Hill-Lewis on 30 June protests: SA’s deepest problem is failed government, not migrants

By Akani Nkuna

DA federal leader and Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has told South Africans not to turn anger over unemployment, crime and failing public services into violence against foreign nationals, saying the country’s real crisis is a weak economy and a broken state.

“South Africa’s deepest problem is not a vulnerable person selling vegetables on a corner who happens to not be born here,” Hill-Lewis said in an address on Thursday night.

“It is an economy that does not grow, a state that does not work, and a government that has failed to create jobs, secure our borders, fight crime and deliver basic services.”

His remarks come as South Africa is bracing for protest action on 30 June by anti-illegal-immigration groups, including March and March, which have set that date as a “deadline” for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country.

March and March has denied calling for