JOHANNESBURG — Chairman of MTN Group, Mcebisi Jonas, has launched a blistering attack on South African politicians, declaring that chasing foreign nationals out of the country will neither solve unemployment nor end poverty, inequality and corruption.
Speaking during the funeral of Zimbabwean-born activist and public servant, Thokozani Damasane, in Johannesburg, Jonas blamed South Africa’s worsening economic and social challenges on poor governance, accusing politicians of using foreigners as scapegoats instead of fixing the country’s deep-rooted problems.
According to the former Deputy Minister of Finance, the nation’s crisis stems from the failure of government institutions to manage immigration, secure the borders and enforce the law—not from the presence of foreign nationals.
“Foreigners can leave tomorrow, inequality will be with us. Foreigners will leave tomorrow, unemployment will be with us. Foreigners will leave tomorrow, our police will remain corrupt. Foreigners will leave tomorrow, our politicians will still be concerned with one thing: being elected and re-elected,” Jonas declared.
He insisted that South Africa’s leaders had failed to address the real issues confronting the country.
“The problem is the failure of the state. The state doesn’t manage immigration. It doesn’t manage its borders. It doesn’t enforce law enforcement. It doesn’t manage education. What are you expecting?
“When people feel the burn, they become vulnerable to politicians whose sole purpose is to be elected and re-elected. Some of them have no credibility whatsoever. But they lead marches and tell our people that the problem is not us; it is foreigners.”
Jonas used the funeral of Damasane, who was born and educated in Zimbabwe before relocating to South Africa, to condemn growing anti-foreigner sentiments and urge Africans to embrace unity rather than division.
Reflecting on his journey to the funeral, he said discussions about forcing foreigners out of South Africa made him question what truly defines “home.”
“I was thinking, what is home to Damasane? Because I understand, and I understood very early in life, that home is where humanity is.
“Home is about humanness. It is about the good of humanity and striving for the good of humanity.”
Describing the late Damasane as a man who arrived in South Africa “as an outcast” but became part of the country’s story through service and sacrifice, Jonas said his life reflected both South Africa’s strengths and weaknesses.
“In Damasane’s strength, our strength as South Africa and South Africans are reflected. And in his weaknesses, our own weaknesses are reflected.”
Jonas also took a swipe at identity politics, arguing that tribal divisions across Africa were largely products of colonial rule and continue to fuel hatred and discrimination.
“The tribe is a product of colonial powers,” he said.
“You would notice that it is so dominant in areas where the English conquered because they used something called the principle of indirect rule. They divided people psychologically by making them believe they were different from one another. That’s how the notion of tribe was born.”
He warned that ethnic and tribal politics had become dangerous tools for exclusion.
“You would see in the streets, it’s no longer about whether you are from South Africa or not. It’s about the tribe, it’s about who you are—you are not like us, and therefore we have to persecute you.
“Something fundamental has been lost in our country. Something fundamental has been lost in our nations.”
The MTN chairman also criticised liberation movements for sustaining tribal divisions long after the end of colonial rule.
“Liberation movements still sustain this thing of tribes—Zulu and Xhosa—and we behave as if it is real. It is in our heads. We’re creating it because it makes us feel big. Identity politics we must banish from our country. Ethno-nationalism is something we must reject.”
Recalling one of his conversations with Damasane, Jonas said the late activist once told a young South African who questioned why foreigners should remain in the country:
“Just wait fifteen or twenty years. You will also be wanting to leave your country.”
Jonas said those words have become even more relevant today.
“As I stand here today, I look at South Africa. The level of oppression and inequality, the level of exclusion of our people, the level of corruption, the betrayal of the dream of liberation—those words of Damasane ring very loudly in my ears.”
He stressed that South Africa’s prosperity is inseparable from that of the African continent.
“We are a nation embedded in Africa. Without Africa, our economic growth and future are impossible. South Africa is nothing without Africa. And Africa is nothing without South Africa.”
Addressing Damasane’s family, Jonas urged Africans to judge people by their character rather than their nationality or wealth.
“Sometimes success is measured by wealth. No. It is values, it is principle, it is integrity. Your father had all of that.
“We cannot judge people by their origin. We cannot determine the legal status of people by where they come from.”
