There is virtually no country in the world free of diaspora populations and illegal immigrants for that matter. The attention paid to them has been a function of the publicity they generate, whether negative or positive and how the host countries have created a success story or an anathema out of this phenomenon.
Migration is as old as history and humanity itself. However, successful host states have a strategy around the opportunity spawned by “foreigners” or “alien” communities. The Old Testament accounts of Potiphar and Pharaoh’s treatment of Joseph in Egypt symbolize how as long as these diaspora populations are serving the national interest of their host countries and positively interpreting its national vision, they can be facilitated to reach their points of self-actualization.
After the Competition Commission boldly stepped in to block the sale of Burger King SA to a private firm over “transformation issues”, concerns are growing that this move could set a dangerous precedent for future investment into South Africa.
The Competition Commission said on Wednesday that the proposed merger would lead to a “significant reduction in the shareholdings of ‘historically disadvantaged individuals’ (HDIs), taking this number down from 68% to 0%”, while also conceding that the move would have little impact on actual market competition.
Preventing Burger King sale ‘sets dangerous precedent’
Dean MacPherson, the DA’s Shadow Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, said in a statement on Thursday 3 June that the move to block the acquisition of Burger King by ECP Africa – a private equity fund – constitutes no more than “racial bean counting”, and said that the decision sets an “incredibly dangerous precedent about how future sales