“You know, we have just had our country back for approximately 30 years; can you at least let us enjoy our country that we earned through literally blood, sweat and tears?” said Nandipha (not her real name).
She is among the well-travelled South Africans who are dismayed by what they call slanted media coverage of the expulsion of illegal immigrants in South Africa. “You have to realise that there are many schools of thought about what is actually happening in the country. Some are very sympathetic to migrants and understand that they have come to South Africa in search of greener pastures. And then some believe that illegal migrants should not be in the country…that we’ve done enough for them, and they need to leave,” Nandipha said.
She further elaborated that some South Africans don’t even have an opinion about migrants at all because it does affect their daily lives.
And some feel that migrants add to the culture of South Africa and make it an African melting pot.
She disputes the blanket statements and the current narrative that is being displayed online, which is that illegal migrants must leave and that South Africans don’t care.
