While the idea of reclaiming land in South Africa is not new (or original) to South Africa, one has to wonder why this has moved front and center. We saw that Zimbabwe ramped up it's efforts at land redistribution as a means of propping up Mugabe during the election [sic] where he had serious challenges to his party. With this in mind two things:
First
Employment
The world’s biggest unemployment crisis is right here in South Africa‚ according to economist Mike Schussler.
Delivering the UASA trade union’s 17th South African Employment Report (SAER)‚ he said the number of unemployed had increased from 6-million to 9.6-million between 2001 and 2018.
This was a 60% increase in the broader rate of unemployment‚ which had had a devastating effect on inequality and poverty in the country‚ said Schussler.
“South Africa is one of the few countries in the world where there are more adults not at work than adults at work.
Pretty bad isn't it. Idle hands. Idle hands.
To attempt to solve the problem of unemployment‚ Schussler said accelerated economic growth was the only sustainable way to tackle it.
“No country in the world can tell its citizens that there will be massive unemployment for decades to come.”
Or tell them that the problem is farmlands owned by the minority population...
Second:
Xenophobia:
In what is a cut nose, spite face, kind of report:
Immigrant-owned shops, belonging to people from Somalia, Bangladesh, China and Pakistan, have been closed since Monday last week after they were looted by residents protesting over poor services from the Lesedi municipality.
“We are trying to come up with a solution … The majority of community members say they will starve if the Somali shops remain closed,” said Sibanyoni.
Many in the Ratanda community rely on foreign-owned shops. Now they have to travel further afield.
“Travelling all the way to town to buy bread or a cold drink is absurd. People should swallow their pride and allow the Somalis to operate,” said Mojabang Radebe, a salon owner.
It sure is absurd. I mean, why open your own shops rather than wait for immigrants/foreigners to do it?
Some residents were xenophobic. They said foreigners should leave the community permanently.
“They should give us some space to breathe. Everywhere you go there is a Somali, Pakistani or Chinese shop. We are tired of them,” said Bafana Khumalo. He operates a shisa nyama stand next to a Somali-owned shop in Ratanda extension 7.
Khumalo said: “The problem is that they sell expired tinned food and fake goods. After that, they expect the community to be quiet. l think it’s a good thing that they be permanently removed from our area.”
Again, why not open your own shops? I mean how is it that foreigners have so much retail power in your own country?
Thabo Mokoena, living in Ratanda extension 23, said, “Their [immigrants] problem is that they do not create job opportunities for us. Why do they not teach us the same business skills so we can fend for ourselves … They only care for themselves. They do not bank money; at least that way they would be taxed in order to help the economy.”
Give us [enter thing you should be doing for self]!
Expecting foreigners who open up shop to make money off of you, to "care" about you further than your ability to transfer wealth to them is stupid.
But yo! If you get those farmers....
