The xenophobia attacks occurring in South Africa are starting to take their toll on businesses. Businesses are experiencing high rates of absenteeism because of these attacks with quite a largely number of people, mostly foreigners, not able to go to work. The National Union of Mineworkers (Num) on Friday said there was an agreement on how to engage with the violence within the industry. “If not stopped quickly, these attacks can have a repercussion on the mining sector as they are targeting people who are well-trained and would take time to replace,” said NUM president Senzeni Zokwana.

The mining sector is very important to the South African economy. We all saw what effect the power crisis had on the mines and subsequently the economy. Now if another element, this time xenophobia has to affect the mines, the economy will again take a knock, which is what South Africa does not need right now.

There may not be many immediate effects that can be seen right now with regards to the economy and the xenophobia attacks but you can be sure that the longer the attacks continue the worse it will get for the economy. Many of these foreigners who are being attacked contribute in one way or the other to the South Africa economy. There are suggestions that some of the foreigners also contribute negatively to the economy by contributing to the high rate of crime in South Africa and by denying local South Africans jobs.

One can not underestimate the importance of how the international business world will look at South Africa after these attacks. Foreign investors may be hesitant to invest in South Africa because of these attacks which would be a great shame for South Africa as the economy continues to try fill up the huge skills shortage by recruiting foreigners.

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