I know a friend who will not work as a taxi conductor, citing hard work; a relative who rejected a job in a car wash, citing hard work; a friend who will not work in a funeral parlor, citing indecent job; some months ago I gave a friend some money so that he can build some interior in my house. I’m still waiting for that job to begin. A family relative quoted me an exorbitant price for build a concrete ramp. All these people have one thing in common, laziness, but expect lots of money as payment for every little work they do.
On the other hand people have referred me to African brothers to build the ramp for me. I know a business owner who has contracted African brothers for maintenance and also renovations in her business and at her home. She has expressed great satisfaction at the service these people have provided. Everyday in almost every street corner you find these African brothers with tools ready to be picked up by a either a plumbing, painting, electrical, building, or tiling contractor. Both my associate business owner and these contractors are suckers for these African brothers who provide cheap labour while getting the job done and giving 100% of their abilities. It does not matter what country these guys come from, they just want to work and earn a wage, and they do.
Running up to 2009 tensions have been growing in different parts of the country. These tensions relate to allegations that “foreign people” are stealing jobs of South Africans. As results African brothers, sisters and their children have suffered abuse, discrimination, assault, violation, and death at the hands of South Africans. Why is that so? How is it that people pin entitlements to jobs which they don’t seek and are not employed in that job? Can we also say that “foreigners” are stealing business opportunities for South Africans? Will this satisfy out falsified perception and understanding of the current economic situation we are faced with?
Most of my relatives who are physically able, and should be economically active individuals, given their age, have never held a long term job and have never made efforts to look for one? These are men and women who are parents, have responsibilities which range from having to provide food, shelter and clothing for their children to planning for the future of their children. However these people have never done any of that. Now would it be justified for someone with such an approach to life to complain about someone who goes out there and seek employment to provide all these things for his or her family? That is exactly what these African brothers and sisters do. They have a purpose to provide for their families. Therefore they don’t sit and wait for a truck to come and collect them from their dungeon and take them to work or let bygones be bygones if the truck did not come.
There are also many people who were laid off from work because they were no longer pitching at work and when they did they appeared drunk and basically produced nothing. On the other hand these African brothers and sisters work hard and accept whatever little they get.
As South Africans we have complained over and over again about the scarcity of employment opportunities in this country. We have pestered government to provide for us in all aspects of life including employment opportunities. However there are very few of us who find creative ways to meet government halfway by acquiring skills which are essential to compete in the job market. On the other hand African brothers and sisters come to our country equipped with a variety of qualifications, skills and experience which are, in this country, deemed as scarce skills. However, these people start form scratch when they arrive here. They do all odd jobs in order for them to gain platforms to demonstrate their capabilities, skills and experience.
Just when we thought that we have passed the incidents of xenophobic attacks, and that our people have learned from the devastating effects of those xenophobic attacks which happened last year, these incidents are being reported in the news. It is shocking to find that in 2009, while our political leaders are working hard to form relations and partnerships with our neighboring countries in order to open doors for trade and exchange of skills and sharing of resources, the people on the ground are attacking people from neighboring countries who are trying to find refuge in our communities. Not only are the current ties imposed by our leaders suppose to unite us as African people but there is also a need to consider our past experience where South African men and women found refuge in these neighboring countries and evidence show that they received good reception. South Africans were given opportunities to compete in the job market of these countries in all sectors of the economy of these countries, regardless of the skills (or lack thereof) South Africans were equipped with.
Maybe, now that people no longer undergo military service after competing secondary education people can, through the Department of International Relations and related government clusters, undergo a year of community service in an African country. It is then that South Africans will understand the plight of being in a foreign land, just to get a feel of what it’s like not to have a choice but to do all kinds of jobs to earn a dollar.
What is this talk of foreign land, foreign soil, and foreign people anyway? Aren’t we all Africans?
African brothers and sisters are like beggars in this country, given the plight of their survival. The difference is that while some South Africans may feel equivalent, the latter continues to demonstrate attitudes of people with choices when competing in the job market, whereas the former are like beggars who do not choose, beggars who take that what is given to them and make the most of it. This is not to condone the act of exploiting people by paying them less than a minimal wage, which also creates unfair competition among those who compete for jobs and lead to the incidents which have been reported.
So the challenge that I want to put across is that, before we burn houses and chase away our African brothers and sisters, let us learn from their survival tactics, hard work, perseverance, and determination. Then maybe we can decide if they cannot live amongst us and compete in our job markets.
[Article also published in The Witness, 10 December 2009]
