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Retail Capital has revealed a study that 90 per cent of SME&#8217;s are struggling to stay afloat in these tough economic times. The study dived into every aspect including macroeconomic challenges such as Eskom, indebted consumers and xenophobia. Retail Capital CEO, Karl Westvig joins CNBC Africa to break this down further.

SMEs find going tough as SA’s economy contracts

By Mary-Jean Nleya 



Africa balkanised in 1884 – 1885 



The balkanisation of African states is a colonial
construct, yet it has become one of the most Africanised phenomena of
contemporary Africa. During the wave of independence, a pan-Africanist movement
swept over much of the continent with Julius Nyerere as its ardent proponent.
However, the drawn lines of the Berlin Conference remained firm causing
national identity to trump over a shared African identity. The recent
xenophobic attacks in South Africa, particularly the targeting of other African
immigrants in South Africa, is a testament to identity markers that have been
forged along national geographies &#8211; a consequence of the Berlin Conference. Some
Nigerian citizens returned home last week as result of the violence. The recent
actions in South Africa and the reprisal attacks in other African countries
targeting South Africa makes African integration hang in the balance. 



Xenophobia &amp; economic
integration



The
xenophobic attacks come at a time when African countries recently concluded the
largest trade agreement, since the creation of the World Trade Organisation in
1994. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has the potential to
connect over 1.3 billion people as well as to form an economic zone of over $3
trillion and boost&nbsp;<a href="http://www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intracenorg/Content/Publications/AfCFTA%20Business%20Guide_final_Low-res.pdf">intra-African trade</a> in agriculture, manufacturing, raw
materials and services. However, such a potential requires more than simply
diplomatic relations across the continent, but also steadfast unity among
African people. Looting and destroying businesses owned by other African
migrants in South Africa, particularly businesses owned by those at the lower
rung of the socio-economic pyramid and the consequent retaliatory attacks in
various other African countries, goes against the very foundations of economic,
social and trade integration. 



The
AfCFTA was seen as acting as a buffer to the current trade-war climate by
strengthening regional trade within the continent of Africa; while free trade
is under attack in much of the developed world. If anything, the US-China trade
war is an additional propeller for African states to deepen trade-relations
among themselves.



However,
what use is an African trade pact that aims at building bridges and dismantling
borders; when the African people do not see themselves as a single identity? 



Art and development: The unifying
force of music



As the African continent grapples with its developmental agenda, art and specifically music has the propensity to act as a unifying force among African people. The major milestone accomplished by the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X7b8fYcYCk">Ndlovu Youth Choir’s</a> magnificent performances that celebrated Africa as a continent and its culture, and that ultimately landed them a record as the first African act to make it to the finals of the US’ major talent competition, is significant not just as entertainment but also in forging a unified African identity in the midst of the regressive social and economic moment of the recent xenophobic attacks. Music that was composed specifically following the September 2019 xenophobic attacks was a song “Africa Unite” that poignantly explored social themes of interdependence and African togetherness. 



Music
is an
enabler in building bridges and in articulating and
expressing the complexities of identity politics found in development processes.
It is also a vital medium in communicating
and illuminating themes central to development discourse (including regional
trade integration) at a time where the social infrastructure of the continent
is of importance and heightened social tensions among
Africans need to be eased. 



Conclusion



The
AfCFTA, with its potential to make significant contributions to economic
development, curbing unemployment and poverty alleviation if it is supported by
effective policies, is a starting point; but an ingrained pan-African vision
from those at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid all the way to the top
is essential for the growth of the African continent. The world has much to
benefit from an integrated and united Africa.&nbsp;Africa Unite.

Op-Ed: Africa urgently needs a shared identity for its $3trn free trade club to work, could music be a unifier?

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Last week in the midst of xenophobic attacks, hundreds of Nigerians went home. But, for some, South Africa has been home for them for over ten years. CNBC Africa’s Karabo Letlhatlha spoke to Nigerian Designer, OJ Chijioke who chose to stay.

Why this Nigerian chose to stay when others fled xenophobic attacks in SA

<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/PxHere_xenophobia1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-344954" width="692" height="518"/><figcaption>Image by PxHere</figcaption></figure>



By Unathi Sonwabile Henema 



The looting of shops and the shutdown of several central business districts in several South African cities has unleashed violence and the destruction of property. The normal functioning of several cities has been disturbed by these acts, as public transportation was disturbed and this had a negative impact on employee attendance, destroying value for the public and private sector. 



The attacks on foreign nationals and their property are associated with xenophobia and opportunistic acts of crime. These acts of crime and violence are nothing short of being home-grown terrorism, and a form of economic crime. These acts have gained international attention and this had a detrimental impact on the brand image of destination South Africa. The brand image of a country is important in attracting investment and promoting tourism consumption. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Perception trumps reality</h2>



In a world where perception trumps reality, negative perception of a destination is detrimental for the visitor economy. The tourism industry is one industry that depends on a country’s brand image to achieve its growth and sustainability. South Africa is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and is a bucket list destination. Potential tourists to South Africa always details the immense beauty of our country, and further ask about safety within the same sentence. 



Personal safety and security for tourists in South Africa is a challenge, that impacts on the competitiveness of South Africa negatively. The World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report under Safety and Security places South Africa at number 120 out of 136 countries, which means that safety for tourists is not guaranteed. Safety and security is supposed to be a dividend that is enjoyed by citizens and also tourists, and this is the responsibility of the state. Unfortunately, crime is rampant in South Africa, and it seems as if the only those perpetrators of crime who enjoy the fruits of our democracy. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Tourism has been a cinderella industry</h2>



Tourism is disproportionally important for the economy of South Africa, which is in a growth trap. Tourism since 1994, has been a cinderella industry, whose growth rate has always been higher than the GDP growth of the economy. Tourism has therefore rightfully been declared the new gold as it drives the economy of South Africa as gold did. The growth of tourism is associated with the growth in jobs, due to the labour-intensive nature of the tourism industry. Jobs growth is what South Africa needs, and the tourism industry creates the number of entry-level positions at the lowest cost. 



The industry is able to assimilate labour that is both skilled and unskilled and is well-placed to mitigate the structural challenges facing South Africa, which includes the skills mismatch. The vast majority of tourists that visit South Africa are from the African continent, representing more than 60 percent of international tourists. In the latest ‘Tourism &amp; Migration’ it&#8217;s revealed that in June 2019, there were 154 361 international tourists, compared to 578 783 tourists from the African continent. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Africa at the epicentre of SA&#8217;s tourism industry</h2>



The top 10 leading African inbound markets are represented by Zimbabwe at number 1 and Tanzania at number 10. The report further identified &#8220;other’&#8221; top leading inbound markets, which includes Nigeria (1), Kenya (2), Ghana (3) and Uganda (4). The report, therefore, paints a picture that the African continent is therefore the epicentre of our tourism industry. The acts of violence and xenophobia, therefore, threaten the tourism industry. African tourists travel to South Africa more frequently for shopping, healthcare, education, and visiting friends and relatives. Furthermore, research indicates that they are already outspending international tourists. 



Acts of violence and crime against tourists were declared an economic crime by the joint sitting of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism and Police. This means that acts of violence and xenophobia are a form of economic crime because it threatens the ability of South Africa to attract tourists.



Unathi Sonwabile Henama is an academic sangoma teaching tourism at Tshwane University of Technology

Op-Ed: A tourism outlook on the looting of shops and xenophobia

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; MTN Group Ltd said on Tuesday the chief executive officers of its Zambian and Cote d’Ivoire units would step down at the end of the month.



Africa’s largest mobile phone operator said Zambia’s Philip van Dalsen, who joined MTN in 2012 as CEO of MTN Cyprus, would be replaced by MTN Rwanda CEO Bart Hofker, in October.



Mitwa Kaemba Ng’ambi has been appointed as the new CEO of MTN Rwanda.



The firm said Freddy Tchala, its Cote d’Ivoire CEO, who had a 17-year stint at the firm, would also be leaving at the end of September with his replacement still to be announced.



Spokeswoman Karen Byamugisha said van Dalsen and Tchala are both stepping down due to personal reasons.



MTN has a presence in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.



Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; editing by Jason Neely

CEOs of MTN’s Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire units are stepping down

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As the World Economic Forum on Africa focuses on shaping inclusive growth and shared futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution – to explore ways the continent can mitigate headwinds like xenophobia to advance trade in its shared future, Commissioner for Trade and Industry at the African Union Commission (AUC), Albert Muchanga joins CNBC Africa&#8217;s Chris Bishop and Kenneth Igbomor for more.

Albert Muchanga on how mutual tolerance is key in trade, xenophobia & Africa’s shared future

One of the major problems facing South Africa is anti-immigrant violence. The seriousness of this problem was highlighted in a recent <a href="http://hcwg.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Report-Hate-Bias-Crimes-Monitoring-Form-Project-SCREEN.pdf">report on hate crime</a> in the country.
These kinds of hate crime discourage long-term integration of international migrants. It also hampers the country’s ability to attract migrants with the skills it needs to drive development and economic growth.
Anti-immigrant violence also sours the country’s relationship with the rest of the continent. For example, relations between South Africa and Nigeria, one of the region’s largest economies, have deteriorated because of recent <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/ramaphosa-tries-to-fix-sa-nigeria-relations-as-xenophobia-claims-emerge-15973772">attacks on Nigerians</a>.
Since the early 1990s, state officials, legislators and policymakers in South Africa have debated the <a href="http://samponline.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Acrobat66.pdf">causes of anti-immigrant violence</a>. There are many different opinions on what causes such hostility. Some politicians, including former president Jacob Zuma, even suggested that the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/28/south-africa-is-not-a-xenophobic-nation-a-letter-from-jacob-zuma">problem doesn’t exist</a>.
A new <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/media-briefs/general/attacking-foreigners-in-sa">study</a> by the Human Sciences Research Council canvased the views of ordinary South Africans on what lies behind anti-immigrant sentiments, including violence. Knowing how the public views this important question is vital to understanding which mechanisms would be most acceptable to prevent xenophobic violence.
Overall, 71% of the respondents said that the threat posed by immigrants from outside South Africa was the main reason for the violence. A third of people in the survey attributed violence against immigrants to the fact that foreigners would take jobs away from South Africans and that they were involved in unfair business practices attributed.
Only a small minority (5%) described violence against foreigners as irrational, illogical or unknowable. An even smaller portion (2%) rejected the premise of the question and said that attacks against foreigners were “just the work of criminals”.
<h2>The survey and findings</h2>
Using public opinion data, the study looked at which explanations for anti-immigrant violence are most popular among the country’s adults.
Public opinion data from the <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/departments/sasas">South African Social Attitudes Survey 2017</a> was used for the study. The repeated cross-sectional survey series is specially designed to be nationally representative of all persons aged 16 years and older in the country. Survey teams visited households in all nine provinces and the sample size was 3,098.
Respondents were asked: “There are many opinions about why people take violent action against foreigners living in South Africa. Please tell me the main reason why you think this happens”. This open-ended question allowed people to answer in their own words, thus encouraging them to give an unbiased answer.
Almost every respondent was able to offer an explanation for why people attack foreigners. About a third (30%) of the general public said that the violence was caused by foreigners stealing jobs from hardworking South Africans. Other economic causes cited were the alleged unfair business practices of foreign-owned small businesses and that immigrants used up resources (such as housing).
<figure class="align-center "><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230759/original/file-20180806-191035-11rrgvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
The criminal threat posed by international immigrants was the second most frequently mentioned cause of anti-immigrant violence. Almost a third (30%) said that communities were responding to the criminal activities of the migrants. Many people attributed the violence to foreigners’ involvement in drug trafficking.
About 5% of the respondents identified other threats they claimed foreigners posed as the main reason for the attacks. These included the sexual exploitation of women as well as a general sense that immigrants wanted to “take over the country”.
Looking at the minority that named a non-threat explanation for attacks on foreigners living in South Africa, the study found that few identified individual prejudice or misinformation about international migrants as primary reasons for the violence.
Remarkably, the most frequently mentioned non-threat explanation for violence was jealousy. About 10% of the respondents said that envy of the success or ingenuity of foreigners was the main driver of this kind of hate crime. People who responded in this way tended to tell fieldworkers that South Africans were lazy when compared to migrants.
<h2>Combating xenophobic violence</h2>
From the responses, it’s apparent that most of the reasons provided by the general population are about the alleged harmful conduct of international migrants. There is, however, no evidence to support the belief that South Africa’s migrant community is a major cause of crime or <a href="https://www.groundup.org.za/article/do-immigrants-steal-jobs-south-africa-what-data-tell-us/">unemployment</a> in the country. Indeed, as former president Zuma has <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN1630JW">acknowledged</a>,
<blockquote>(many in the migrant community) contribute to the economy of the country positively.</blockquote>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101053/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />Government and anti-xenophobia activists need to encourage ordinary people to think like this, and to view hate crimes against foreigners differently. Public support will help anti-xenophobia advocates end these kinds of hate crime. Only when South Africans are able to understand the root causes of anti-immigrant violence can the problem be overcome.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-gordon-360887">Steven Gordon</a>, ‎Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/human-sciences-research-council-2144">Human Sciences Research Council</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-fears-about-jobs-drive-anti-migrant-sentiment-in-south-africa-101053">original article</a>.

How job uncertainty in South Africa is driving anti-migrant attitudes

In 2010 police in Johannesburg shot Justin Ejimkonye, a Nigerian migrant, in the leg. The reason why is unclear: It took the police 18 months to charge Ejimkonye with any crime. When they did bring a charge, saying he was carrying cannabis, a public prosecutor decided not to pursue the case for lack of evidence.
The Nigerian says police shot him because he refused to pay them bribes.
Similar claims of police corruption are echoed by hundreds of immigrants in South Africa. Some are resigned to paying out so they can stay in the country. Others feel powerless to act. But over the past seven years, Ejimkonye, who says he is in the country legally, has refused to keep quiet. Now he is pursuing a civil claim for damages. He says law enforcement and immigration officials have continued to brutalise and wrongfully detain him. A high court has twice ordered the police to set him free.
&#8220;I still think every day they will come for me,&#8221; said Ejimkonye, 31. &#8220;I&#8217;m fighting for my life.&#8221;
The Nigerian, who walks with a limp, is suing South Africa&#8217;s minister of home affairs, the local government, a police officer and an official at the Department for Home Affairs for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages as a result of this alleged maltreatment. His case has been filed at a Johannesburg high court and is due to be heard in August. It is a fresh challenge to the misrule and abuse that even the government sees in South Africa&#8217;s immigration system.
&#8220;This is an important case and the evidence is extensive and conclusive,&#8221; said Bulelani Mzamo, Ejimkonye&#8217;s attorney. &#8220;A lot of people in authority are in deep trouble.&#8221;
National police declined to comment on the case; the police investigatory body said it had not been informed about it. Told of the case by Reuters, Mayihlome Tshwete, a spokesman for Home Affairs, said he would look into it. Tshwete said the problems it highlights were &#8220;systemic&#8221; in the past but are improving under Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, who was appointed in 2014 and has launched a drive against corruption, arresting tens of officials in his department on corruption charges.
South Africans worry that foreigners are taking their jobs and creating crime, and migrants say the immigration system is failing. The same forces that send West Africans to Italy are driving sub-Saharan Africans – nearly half of them from Zimbabwe – into the continent&#8217;s richest state. South Africa rejects 95 percent of asylum applications as unjustified. But so far, it has been unwilling to deport those migrants. It houses more than a million people with temporary residence permits who are unsure what is going to happen to them.
That has fostered extortion. More than 20 refugees or migrants interviewed by Reuters said they had suffered corruption and worse at the hands of police and immigration officers. A 2015 report by Lawyers for Human Rights and the African Centre for Migration and Society, two NGOs, found one-third of immigrants experience corruption at South African refugee registration offices. Another report, published last November by NGO Corruption Watch, found more than 300 foreigners complained of extortion, threats and solicitation from government officials. President Jacob Zuma said last month a system of &#8220;bribes for permits&#8221; poses a serious security risk for the country.
A spate of attacks against Nigerians in Johannesburg sparked protests in February and revenge attacks against South African businesses in Nigeria. This month South Africa&#8217;s Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, after meeting the Nigerian foreign minister, said she would launch a scheme to track and deter xenophobic attacks. At least 66 foreign Africans in South Africa were killed in xenophobic attacks between January 2015 and January 2017, according to the African Centre for Migration and Society.
The chaos has its roots in the end of apartheid in 1994, when Nelson Mandela helped draw up a constitution with some of the world&#8217;s most generous human rights laws, in a bid to redress the divides under white-minority rule. The constitution grants people seeking asylum many of the same rights as South Africans. Now Gigaba wants to change the law to crack down on so-called &#8220;economic migrants&#8221; by reducing asylum-seekers&#8217; rights and introducing a quota system.
&#8220;Unfortunately we fear a large-scale flare-up of xenophobic violence is just around the corner,&#8221; said Wayne Ncube, an attorney at the Johannesburg Law Clinic. &#8220;It just takes a spark.&#8221;
&#8220;SPECIAL DUTIES&#8221;
Almost all the African immigrants Reuters spoke to said corruption and violence were part of their daily lives. A group of Zimbabweans living in Yeoville, a Johannesburg suburb popular with African migrants, described a well-organised system established by the police.
Officers in their area came to collect money each week, the migrants said. Those who didn&#8217;t pay were arrested, they said, and eventually sent to a Johannesburg migrant detention centre, Lindela, where thousands of people are still awaiting a decision on their asylum applications.
&#8220;If you pay, you&#8217;re fine. If you don&#8217;t have money then you&#8217;re arrested or beaten up until you can pay,&#8221; said 28-year-old taxi driver Thando Banda, from Zimbabwe.
Yeoville police declined to comment.
Ejimkonye, the Nigerian, says he arrived in South Africa in October 2005 and was issued with various permits until 2007 when he married a South African, which entitled him to stay permanently on a spousal visa. He had dreamed of a future as a soccer player, but by early February 2010 was running a hair salon in Germiston, a suburb of Johannesburg.
One day, he says, police stopped him as he was driving his Toyota truck. They demanded 900 rand ($70), which he refused to pay. The police impounded his vehicle and charged him a fine to recover it.
A few weeks later, on Feb. 25, the same police officers stopped him again, documents drawn up by both Ejimkonye and the police show. Ejimkonye says he told them he would not pay any bribes. At that, he says, police officer John Kichener Johnstone removed his police issue Beretta revolver from its holster and fired a 9 millimetre round into the back of Ejimkonye&#8217;s leg.
The Germiston police station did not respond to requests for comment, or to contact Johnstone. Savage Jooste and Adams, the law firm representing the local government and officer Johnstone, declined to comment. The firm has submitted a defence in Ejimkonye&#8217;s case, Ejimkonye&#8217;s lawyers said.
In a separate statement prepared for a court hearing that in the end did not take place, Johnstone said he and his police colleagues were doing &#8220;special duties,&#8221; which he did not detail at the time. They went to question a group of men, including Ejimkonye, who were standing at a street corner. Johnstone saw the &#8220;bud of a fire-arm at the rear of his (Ejimkonye&#8217;s) pants,&#8221; said the statement, seen by Reuters.
Ejimkonye then tried to escape and a chase ensued, Johnstone said in the statement. Hurdling bushes, Johnstone said, he shouted warnings at Ejimkonye several times before opening fire as a last resort. A police crime docket drawn up by the Germiston police on the day of the shooting said Ejimkonye was guilty of &#8220;pointing (a gun) at an officer.&#8221;
Ejimkonye says he did not have a gun. He collected two witness statements which supported his version of events. Neither they nor Johnstone&#8217;s statement were submitted in court because the police did not actually bring charges against Ejimkonye at that time.
Instead, in April 2010 Ejimkonye launched his own lawsuit against the police. That grew into the claim that is due in court in August.
National police spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi said questions about Ejimkonye&#8217;s case against police would be dealt with by the internal Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID). The IPID spokesman said it would not have looked into it automatically because in 2010 it was &#8220;not obligated to investigate cases of shooting unless the shooting resulted in a death.&#8221;
Tshwete, the spokesman for the home affairs ministry, could not comment on Ejimkonye&#8217;s case but said there were some &#8220;rotten apples&#8221; in the police and home affairs ministry. &#8220;We are not saying all police and home affairs officers are saints.&#8221;
UNLAWFUL DETENTION
In Ejimkonye&#8217;s case, a court eventually found that law enforcement officials had broken the law.
In August 2011, 18 months after Ejimkonye was shot in the leg, police summoned him to face a charge of possession of &#8220;dagga,&#8221; or cannabis. The public prosecutor withdrew that charge due to lack of evidence, a Department of Justice document shows.
Ejimkonye said he subsequently faced more intimidation and physical attacks. On Oct. 14, 2013, according to documents submitted by Ejimkonye&#8217;s lawyers, Johnstone and colleagues raided the Nigerian&#8217;s home in the middle of the night and took him to the police station where he was kept for 36 days.
A month into his detention an immigration officer, Boitumelo Mokobi, revoked his visa, saying it had been illegally obtained. Mokobi could not be reached for comment.
With his visa revoked, Ejimkonye became an illegal immigrant. The immigration authority sent him to Lindela, the detention centre in Johannesburg. There he spent the next six months, court documents show &#8211; well beyond the maximum declared by law.
In April 2014, Judge Segopotje Mphahlele of the South Gauteng High Court ordered his release. The judge ruled that the police and the government had &#8220;dismally failed to comply with the applicable requirements of the Immigration Act&#8221; and Ejimkonye had been unlawfully detained.
The Nigerian thought he was free.
But on May 27, 2014, Ejimkonye says, Johnstone and his crew broke into his home, assaulted him and threw him into the boot of a car. They took him to another police station where, a June 2014 court ruling says, he was held on charges of being an illegal immigrant.
Again, his lawyer applied to the high court, which ordered his release. Judge Mphahlele found this second arrest and detention had also been unlawful, and ordered that police should not approach Ejimkonye until his immigration situation was clarified.
&#8220;BAD PEOPLE&#8221;
The Home Affairs department said last year that it had arrested more than 60 of its officials for offences including false documentation, bribery, aiding and abetting, impersonation, revenue theft and fraud. But migrants say brutality and demands for cash are still commonplace.
Faaruq Mohammed, a Somali who has a temporary residence permit while his application for asylum is considered, told Reuters he was beaten and refused legal representation at a police station. He has been waiting for a permanent decision on his application for more than two years.
&#8220;You worry each time you leave your house that the police will stop you. Sometimes they ignore your permit and you have to pay or be arrested,&#8221; Mohammed said. &#8220;Police stations and Lindela are not good places. Bad people there. You don&#8217;t know if you will come out alive.&#8221;
At the refugee registration centre in South Africa&#8217;s capital Pretoria, hundreds of immigrants press against fences hoping to get answers about their asylum applications as overrun officials shout orders and beat back the crowd with sticks.
Many have been coming for years and described how they had to pay to get a renewal of their refugee permit.
&#8220;No one really cares if you&#8217;re a real asylum-seeker or not,&#8221; said Paul Kazadi, a Democratic Republic of Congo national who admits he has been paying bribes to extend his stay in South Africa for three years. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t really benefit anyone to change things. Immigration officers and police get money and we don&#8217;t get deported. We work with the system we&#8217;ve got.&#8221;
Police declined to comment. Home Affairs spokesman Tshwete said there is corruption at South Africa&#8217;s refugee centres, but that they have improved and will be further reformed.
In February, President Zuma opened a renovated refugee centre in Pretoria equipped with new technology aimed at reducing corruption, overcrowding and the role of criminal syndicates. In his opening speech, he said, &#8220;Government will not tolerate corruption in the refugee reception centres as well as in the documentation process.&#8221;
Ejimkonye has gone into hiding. He is suing the local government for 2.5 million rand in damages for personal injury and the Home Affairs ministry for 2 million rand for illegal detention, his lawyers say.
He also hopes his civil suit can help reinstate his visa.
&#8220;The police and immigration officials always think they will get away with it,&#8221; said attorney Mzamo. &#8220;With Ejimkonye&#8217;s case, we want to send a clear message that it&#8217;s not business as usual.&#8221;
(Additional reporting by Ed Cropley and Kenichi Serino in Johannesburg; Edited by Sara Ledwith, Richard Woods and Janet McBride)
&nbsp;

In South Africa, immigration feeds corrupt officials and race hate

South Africa&#8217;s President Jacob Zuma has condemned acts of violence between citizens and non-nationals, his office said on Friday.
Anti-immigrant violence has flared sporadically in South Africa against a background of near-record unemployment, with foreigners being accused of taking jobs from citizens and getting involved in crime.
Citizens in Pretoria are set to march against foreigners on Friday and domestic media are reporting vandalism and acts of violence in the Atteridgeville area west of the capital.
At least 20 stores in Pretoria owned by foreigners were looted on Tuesday, but police could not confirm that the attacks had deliberately targeted foreigners.
&#8220;Many citizens of other countries living in South Africa are law abiding and contribute to the economy of the country positively. It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers,&#8221; Zuma said in a statement.
&#8220;The threats and counter-threats on social media must stop,&#8221; he added.
In Nigeria, protesters on Thursday demanded that South African citizens and businesses leave the country and vandalised the head office of mobile phone giant MTN in Abuja, in retaliation for anti-Nigerian violence in South Africa.
 
(Reporting by TJ Strydom; Editing by Joseph Radford)﻿

South Africa's Zuma condemns violence against foreigners

Refugees in the United States fearing a worsening climate of xenophobia in the wake of a divisive U.S. presidential campaign are flocking to Canada in growing numbers.
Manitoba&#8217;s Welcome Place refugee agency helped 91 claimants between Nov. 1 and Jan. 25 &#8211; more than the agency normally sees in a year. Most braved the freezing prairie winter to walk into Canada.
&#8220;We haven&#8217;t had something before like this,&#8221; said Maggie Yeboah, president of the Ghanaian Union of Manitoba, which has helped refugees get medical attention and housing. &#8220;We don&#8217;t know what to do.&#8221;
A temporary restraining order by a U.S. judge of President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order that blocked nationwide the implementation of key parts of the travel ban has provided a reprieve for refugees trying to come to the United States.
But Canadian advocacy organizations are bracing for a greater influx of asylum-seekers, driven in part by the contrast between the ruling Liberal government&#8217;s acceptance of Syrian refugees in Canada with Trump&#8217;s anti-foreigner rhetoric.
&#8220;They will make a dash for Canada, whether they are going to go through cold weather to die or not,&#8221; said Abdikheir Ahmed, a Somali immigrant in Manitoba&#8217;s capital Winnipeg who helps refugees make claims.
Since late summer, 27 men from Ghana walked to Manitoba from the United States, Yeboah said. Two lost all their fingers to frostbite in December and nearly froze to death.
More than 7,000 refugee applicants entered Canada in 2016 through land ports of entry from the United States, up 63 percent from the previous year, according to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Over 2,000 more entered &#8220;irregularly&#8221; during a similar time period, without official authorization, such as across unmonitored fields.
Four hundred and thirty asylum seekers crossed Manitoba&#8217;s border irregularly in the first nine months of 2016-17, up from 340 the entire previous year, CBSA said.
&#8220;The U.S. presidential campaign, putting undocumented immigrants and refugees in the spotlight, terrified them,&#8221; said Ghezae Hagos, counselor at Welcome Place. &#8220;The election and inauguration of Mr. Trump appears to be the final reason for those who came mostly last month.&#8221;
In Quebec, 1,280 refugee claimants irregularly entered between April 2016 and January 2017, triple the previous year&#8217;s total.
In British Columbia and Yukon, 652 people entered Canada irregularly in 2016, more than double the previous year.
More of these people would enter at border crossings, advocates say, if Canada didn&#8217;t have a policy of turning many of them away when they do. The 2004 Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement requires people to apply for asylum in the first of the two countries they arrive in. Advocates argue the agreement inadvertently encourages people to dangerously sneak into Canada and make a claim rather than be rebuffed at the border.
If the government doesn&#8217;t abandon this agreement, they say, it could find itself in court.
The number of refugee applicants crossing the land border under exceptions to the Safe Third Country Agreement has risen by 16 percent in the first nine months of 2016 compared to the same time period the year before.
In Buffalo, New York, hundreds of people are streaming through Vive, a shelter that helps refugee applicants to Canada.
Vive’s client numbers, including long-time U.S. residents and refugees, spiked last summer and have stayed consistently high since – two or three times what they’d normally see a year or two ago. Vive&#8217;s Canadian service manager Mariah Walker expects to see even more.
&#8220;Clients are definitely spooked by (Trump&#8217;s) executive orders,&#8221; said Walker.
 
CANADIAN WELCOME
Prime Minister Trudeau took office in 2015 on a commitment to admit tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.
&#8220;While the majority of the world is turning their backs and building walls, the fact that Trudeau took this bold humanitarian goal put [Canada] on the map,&#8221; said Chris Friesen, director of settlement services at Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia.
But this year, Canada plans to take only 7,500 government-assisted refugees &#8211; less than half last year&#8217;s number. People eager to sponsor refugees find themselves waiting years to do so.
Anisa Hussein, 20, and Lyaan Mohammed, 19, hired a smuggler to take them from Somalia to Minneapolis in August, where they planned to settle in a large Somali community. But Trump&#8217;s anti-refugee rhetoric frightened them into traveling to Manitoba days later.
&#8220;(Trump) said he would turn away the refugees and we would go back to Somalia,&#8221; said Mohammed, peeking timidly from behind the hood of a thick parka she received in Canada for winter. &#8220;We were so scared. We just wanted to be [in] a safe place.&#8221;
They rode a bus and taxi to North Dakota, then walked for hours into Emerson, Manitoba and filed refugee claims.
They might have been able to cross at a port of entry if Canada&#8217;s policies were different, says Canadian Council for Refugees executive director Janet Dench.
Her organization, as well as Amnesty International and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, are demanding Canada abandon the Safe Third Country Agreement: Trump&#8217;s United States is no safe haven, they argue.
The government is standing by the agreement, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen told the House of Commons last week.
If the government doesn&#8217;t act, Dench said, her group will sue.
&#8220;We are talking about people’s charter rights. … So, yes, we would expect to see something in the courts.&#8221;﻿

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