“The thing about the belief in conspiracy theories is that you can’t disprove them. You can’t prove that there aren’t secret masters trying to control and manipulate us.”
Although these are words by a character from the 2012 movie, The Conspiracy, they ring true for the highly charged conspiracy-filled world that exists today.
A conspiracy theory exists for every major crisis that exists in the world today: from the possibility that the world’s social and economic direction is controlled by a handful of billionaires to the believable theory that big pharmaceutical companies unleash a pandemic on the world every couple of years to drive up their insatiable greed for profits.
South Africa’s burning immigration issues are not exempt from being included in the conspiracy theory factory, especially the allegation that there is a third force deliberately fuelling the violence behind the crisis in order to keep the government’s attention away from issues that would drive the country forward.
President Cyril Ramaphosa finally addressed the nation on Sunday about the immigration crisis. Whether the conspiracy theory is that there are people or corporations, or even countries, behind the country’s current immigration crisis is neither here nor there, the point is the government must respond to all looming threats.
Especially threats that may unleash the kind of violence that gripped the country during the July 2021 riots in which over 350 lives were lost, particularly in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng.
The major questions that remain about those riots that affected the country’s economy are: who funded the organisers behind the havoc?
Was there a think-tank that coordinated what seemed like organised looting? Could the same individuals or corporations repeat the chaos on the deadline that has been set for all by anti-immigration organisations for all undocumented immigrants to leave the country?
The fact that the president responded in the manner that he has by addressing the nation shows that the crisis is real. He himself has acknowledged that there is problem with unregulated crossing of this country’s borders and that government lost control of the situation a while ago.
Even though his address seemed to point to nothing new in the government’s approach to the problem, it did let the possible faceless hand behind what could turn violent and chaotic on 30 June know that government is watching and ready to respond.
This is unlike the usual “I am shocked by this situation” response that followed the July riots.
So, if there is a possible coordinated campaign by a corporation or country to get the government’s attention to be diverted from focusing on issues like the International Court of Justice case against Israel, or clearing its name against allegations of a “white genocide”, should the government respond to the possible conspiracy theories through real action?
Absolutely. There is no other way of responding than preparing for the worst while digging for the truth behind the chaos. Illegal immigration is real. Undocumented immigrants are real.
South African health services and other scarce resources are under a real burden of providing for locals and undocumented immigrants. These are all very real problems that Ramaphosa attempted to outline in his government’s response.
But if there is a force that is funding the chaos, a force that is coordinating the spread of the fear and playing on economic and social vulnerabilities of the poor, then government must find out who that force is and deal with them.
