LACO has warned that rising unemployment and alleged labour abuses could fuel an explosion of xenophobia.
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PRESSURE group Labour and Civic Organisation (Laco) estimates that it has placed close to 4,500 individuals in employment since it began its pressure campaign demanding the employment of South Africans.
Laco is an activist group based in Pietermaritzburg that intervenes in workplace and civic disputes across KwaZulu-Natal. The group has marched to several businesses suspected of employing illegal foreign nationals and demanded that they be replaced by locals.
The founder and president of the organisation, Mlungisi Zondi, spoke to The Mercury about the impact of Laco in addressing the employment challenge. He spoke as pressure is mounting on illegal foreign nationals to return to their countries, with thousands said to have left already.
Anti-immigrant critics have discredited calls for foreign nationals to leave on the basis of opening opportunities for locals, stating that foreign nationals are not the reason locals are unemployed. In an interview yesterday, Zondi disagreed.
“Anyone who says that the expulsion of foreign nationals will not change the material conditions of South Africans is detached from the lived reality of many people. The other group that speaks like this is those people who are benefiting from this situation; they have essentially sold the country for money, and that is why they are adopting this view.”
Speaking on the changes they have noticed since the pressure campaign began, Zondi said there has been a huge positive impact on South Africans finding jobs. “There are two paths through which jobs for locals have become available. The first is as a result of the pressure campaign we have been putting on businesses since last year.
“We marched to businesses, and if we found that the business was employing foreign nationals, we told the owners that foreign nationals must leave, and locals must be employed. We have held several marches in many business areas across the country.
“Our first march was in Eastwood, Pietermaritzburg, where foreign nationals were removed, and locals were placed in their positions. We marched to factories in Isithembiso, held marches in Johannesburg and Durban, and we estimate that the number of people we were able to place in employment last year is around 4,500. We still have not tallied up the statistics from the marches we have been holding this year.”
He added that jobs are becoming available for South Africans through the current actions of March and March, with many foreigners leaving because of the growing calls for foreign nationals to leave. “We must keep in mind that many foreigners are employed in the country, and part of getting them to leave is to close the ‘tap where they drink’ (push for them to be unemployed in favour of locals). As many of them leave, jobs become available for South Africans,” he said.
Zondi stated that the crisis was a result of government ineptitude. “When a foreign national comes to South Africa, they should have a passport and a working permit. You cannot be employed to do work that is not a specialised skill. The government is failing in its responsibilities.
“The workers tell us that when labour inspectors come, they only engage with the management and leave; they do not inspect the floor or engage with workers.”