Logo
EN
La Croix International

Southern Africa bishops want more coordination on migrants

Catholic prelates are exploring ways to extend pastoral care to immigrants, particularly those in the mining industry, in South Africa

La Croix International

The Southern Africa Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) wants more inter-state coordination as xenophobia against people from other parts of Africa is on the rise due to a shrinking economy and rising unemployment in South Africa.

Archbishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale of Johannesburg said that the South African and Mozambican bishops’ councils are exploring more ways to extend pastoral care to immigrants, particularly those in the mining industry, in South Africa.

After meeting Mozambique’s Bishop Atanasio Amisse Canira of Lichinga, Archbishop Tlhagale said that the SACBC wants to facilitate the appointment of Mozambican priests to South Africa, especially in Johannesburg, to work with and become pastors to the Portuguese-speaking communities.

Bishop Canira, who is also President of the Commission for Migrants, Refugees and Displaced Persons, makes pastoral visits to Johannesburg every year. 

This year his task is to seek the SACBC’s help to extend the deadline for Mozambican families visiting relatives in South Africa. Currently, visiting families are allowed only a one-month stay and the Mozambican bishops’ conference wants the time extended to at least three months.

Undocumented migrants

South Africa hosts the largest number of immigrants on the African continent. According to official figures, immigrants constitute at least 5 percent of the country’s population of 60 million. Experts say the actual number is much higher. 

Migrants are attracted to South Africa, the continent’s second largest economy, as they flee poverty, war, and government persecution. 

However, with unemployment rates as high as 65 percent among the youth, a growing number of South Africans accuse immigrants of taking away their jobs and social benefits.

In July, eight women were raped at a mine dump in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg, with xenophobic sentiments coming out in the open in South Africa.

The victims, aged between 19 and 37, were filming a music video when they were intercepted by dozens of men, who robbed and raped them.

Vigilante groups

As xenophobic violence increases, South African residents blame undocumented migrants for crimes. Local residents have vowed to take the law into their own hands and formed vigilant groups as migrant groups are more organized and politically influential.

One of anti-immigrant groups, Operation Dudula, formed in 2021, and which means “to force out” in the Zulu language proclaim “South Africa First” on their banners.

After the rape incident in Krugersdorp, residents helped police in raids to identify and arrest more than 100 suspects.

While meeting Bishop Canira, Bishop Joseph Mary Kizito of Aliwal, spoke of the need for dioceses in countries that send migrants to equip them with travel documents before they set off for South Africa.

“I think the countries of origin have a lot of responsibilities to create awareness about the importance of IDs and documents… If a young person arrives without any document, it becomes very difficult to help them,” Bishop Kizito told Vatican News.

He urged the conferences of Lesotho, Malawi and Nigeria who have large migrant populations in South Africa to work closely with the SACBC to address issues of their nationals.

Bishop Robert Mogapi Mphiwe of Rustenburg in South Africa met with Bishop Canira as Rustenburg Diocese, which houses many mines, also employ Mozambican migrants.

Currently, South Africa is home to half a million active mineworkers and more than 40 percent of them trace their roots to neighboring nations like Mozambique.

The mine workers, many of them from Mozambique, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, have often been accused of unleashing a reign of terror among the local communities.

Xenophobic violence

Recently, in Enkanini outside Sabie, situated on the Sabie River in Mpumalanga, foreign miners allegedly stabbed six local people to death and cut water supply to the residents and divert it to wash the soil as they sift for gold nuggets.

According to the Minerals Council SA, illegal mining activities cost the economy over 7 billion rand (about $400) every year due to the non-payment of taxes and royalties.

Xenophobic violence has a long history in South Africa. In 2008, nearly 60 people perished and nearly 50,000 displaced during anti-immigrant riots. Other fatal flare-ups took place in 2015 and 2019. 

South Africa is still reeling from the negative impact of the pandemic in which 2 million jobs were wiped out, exacerbating a 35 percent unemployment rate.

On August 24, workers took to the streets against the rising cost of living due to record-high fuel prices.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, gas prices reached record highs. Inflation is now at 7.4 percent, compounded by rolling power blackouts. South Africa is still reeling from the negative impact of the pandemic in which 2 million jobs were wiped out. 

The United Nations International Organization for Migration has launched a pilot program in association with faith groups to promote “social cohesion” in areas that host migrants. 

It aims at fostering mutual understanding, especially among young people, and to emphasize the positive contributions migrants can make to communities.

However, some experts say that anti-foreign sentiments are difficult to erase from South African society as they are a legacy of its apartheid past.