June 30, a low point in South Africa's democracy.
Image: Itumeleng English/Independent Newspapers
Yesterday's arbitrary deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country is a warning sign for South African democracy. Some may see citizen-led vigilante groups mobilising as a decisive act of taking back control. The reality is far more sombre: this is a hollow victory that trades the rule of law for the theatre of mob rule.
This wave of vigilantism is a response to real grievances: soaring unemployment, collapsing infrastructure, a state that has abandoned its responsibility to govern. But by redirecting that anger toward vulnerable foreign nationals, these groups and their opportunistic political backers are providing a convenient scapegoat for a crisis they did not solve.
The victory is hollow because it solves nothing. It creates no jobs, fixes no infrastructure, lowers no cost of living. Instead, it normalises intimidation and collective blame. When the state fails to secure its borders through lawful, humane processes, it creates a power vacuum. When it then brands human beings as merely "illegal" to justify their suffering, it authorises the public to do the same.
The tragedy of Stilfontein, where state-sponsored dehumanisation of "illegal" miners preceded their avoidable deaths, is a grim lesson: once a society is taught a group is undeserving of dignity, that intolerance will reach our streets, shops, and neighbourhoods.
Politicians who fuel xenophobia for electoral advantage are not acting as leaders; they are acting as arsonists, sacrificing the country's constitutional promise of equality for political expediency.
South Africa's challenges are systemic, not social. They demand the painstaking work of rebuilding the state, strengthening law enforcement, securing borders through professional institutions, and building an economy that works for everyone.
Real victory will not be found in intimidating a vegetable seller or looting a small business. It lies in rejecting the politics of expulsion for the harder work of institution-building. Until we demand accountability from power rather than attacking the vulnerable, we remain trapped in a cycle where the only thing being protected is the status quo of failure.