Success follows initiative and effort...

Yesterday evening, while hosting a meeting in Parliament I pointed out that entrepreneurship is a crucial piece of the puzzle in addressing South Africa’s job shortages. For South Africa to be the success-story we all want it to be, it is important for each and every citizen to contribute to society and our economy. There can be no better investment than in expanding the creativity and capabilities of young people and offering a platform on which to build a future.

Interestingly my words triggered another 2008 memory…this one, more of a nightmare really…the violent attacks on Foreign Nationals in South Africa in 2008!

I remember apologising in the National Assembly to the 32,000 people, mainly foreign nationals who were displaced and accommodated in tents, community halls and churches across the country. I was just one of many who deeply regretted what had happened. The genuine concern and generous response of many South Africans in reaching out to those who experienced the consequences of the shocking actions of a few was by contrast, inspirational.

All manner of conspiracy theories rose to explain the xenophobia, it was said to be too organised to be spontaneous…yet having visited four different high-density areas in turmoil, I’m not so sure it was particularly organized. Many side agenda’s it seems also took advantage of the situation, escalating and distorting it.

The seemingly sudden outpouring of violence against foreigners shocked us as a nation despite the fact that we knew ‘Xenophobic’ attitudes were rife. One of our major blind spots, I think, is that South Africans see themselves as ‘inherently good people’…while in fact we are all only as good as we choose to be and in reality every one of us is capable of shocking behaviour…just my opinion! Like it or not, I think none of us can afford, not to be aware and not to work on our attitudes and our actions…selfish survival instincts are always breathing down our necks if we let them…lack of sleep, unresolved issues, feeling-hard-done-by…all handy triggers…or is that just me!

I think it is always a mistake to assume that people who have experienced pain and suffering will be compassionate…so often the opposite is true - wounded people tend to wound others and people who have suffered rejection, reject. The vicious cycle is only broken, when people choose to forgive… choose not to take offense…choose to be kind…this takes effort…and commitment.

Foreign migrants to South Africa had increased from 500 thousand in the 1990’s to around 6 million in 2008 and the numbers continue to rise. This is our reality so it is in our interests to ensure that unnecessary pressure is not placed on disadvantaged communities as migrants find their place in society. Easy access to conflict resolution processes are crucial as people living in close proximity and sharing generally inadequate resources are bound to experience times of conflict.

And now slowly but surely I will get to my point. Migrants do actually bring to this country an economic value although it is not always easy for people to appreciate this. Bitter complaints at the time ranged from: “they take our jobs” to “they take our women” and the fact that foreign nationals had businesses caused particular irritation and jealousy. One person told me how unfair it was that people from Mozambique were getting financed by Graca Machel…irrational but tragically heartfelt!

Skills development, mentorship programmes and entrepreneurial opportunities are desperately needed but ultimately people who succeed will always be those who put in the effort and not those who wait for everything to be done for them.

         

                                                     Reiger Park May 2008