On Friday, during my interview with Bongani Bingwa on 702, I was once again confronted with a reality that deeply troubles me: 32 years into democracy, many South Africans are being labelled xenophobic, intolerant, and even criminal simply because they are demanding that the laws of this country be enforced.
How did we get here? How did we arrive at a point where poor and unemployed South Africans are treated as perpetrators for raising concerns about illegal immigration, while the government that has failed them for decades and escapes accountability?
South Africa has a proud history of protest. In 1956, courageous women marched against the pass laws that sought to control and dehumanise black people. On 21 March 1960, our people were massacred for demanding the abolition of the pass laws. In 1976, young people took to the streets to reject an unjust education system and the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.
Throughout our democratic journey, citizens have organised, marched, and spoken out whenever government has failed to listen.
Today, a new generation is marching. They are not marching because they have jobs and opportunities waiting for them. They are not marching because government has delivered on the promise of a better life for all.
They are marching because millions remain unemployed. They are marching because many communities have been abandoned. They are marching because drugs continue to destroy young lives while government appears incapable of confronting the criminal networks responsible. They are marching because they feel unheard. And yet, instead of engaging them, many political leaders have chosen to insult them.
The message from these South Africans is simple: the law must apply to everyone. If someone is in South Africa legally, their rights must be protected. If someone is in South Africa illegally, the law must also be applied.
This should not be a controversial position. No sovereign nation can function without secure borders and a credible immigration system. No country can simply ignore the distinction between legal and illegal entry.
The demand for the enforcement of immigration laws is not extremism. It is not hatred. It is not xenophobia. It is a legitimate public policy concern in every functioning democracy.
What concerns me most is the growing tendency of government to dismiss citizens instead of listening to them.
The people participating in these marches are overwhelmingly peaceful. They are exercising constitutional rights that generations before them fought and died to secure.
Rather than threatening citizens, government should be asking a simple question: Why are so many people marching? Why are the numbers growing? Why are thousands of South Africans sacrificing their time to participate in these demonstrations?
The answer is obvious…
They are frustrated.
They are tired.
They are desperate for leadership.
When millions of young people cannot find work, when communities are overwhelmed by crime, and when citizens feel that the state is absent, government cannot simply lecture them about social cohesion while refusing to address the underlying problems.
“President” Ramaphosa has repeatedly spoken about the rule of law. I agree with him on one point: South Africa must be governed by the rule of law.
But the rule of law cannot be selective. Ramaphosa cannot invoke the rule of law when citizens demand action, while failing to provide clear answers on controversies that have raised serious public concern, including the Phala Phala matter. The rule of law requires accountability from everyone, including those in positions of power.
Ramaphosa is the last person who should be lecturing South Africans about the rule of law. Before he points fingers at unemployed citizens exercising their constitutional rights, he must answer the questions that continue to hang over the Phala Phala scandal.
South Africans have not forgotten the millions of dollars hidden inside furniture on a private farm, nor have they forgotten the allegations surrounding undocumented workers on that property. The rule of law cannot be something that applies only to ordinary citizens while political elites expect a different standard for themselves.
More importantly, the rule of law requires the state to enforce immigration legislation consistently and transparently. What South Africans deserve is not another lecture. What South Africans deserve is a plan.
Government must present a credible, practical, lawful strategy for identifying undocumented migrants, processing cases efficiently, strengthening border management, and ensuring that those who do not have the legal right to remain in South Africa are dealt with according to the law.
Citizens have every right to ask what that plan is. Citizens have every right to demand timelines. Citizens have every right to demand accountability.
For too long, government has treated the symptoms while ignoring the disease. The real crisis is not that South Africans are speaking out. The real crisis is that millions of South Africans feel they have no choice but to do so.
The real crisis is youth unemployment. The real crisis is poverty. The real crisis is failing schools, collapsing municipalities, rising crime, and communities that feel abandoned by those elected to serve them.
South Africans are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for government to do its job.
I refuse to stand by while ordinary citizens are vilified for demanding that laws be enforced. I refuse to accept a future where poor black South Africans are told their concerns are invalid simply because those concerns make political elites uncomfortable.
Government should stop dismissing citizens. Government should stop labelling citizens. Government should start listening.
And if I find myself standing alone in defence of South Africans who are demanding lawful, peaceful, constitutional solutions to the challenges facing this country, then so be it. I will stand with them.
Because leadership is not about condemning people from a distance. Leadership is about listening to them, respecting them, and fighting for solutions that restore dignity, hope, and opportunity.
South Africans deserve nothing less. Citizens have every right to ask what that plan is in place. Citizens have every right to demand timelines. Citizens have every right to demand accountability.
The tragedy of this moment is not that South Africans are marching. The tragedy is that after more than three decades of democracy, so many feel they have no other option.
When mothers cannot find jobs for their children, when communities are overwhelmed by crime and drugs, and when millions of young people wake up every morning without hope, government cannot respond with insults, labels, and threats. It must respond with leadership.
South Africans are not asking for miracles. They are asking for ACTION. They are asking for honesty. They are asking for a government willing to confront difficult realities instead of pretending they do not exist.
If government believes these citizens are wrong, then engage them. If government believes there is a better solution, then present it. But do not dismiss them. Do not criminalise them. And do not ignore them.
The longer government refuses to listen, the louder these voices will become.
South Africa does not need another speech about the rule of law. South Africa needs a government that applies the law fairly, consistently, and without fear or favour.
The people are speaking. The question is whether those in power are still willing to listen.
Stop Treating South Africans Like Criminals for Demanding That the Law Be Enforced
On Friday, during my interview with Bongani Bingwa on 702, I was once again confronted with a reality that deeply troubles me: 32 years into democracy, many South Africans are being labelled xenophobic, intolerant, and even criminal simply because they are demanding that the laws of this country be enforced.
How did we get here? How did we arrive at a point where poor and unemployed South Africans are treated as perpetrators for raising concerns about illegal immigration, while the government that has failed them for decades and escapes accountability?
South Africa has a proud history of protest. In 1956, courageous women marched against the pass laws that sought to control and dehumanise black people. On 21 March 1960, our people were massacred for demanding the abolition of the pass laws. In 1976, young people took to the streets to reject an unjust education system and the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.
Throughout our democratic journey, citizens have organised, marched, and spoken out whenever government has failed to listen.
Today, a new generation is marching. They are not marching because they have jobs and opportunities waiting for them. They are not marching because government has delivered on the promise of a better life for all.
They are marching because millions remain unemployed. They are marching because many communities have been abandoned. They are marching because drugs continue to destroy young lives while government appears incapable of confronting the criminal networks responsible. They are marching because they feel unheard. And yet, instead of engaging them, many political leaders have chosen to insult them.
The message from these South Africans is simple: the law must apply to everyone. If someone is in South Africa legally, their rights must be protected. If someone is in South Africa illegally, the law must also be applied.
This should not be a controversial position. No sovereign nation can function without secure borders and a credible immigration system. No country can simply ignore the distinction between legal and illegal entry.
The demand for the enforcement of immigration laws is not extremism. It is not hatred. It is not xenophobia. It is a legitimate public policy concern in every functioning democracy.
What concerns me most is the growing tendency of government to dismiss citizens instead of listening to them.
The people participating in these marches are overwhelmingly peaceful. They are exercising constitutional rights that generations before them fought and died to secure.
Rather than threatening citizens, government should be asking a simple question: Why are so many people marching? Why are the numbers growing? Why are thousands of South Africans sacrificing their time to participate in these demonstrations?
The answer is obvious…
They are frustrated.
They are tired.
They are desperate for leadership.
When millions of young people cannot find work, when communities are overwhelmed by crime, and when citizens feel that the state is absent, government cannot simply lecture them about social cohesion while refusing to address the underlying problems.
“President” Ramaphosa has repeatedly spoken about the rule of law. I agree with him on one point: South Africa must be governed by the rule of law.
But the rule of law cannot be selective. Ramaphosa cannot invoke the rule of law when citizens demand action, while failing to provide clear answers on controversies that have raised serious public concern, including the Phala Phala matter. The rule of law requires accountability from everyone, including those in positions of power.
Ramaphosa is the last person who should be lecturing South Africans about the rule of law. Before he points fingers at unemployed citizens exercising their constitutional rights, he must answer the questions that continue to hang over the Phala Phala scandal.
South Africans have not forgotten the millions of dollars hidden inside furniture on a private farm, nor have they forgotten the allegations surrounding undocumented workers on that property. The rule of law cannot be something that applies only to ordinary citizens while political elites expect a different standard for themselves.
More importantly, the rule of law requires the state to enforce immigration legislation consistently and transparently. What South Africans deserve is not another lecture. What South Africans deserve is a plan.
Government must present a credible, practical, lawful strategy for identifying undocumented migrants, processing cases efficiently, strengthening border management, and ensuring that those who do not have the legal right to remain in South Africa are dealt with according to the law.
Citizens have every right to ask what that plan is. Citizens have every right to demand timelines. Citizens have every right to demand accountability.
For too long, government has treated the symptoms while ignoring the disease. The real crisis is not that South Africans are speaking out. The real crisis is that millions of South Africans feel they have no choice but to do so.
The real crisis is youth unemployment. The real crisis is poverty. The real crisis is failing schools, collapsing municipalities, rising crime, and communities that feel abandoned by those elected to serve them.
South Africans are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for government to do its job.
I refuse to stand by while ordinary citizens are vilified for demanding that laws be enforced. I refuse to accept a future where poor black South Africans are told their concerns are invalid simply because those concerns make political elites uncomfortable.
Government should stop dismissing citizens. Government should stop labelling citizens. Government should start listening.
And if I find myself standing alone in defence of South Africans who are demanding lawful, peaceful, constitutional solutions to the challenges facing this country, then so be it. I will stand with them.
Because leadership is not about condemning people from a distance. Leadership is about listening to them, respecting them, and fighting for solutions that restore dignity, hope, and opportunity.
South Africans deserve nothing less. Citizens have every right to ask what that plan is in place. Citizens have every right to demand timelines. Citizens have every right to demand accountability.
The tragedy of this moment is not that South Africans are marching. The tragedy is that after more than three decades of democracy, so many feel they have no other option.
When mothers cannot find jobs for their children, when communities are overwhelmed by crime and drugs, and when millions of young people wake up every morning without hope, government cannot respond with insults, labels, and threats. It must respond with leadership.
South Africans are not asking for miracles. They are asking for ACTION. They are asking for honesty. They are asking for a government willing to confront difficult realities instead of pretending they do not exist.
If government believes these citizens are wrong, then engage them. If government believes there is a better solution, then present it. But do not dismiss them. Do not criminalise them. And do not ignore them.
The longer government refuses to listen, the louder these voices will become.
South Africa does not need another speech about the rule of law. South Africa needs a government that applies the law fairly, consistently, and without fear or favour.
The people are speaking. The question is whether those in power are still willing to listen.