South
Africa is inarguably the continent’s most cosmopolitan country. It is the most
industrialised country in the southern hemisphere of Africa. The ultimate urban
migration destination in the SADC is the region’s nodal development cities,
eight of which are metropolitan in the RSA. It attracts foreign nationals,
a term used here to refer to individuals who originate from countries outside of
South Africa and reside in the country, whether legally or otherwise. They are a
significant and growing part of the country’s social and economic fabric.

The
population of foreign nationals is rapidly increasing in the RSA. Coming from
diverse countries of origin, and as a multicultural unit, they have become an
addition to the already underperforming multicultural society that RSA has
become. This has created new multicultural markets, which cater to the diverse
needs and preferences of different cultural groups, characterised by autonomous
and niche value chains, and an undergirding political economy. 

Essentially,
Africans of Bantu language descent, as well as foreign nationals, share
commonalities with their counterparts within the borders of the RSA. Operating
as a multicultural ‘consumer bloc, their dispersed buying power has started to
consolidate as a value chain, a distinct political economy, and a spending
community. There is little to no focus on foreign nationals as one of the most
significant and untapped business opportunities for companies and brands doing
business in the RSA.

Consider
the proliferation of new, yet efficiently distributed brands that are competing
with the dominant RSA brands imported through foreign nationals’ supply chain
networks. In cultural terms, there are media and entertainment opportunities
that have yet to be explored based on the emerging market for multicultural
content, which connects regions of origin and communities of foreign nationals.
Regularisation into economic citizenship of the RSA, especially the financial
services sector and critical lifestyle insurance, such as medical aid, are
opportunities that do not appear to have been deliberately considered. 

The
absence of deliberate marketing resources targeting foreign national
communities is generating opportunity costs. There are millions of rands left
on the table, where remittance money is growing exponentially. The integrated
character of the SADC region’s market dictates an in-South Africa focus on the niche
foreign nationals market. 

On
the ground in townships and settlements across the country, the lives of foreign nationals are shaping South African culture every day. The culture of foreign
nationals, including those from other regions, such as Europe, has evolved
significantly since they arrived years ago, and this evolution is accelerating for
those from Africa north of the Limpopo River. The successful integration of
foreign nationals hinges on truly understanding who they are as individuals and
a community. The extent to which they become part of ‘we the people’ in the
preamble of the RSA Constitution depends on ‘we the people’ already defined
therein. 

It
is the messaging in marketing, rather than the translation, that will define
penetration in this growing and cash-liquid foreign nationals market. The
effort should differentiate between reaching and connecting to the foreign nationals’
market. South Africa is now officially a terrain of multicultural marketing and
messaging. The entire communication and marketing industry is due for
transformation, which includes political rhetoric management and spin
doctoring. 

Growth
into a bigger Africa will reward companies with the courage to break away from
old paradigms and fully embrace the new reality of the foreign national
marketplace. The facilitation of intra-African trade and economic integration
across the continent is a function of how foreign nationals’ markets are
treated as microcosms or abstractions of the greater realities of the African
market. It cannot be normal that mainstream RSA platforms have no dedicated
spaces to articulate the joys and fears of this growing sector. In virtual
terms, we may be witnessing the emergence of the tenth virtual province, which
will spatially encompass all nine physical provinces, to coordinate the various
foreign nationals in our cities and elsewhere. 

Expatriates,
when properly regulated, have economic benefits to a host country. They bring
specialised skills, knowledge, and attributes valuable to the productivity
demands of the local economy. As a society, we should always contextualise our
assessment of acculturation with them as a specific category of people that are
now part of our reality. Their visibility cannot be ignored; they can no longer
be othered. As a distinct part of ‘the people’, they have become a significant
voter and are now voted for by the people. The RSA version of the Obama
moment has already been experienced in local government, as well as among
second- or third-generation foreign nationals. In colonial border terms, a
foreign national president of the RSA is a reality no force can stop; the GNU
Cabinet has already arrived.

South
Africa needs a different hypothesis and a theory of change for all foreign
nationals, especially those of African origin. The brute truth is that they
have a significant role in the political economy and are fully enfranchised as
economic citizens, because they buy and sell goods and services. They have
become thought leaders and cultural influencers. Already, there is a marked increase
in the number of foreign national graduates and deserving executives. 

Their political
participation and power are set to increase, considering the crabs-in-a-basket
behaviour of local leaders; they are ready to close the leadership gaps. Stereotypes
about people of foreign national origin are often based on limited, outdated
information, but tend to be perpetuated by media and marketing inertia. 

As
we look to the future of RSA, there is one thing we know for sure: the reality
of regional urbanisation, including where decent jobs are created, will
fundamentally change our perceived composition as a so-called South African
non-foreign national society. This might be as high as the impact of technology
on our lives as ‘people’, and fundamentally transforming our society and
altering our reality. Believing it is reversible is tantamount to choosing not
to survive reality and be creative about how to make the best out of it. CUT!!