Saftu general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi warns that African migrants should not be blamed for South Africa’s socio-economic challenges, saying rising hostility is fuelling xenophobic tensions in communities.
Image: Itumeleng English/Africa News Agency (ANA)
SAFTU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says African migrants should not be blamed for South Africa’s broader socio-economic challenges, warning that rising hostility in communities is fuelling xenophobic tensions.
Vavi was speaking in an interview on SABC following a joint media briefing by organised labour federations COSATU, FEDUSA, SAFTU, and NACTU held at NEDLAC headquarters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
He said organised labour was concerned that South Africa’s international reputation was being damaged by rising anti-migrant sentiment, adding that labour federations had received feedback from global bodies on the issue.
“We are worried that we are being painted in a very terrible light at the international level,” Vavi said.
He added that some feedback from the International Labour Organisation suggested concerns about xenophobic attacks targeting African workers and a perceived silence from South African labour movements.
Vavi said this had contributed to labour federations deciding to speak “in one voice”, warning that the situation was deteriorating.
He said there was a growing disconnect between official language on migration and what was happening in communities, where migrants were increasingly being targeted.
While public discourse referred to undocumented or “illegal foreigners,” Vavi said the language used on the ground was often more extreme.
“In the streets they are saying we want to clean South Africa, and then everyone must go,” he said.
Vavi warned that such rhetoric risked normalising violence, drawing comparisons with past mass violence on the continent.
“This type of language reminds us exactly of what happened in Rwanda, when people were referred to as cockroaches,” he said.
He said there was evidence of “double speak” around migration, where official messaging differed from actions in communities and on social media.
“We are not opposed to migration. We are not xenophobic. But we are opposed to uncontrolled illegal immigration,” Vavi said, adding that this was the “public sanitised version”.
Vavi said migrants were increasingly being targeted in some communities, including through violence and intimidation, and that people were often attacked based on appearance or language.
“When they’re beating up people in the streets, they beat up anybody that looks darker,” he said.
He said economic hardship, unemployment, and inequality were driving anger in communities, which in turn was fuelling resentment towards foreign nationals.
Vavi said migrants were being used as a “bogeyman” for deeper structural problems.
“They have to find somebody to blame,” he said.
He also warned about mobilisation around a 30 June deadline circulating in some communities, saying organised labour had not called for any strike or protest action and urging workers not to participate in unlawful activities.
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