(Bloomberg) — As the coronavirus outbreak has slammed the South African economy and pushed unemployment to a 17-year high, it’s awakened a recurrent social demon: xenophobia.
Anti-immigrant groups have staged demonstrations in recent months in Johannesburg, the biggest city, and in Pretoria, the capital, demanding the mass deportation of foreigners. The provincial government of Gauteng, the nation’s economic hub, wants to pass a law next year to limit ownership of businesses in low-income areas, known as townships, to South African citizens and foreigners who are fully legalized.
That threatens to upend an industry of convenience stores numbering over 100,000 nationwide with annual revenue of 100 billion rand ($6.8 billion), according to GG Alcock, a consultant on township marketing and an author of books on the informal economy.
“Every foreign national that came to our country since 1994 must be deported,” said Victoria Mamogobo, the 34-year-old chairwoman of the South Africa First party, as she demonstrated on Nov. 27 with a group waving national flags and banners in downtown Johannesburg. “You’ve got people all the way from Nigeria who are here to sell tomatoes on our streets. How is that helping us grow our economy?”
Since the apartheid system of racial discrimination ended in 1994, Africa’s most developed economy has been a magnet for migrants from the continent and as far afield as Bangladesh. That’s sparked bouts of violence every few years, with mobs attacking and looting shops and killing foreigners — the most extreme instance in 2008 left 60 people dead and another 50,000 displaced. Today, social media helps whip up the hatred.
Barrage of Criticism
A barrage of criticism following clashes between locals and immigrants in 2019 prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to dispatch envoys to other African countries to calm tensions.
Many of the migrants are refugees, legally in the country and allowed to work. Some are economic migrants — many undocumented — and others, including hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans, have been given work permits. While it’s unclear how many migrants are in South Africa, estimates of the number of Zimbabweans alone exceed 2 million.
Still, with South Africa’s economy set to contract by the most in nine decades this year, unemployment at 31% and local elections scheduled for 2021, some politicians have found blaming foreigners for everything from joblessness to poor public services is a vote winner.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in April said locals should be prioritized in post-pandemic recovery efforts. The government of Gauteng has denied its township development bill unfairly targets foreigners.
“Which part is xenophobic? Because what that bill is saying is that you must be a South African, you must be in South Africa legally,” said Vuyo Mhaga, spokesman for Gauteng Premier David Makhura. “The bias will obviously be for South Africans.”
Loot, Kill
Xenowatch, which gathers information on xenophobic attacks, says that between January 2019 and November 2020, 1,376 shops were looted and 37 people were killed.
Immigrants, many from Somalia and Ethiopia, dominate the ownership of township convenience stores because they are better equipped than South Africans to compete against formal supermarket chains, according to Alcock.
While South African store owners tend to operate by themselves, Somalians and Ethiopians band together and buy in bulk, allowing them to offer similar prices to supermarket chains, he said. South Africans still own the properties, and, according to his estimates, immigrants pay 20 billion rand in rent in townships annually.
“The assumption is that if they stop illegal immigrants from trading then immediately those jobs will be taken up, or those small businesses will be taken up by South Africans,” he said. “That’s not true.”
Court Challenge
South Africa First and the Put South Africans First movement, founded in April, are demanding interventions from government including a citizenship audit, the introduction of a public-service fee for foreigners and an end to the issuing of non-essential work permits.
The African Diaspora Forum, which campaigns for migrant rights, made a submission on the bill on Nov. 25 and said it will challenge it in court if is passed.
As he listens to Nigerian gospel music and eats bread dipped in tea in downtown Johannesburg, Ekechukwu Nnadi points to a nearby street corner where he was beaten by anti-immigrant rioters three years ago. The incident hasn’t stopped him from coming back.
“This is where I make my ends meet to pay my rent and take care of my family,” he said.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VICTORIA – British Columbia is forecasting a record budget deficit and a rising debt of almost $129 billion less than two weeks before the start of a provincial election campaign where economic stability and future progress are expected to be major issues.
Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who has announced her retirement and will not seek re-election in the Oct. 19 vote, said Tuesday her final budget update as minister predicts a deficit of $8.9 billion, up $1.1 billion from a forecast she made earlier this year.
Conroy said she acknowledges “challenges” facing B.C., including three consecutive deficit budgets, but expected improved economic growth where the province will start to “turn a corner.”
The $8.9 billion deficit forecast for 2024-2025 is followed by annual deficit projections of $6.7 billion and $6.1 billion in 2026-2027, Conroy said at a news conference outlining the government’s first quarterly financial update.
Conroy said lower corporate income tax and natural resource revenues and the increased cost of fighting wildfires have had some of the largest impacts on the budget.
“I want to acknowledge the economic uncertainties,” she said. “While global inflation is showing signs of easing and we’ve seen cuts to the Bank of Canada interest rates, we know that the challenges are not over.”
Conroy said wildfire response costs are expected to total $886 million this year, more than $650 million higher than originally forecast.
Corporate income tax revenue is forecast to be $638 million lower as a result of federal government updates and natural resource revenues are down $299 million due to lower prices for natural gas, lumber and electricity, she said.
Debt-servicing costs are also forecast to be $344 million higher due to the larger debt balance, the current interest rate and accelerated borrowing to ensure services and capital projects are maintained through the province’s election period, said Conroy.
B.C.’s economic growth is expected to strengthen over the next three years, but the timing of a return to a balanced budget will fall to another minister, said Conroy, who was addressing what likely would be her last news conference as Minister of Finance.
The election is expected to be called on Sept. 21, with the vote set for Oct. 19.
“While we are a strong province, people are facing challenges,” she said. “We have never shied away from taking those challenges head on, because we want to keep British Columbians secure and help them build good lives now and for the long term. With the investments we’re making and the actions we’re taking to support people and build a stronger economy, we’ve started to turn a corner.”
Premier David Eby said before the fiscal forecast was released Tuesday that the New Democrat government remains committed to providing services and supports for people in British Columbia and cuts are not on his agenda.
Eby said people have been hurt by high interest costs and the province is facing budget pressures connected to low resource prices, high wildfire costs and struggling global economies.
The premier said that now is not the time to reduce supports and services for people.
Last month’s year-end report for the 2023-2024 budget saw the province post a budget deficit of $5.035 billion, down from the previous forecast of $5.9 billion.
Eby said he expects government financial priorities to become a major issue during the upcoming election, with the NDP pledging to continue to fund services and the B.C. Conservatives looking to make cuts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the debt would be going up to more than $129 billion. In fact, it will be almost $129 billion.
NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he’ll be advising the Liberal party to flip some the challenges posed by an increasingly divided and dangerous world into an economic opportunity for Canada.
But he won’t say what his specific advice will be on economic issues that are politically divisive in Canada, like the carbon tax.
He presented his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy at the party’s caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C. today, after he agreed to help the party prepare for the next election as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth.
Carney has been touted as a possible leadership contender to replace Justin Trudeau, who has said he has tried to coax Carney into politics for years.
Carney says if the prime minister asks him to do something he will do it to the best of his ability, but won’t elaborate on whether the new adviser role could lead to him adding his name to a ballot in the next election.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she has been taking advice from Carney for years, and that his new position won’t infringe on her role.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
