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The Johannesburg Migration Advisory Committee
has been launched to look at concerns of migrants, and to help build a unified
city.
MANY developing cities around the world
have experienced rapid rates of urbanisation, and the City of Johannesburg is no exception. Each year its
population swells as thousands of migrants, mainly from other parts of South Africa and Africa,
move to the city.
Migrants stimulate the transfer of technology and capital, says Joburg's executive mayor Amos Masondo
These rapid rates of urbanisation have not been
without their problems, with strains on infrastructure leading to various
social problems, including animosity between locals and foreigners.
Johannesburg has recognised the positive part played by migrants in its economic
wellbeing and has seen it fit to tackle the concerns associated with migration
by establishing a body that looks at promoting integration of migrants across
the city.
This body, the Johannesburg Migration Advisory
Committee, was launched by Executive Mayor Amos Masondo on Tuesday, 6 October
and is expected to come up with ways and means to ensure migrants become part
of and contribute positively to the development of the city.
Addressing invited guests at the launch at
the Klipriviersberg Recreation Centre in Kibler Park,
Masondo said the City had not been sitting on its laurels concerning issues of
migration. In December 2004, it had approved and adopted the Human Development Strategy,
a move meant to build social cohesion among the migrant community.
Inclusion
To complement this, the City went on to develop a City-Support Strategy for
migrants. This strategy, developed in the past 24 months, seeks to address poverty
and inequality, and promote social inclusion.
In April 2007, Joburg established a
Migrants' Helpdesk to help deal with some of the issues affecting foreign
nationals. The desk helps migrants with access to government services, co-ordinates
the City's migrant support initiatives and, together with foreign nationals,
identifies and addresses key concerns and challenges.
After the xenophobic attacks in 2008, Joburg
adopted an Anti-xenophobia and Common Citizenship Programme, which forms part
of its long-term strategic interventions to deal with the social attitudes to
xenophobia and the effects of human trafficking, and to increase tolerance of
migrants.
The launch of the City's Migrants' Helpdesk in 2007
"Today ... we officially inaugurate our first
meeting of the Johannesburg Migration Advisory Committee," said Masondo.
The committee was based on London's experience
because both cities seemed to have similar policies and patterns of handling
migration. "We took this model not to copy what London
does but to identify best practice and adapt it to our own specific Johannesburg reality."
Benefits
By setting up the committee, the City is acknowledging that migration has its
benefits.
Masondo said migrants stimulated the
transfer of technology and capital between their countries of origin and their
adopted countries, and contributed to enhancing the richness and cultural
diversity of a city, among other benefits.
"New forms of artistic expression as well
as the contribution they make to enhance competitive sports help to
collectively create a better and more vibrant social-scape for the city.
"The increasingly cosmopolitan nature of
many of our cities provides a basis to more effectively promote the concept of
‘strength in diversity' as we seek to build more inclusive cities," he said.
These inclusive cities, Johannesburg included, could be achieved by promoting
diversity and equality among residents.
Masondo went on to say that the city was
growing at a rate of between three and four percent a year and, according to
estimates, the number of people living in Joburg would grow by some 3,5 million
people in the next 25 years.
"These figures illustrate, in part, some of
the challenges facing the City of Johannesburg
in its efforts to provide housing and other services."
Apology
He also used the platform to apologise on behalf of residents to all those affected
by the xenophobic attacks on foreigners in May 2008. The attacks "make us bow
our heads in shame" and threatened to undermine progress made by Africa in forging social cohesion and strengthening the
bonds of human solidarity.
"I trust that through this advisory committee
we will create a renewed awareness about migration issues and how they affect
local government. I trust that it will enable us to exchange information on
practical actions to combat the effects of migration and to share our
experiences of best practice."
Presenting a report on the State of Migration in Johannesburg,
Ann Burnstein, the executive director of the Centre for Development Enterprise,
said the City had not been well supported by a national migration policy.
"I hope migration issues affecting Johannesburg will be
resolved by the establishment of the Migration Advisory Committee because
managing migration requires facts rather than myths."
Concerning the results of the study, which
involved a survey of 2 000 people living in Johannesburg, Burnstein said many foreign
nationals were found to be self-reliant and skilled and "no more criminal than
locals".
"The number of foreign nationals in the city
in 2006 when the study was done was around 550 000; 13 to 14 percent of the city's
3,9 million people were foreign-born. We estimate that by the middle of 2008,
600 000 or 700 000 foreign nationals [would] be living in the city."
Perceptions
Burnstein also shed some light on what foreign nationals were doing in Johannesburg. The most
common perception of migrants was that they took jobs away from locals, begged
on streets and indulged in criminal activities.
"But the survey found different. Most
immigrants are hard-working, entrepreneurial, and to a large extent are
law-abiding citizens. Their normal occupations include trading, domestic work,
security and business management."
The survey also found that the number of
immigrants in entrepreneurial activity was 44 percent and one in four
immigrants employed a South African.
She acknowledged, however, that xenophobia was
a problem but was blown out of proportion. Many South Africans interviewed saw
immigrants offering a positive impact on the city, and 60 percent of immigrants
felt accepted.
"In general, migrants are an asset to
society. Migration has to be managed and not stopped and South Africa
needs a comprehensive strategy in managing migration," she said.
Discussions
Then it was time for invited guests to break into groups to discuss various
issues concerning migration. They looked into issues of registration and
documentation of migrants, and challenges faced by migrants.
Wrapping up the day's proceedings, Masondo
said the meeting was just the beginning of more things to come; there was a
long road ahead.
"If we do not address these issues now,
they will catch up with us. We don't want tribalism but we want to build a
country on religious values. Today we met for three hours and from what we
discussed, we need to come up with an action plan, a very clear programme that
will map out where we are going," he said.
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