FOREIGNERS PAY TAX TOO AND OUR CONSTITUTION PROTECTS THEM

Every time a foreign national buys groceries, clothes, or airtime in South Africa, they pay VAT. That is tax. Full stop.

When you remind xenophobes of this fact, the goalposts shift: "But they don't pay income tax." Neither do South Africa's 8 million unemployed citizens. Should they also be turned away at public hospitals? If the answer is no (and it should be) then this was never really about tax.

Stripping away the tax debate reveals what's underneath: a search for any justification to deny poor, undocumented black people access to basic services. The reasoning shifts every time it's challenged because it was never built on principle, it was built on prejudice.

Then comes the comparison argument: "Other countries put their own citizens first." But if those countries are so effective at looking after their people, why are those same people risking their lives to come here? You can't hold up a system that people are fleeing as a model worth copying.

South Africa's Constitution doesn't rank people by nationality. Section 27 guarantees everyone the right to access healthcare, not just citizens. Human dignity and equality are not privileges the state can revoke based on where someone was born or whether they carry the right documentation.

No judge is going to uphold a policy that strips people of constitutional rights because of their immigration status. That's not how the law works, and it's not how a just society should work either.

Denying public services to foreign nationals does nothing to fix South Africa's healthcare system. Our hospitals aren't overwhelmed because of foreigners, they're overwhelmed because of corruption and decades of institutional incompetence.

Punching down at the most vulnerable people in the room doesn't protect anyone. It just lets the people who actually broke the system off the hook. White South Africans still own roughly 70% of the land. Foreign nationals didn't cause that. Poor black foreigners are not the source of South Africa's structural failures and directing anger at them instead of at power is exactly what those in power are counting on.

Disclaimer:

I am not your therapist, attorney, or doctor. I cannot diagnose you, represent you, prescribe anything, or replace professional support. What I can offer in good faith is a thoughtful perspective from someone who understands the social, cultural, and political landscape most of us are navigating in South Africa, without judgment, without an agenda, and without compensation.