SA to blame for border posts problem

• Published date: 17 January 2021
• Date: 17 January 2021
• Author: jan bornman
• Publication title: Sunday Tribune

Ramaphosa announced this as he addressed concerns about vaccine acquisition and updates on the strain on the healthcare system.

“One of the challenges that we have as the festive season draws to a close is the huge congestion at many of our land border posts,” he said.

“This has exposed many people to infection as they wait to be processed and it has been difficult to ensure the health requirements for entry into South Africa are met, with many people arriving without proof of COVID-19 tests.”

As a result, Cabinet closed 20 land ports of entry until February 15. These include some of the busiest ports: Beitbridge, Lebombo, Maseru Bridge, Oshoek and Ficksburg.

One can’t help but question the motivation behind the decision to close land ports of entry but keep airports open. It does bring into focus the South African government’s view of, and contempt towards, impoverished people, and impoverished migrants, in general.

In the early days of the initial lockdown, it played out in violent evictions despite a moratorium on evictions, the government’s initial refusal to provide food parcels to migrants and particularly undocumented people, and the violence meted out by the police and military against those who failed to comply with lockdown regulations.

Decisions like this do nothing but provide more room for the xenophobes hiding behind the #PutSouthAfricansFirst banner to continue their violent rhetoric against black migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. But this contempt towards migrants isn’t only reserved for online xenophobes. Those in government have clearly displayed their dislike and distrust of migrants, with Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi regularly blaming migrants for government failures.

Despite Ramaphosa’s best intentions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has confirmed airports will remain open. This begs the question, has the South African government learned nothing about its poor handling of the situation at the Beitbridge border recently?

About a week ago, Motsoaledi warned “a humanitarian crisis” was unfolding at the border. And now, with many people still returning from their holidays and with schools yet to open, the government has shut some of the country’s busiest borders.

Closing the land borders suggests those coming from neighbouring countries are the ones bringing the virus into South Africa and yet there is no evidence to support this. It only serves to play into the dangerous...