By Thabiso Mohlabeng
Th most important role of the government is to protect its citizens from national security threats. This means creating a strong system for defence at home and abroad.
South Africa should continue to act as a formidable defender of freedom for its citizens and those of neighbouring countries.
It is important to have a properly funded and functioning military body. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure the Department of National Security’s budget reflects the threats we face. We must be prepared to fight threats from states and terrorists.
The perception of immigration as a threat to security has developed alongside the rapid increase in the number of immigrants worldwide. By 2010, it was estimated that more than 214 million people lived outside their countries. South Africa has many undocumented immigrants. They pose a threat to national security.
There is turmoil in Mozambique because of an Islamic State insurgency, which started in October 2017 and which has killed more than 1 400 people. In June, the Islamic State published an editorial on its al-Naba online bulletin in which it warned that if South Africa intervened, this “may result in prompting the soldiers of the Islamic State to open a fighting front inside its borders”.
As citizens, we start to question the country’s national security. We question how many sleeper cells terrorists have in our country.
We also need to consider countries that seek to harm us. Recently, Iran threatened to kill the US ambassador to South Africa.
The economy is expected to contract by 7.2% this year. Projections show that gross national debt will be close to R4 trillion, or 81.8% of gross domestic product by the end of the fiscal year. The unemployment rate increased to 30.1% in the first quarter this year compared to the fourth quarter last year. It is forecasted to be 35.313% in December, as reported by the International Monetary Fund.
Immigration will continue to have a significant economic impact. Economic migrants, refugees and asylum seekers threaten economic security. Also, immigrants tend to work and send the money to their home countries. We do not know or are incapable of tracking if the money is used to fund enemies of the state. But when corruption and incompetence is prevalent, aliens take advantage of the system.
The Middle East is a mess with the rise of the Islamic State. East Africa is a mess and our neighbouring countries are a mess, turmoil rages with terrorists wreaking havoc and dictators masquerading as law-abiding citizens.
When South Africa was called on to intervene in Mozambique, the Islamic State threatened to unleash havoc in our backyard. We also have white nationalists or racists groups who hang on to apartheid and are ready to go to war with other citizens.
If our government does not prioritise the national security of its citizens, we will wake up to find our country belonging to wolves and terror groups. We will live in fear and Africa will be destabilised further.
Recently, we have seen that human trafficking is prevalent, with many young women going missing in South Africa daily. How they leave the country is a question of national security.
Save South Africa by protecting our national security from immigration laws, military and economy.
Mohlabeng is a digital marketing and public relations corporate communication practitioner.
The Star