Cape Chamber calls for cool-headed leadership to protect regional stability amid xenophobic rhetoric

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry is deeply concerned about opportunistic political networks weaponising citizen frustration over poverty and high youth unemployment to stoke dangerous xenophobic sentiment. This populist posturing not only threatens human lives but actively destabilises the Western Cape economy and damages international trade relations.

The Chamber notes that the escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric directly coincides with the current local government election cycle. Recent data reveals a clear correlation between civil unrest and the political calendar. In addition, public protests have grown nearly nine-fold over the past two decades, with an alarming shift toward violence. Twenty years ago, only about 20% of protests involved property damage; today, that figure routinely exceeds 80%.

In this volatile context, wrongfully demonising immigrants as the sole source of South Africa's economic woes is grossly irresponsible.

The business community views recent outbreaks of anti-foreigner violence with gravity. The deadly unrest in KwaNonqaba in Mossel Bay, which resulted in fatalities and the destruction of dozens of homes, alongside mounting tensions across various Overstrand towns like Kleinmond, serves as a sobering reminder of how rapidly incendiary language descends into violence. There are deep and justifiable fears within the private sector that if this rhetoric remains unchecked, some Western Cape communities will take the law into their own hands, fracturing social cohesion and destabilising already vulnerable areas.  

"While illegal immigration must be decisively managed through proper legal and bureaucratic channels, the deliberate incitement of hatred against foreign nationals is entirely unacceptable," says Chamber leadership. "We need cool-headed, capable leadership rooted in constitutional integrity—not volatile figures using division as a stepping stone to power on social media."  

The Chamber highlights a critical economic contradiction: while vigilante groups call for mass exclusions, many foreign nationals possessing critical skills that could accelerate economic growth are currently excluded by inefficient state administration. Ongoing operational challenges at the Department of Home Affairs have left numerous undocumented migrants—including highly skilled artisans desperately needed to sustain regional construction, manufacturing, and engineering sectors—completely stranded in their attempts to regularise their legal status.

Amid these acute challenges, the Chamber praises the proactive interventions of provincial and local government authorities, as well as law enforcement agencies, which are mobilising rapid response plans to contain potential flare-ups and restore order. Equal praise is extended to civil society, particularly non-profit organisations (NPOs), which are actively mobilising emergency resources to mitigate the humanitarian fallout of recent displacements.  

Critically, leadership must learn from the severe operational pitfalls of past crises, particularly the recurring failure of herding displaced families into temporary community shelters and halls. History proves that without a decisive, time-bound exit strategy and rapid administrative resolution, these emergency drop-off points inevitably deteriorate into highly volatile, semi-permanent camps. This pattern strains local municipal infrastructure, exhausts civic and humanitarian resources, and exacerbates deep-seated social friction within host communities. Temporary crisis management cannot become a permanent substitute for effective border enforcement, systemic immigration reform, and the preservation of municipal stability.

The Chamber calls on all ordinary citizens, business owners, and community structures to demonstrate collective agency. We must firmly reject the politics of division to ensure that our shared economic future is built on competence, stability, and the rule of law.