has already become a political hot potato with decisions on who to vote for sometimes made on the basis of which party or leader is seen as “strong” or “soft” on illegal immigrants.
It was certainly a major factor when Donald Trump was elected US president the first time on the back of his promise to build a high wall on the border of his country and its neighbour, Mexico.
The issue also contributed greatly to many British citizens voting in favour of pulling out of the European Union – what is now commonly known as Brexit – whose policies they claimed resulted in East European, Asian and African immigrants “flooding” European cities.
There are now genuine fears, at least among political centrists, that France, Germany and other European countries may in the future fall into the hands of ultra-right-wing populist movements as a result of a rising anti-immigrant sentiment.
It is important to note, however, that the phenomena – although it was always there – has risen sharply in most of these countries post the 2008 global financial crisis that many countries and individuals have never really recovered from.
In our own situation, as the economy shrunk and the competition over scarce resources intensified, the issue of undocumented immigrants came into sharp focus.
As companies retrenched workers in the formal economic sector, worsening an already existing unemployment crisis, foreigners were being blamed for taking South African jobs.
As the state cut back on hiring more police and nurses in response to diminished tax revenue, crime got out of hand and health facilities became overwhelmed by the high number of those seeking help. Again, foreigners were blamed for turning South African children into drug addicts and for clogging our already struggling public health system.
Now all of these accusations may be true in many instances, but the story does not end there.
What of the state and what of the employers?
Like all other sovereign states, SA has stringent immigration laws and a number of well-funded agencies to enforce them. Yet even top government officials, ministers and the presidency admit that the problem of undocumented immigrants has reached crisis levels. What are they doing about it?
It is not enough to merely lament about porous borders or complain about restaurants not abiding by the country’s laws if there is no real plan and willingness to put an end to all of that.
We can, as we must, criticise as much as we like those who take the law into their hands by raiding hospital wards and classrooms looking for the undocumented as if they were the apartheid-era “blackjacks” who hounded black families of that era.
But the reality is that these groupings have emerged as a result of a vacuum left by the country’s law enforcement agencies as well as other state institutions.
When the state abdicates its duty to police society, anarchy takes hold.
We are in danger of finding ourselves stumbling down that path unless the institutions and agencies we pay to enforce laws passed by our parliament and ensure general peace and stability start taking their roles seriously.
It is precisely because our state and its institutions are seen as too weak and corrupt that both criminals – local and foreign – as well as aspirant vigilante groups maraud on the streets of our major cities, threatening peace and social cohesion.
A weak and corrupted state can be a serious danger to a young society as fragile as ours.
Equally dangerous is a short-sighted business sector whose preoccupation with maximising profits and cutting costs justifies discriminating against local candidates for jobs in favour of “cheap” undocumented migrants.
Where are they going to make these profits? Where are they going to operate their businesses if the country goes up in smoke due to high unemployment?
