Chinese investment in Africa is not new. So many Chinese businesses, and their workers, have come to South Africa that 13 Chinese Community and Police Co-Operation Centers have opened in South Africa, the most recent in 2018.
None of this has gone without pushback from Black South Africans, however. Julius Malema, a Twitter influencer, suggested the Chinese are taking over by opening police precincts:
“Now Chinese are opening their own police stations in South Africa,” he tweeted, “They have already opened 13.” But what’s the problem?
The Chinese embassy and the president of CCPCC have argued that the community center will only serve as the “middleman” between South African police and Chinese communities living there.
Yet, reports of local Chinese committing acts of racism towards Africans complicates the idea of police presences specifically aimed to support Chinese communities.
In 2018, a Chinese worker was deported from Kenya after a “racist rant” comparing Kenyans to monkeys.
“They [the Chinese] are the ones with the capital, but as much as we want their money, we don’t want them to treat us like we are not human in our own country,” David Kinyua, who manages an industrial park in Ruiru, told The New York Times.
Chinese investment in Africa has grown to more than $60 billion in the last few years.
Whether on a personal or global level, it’s always crucial to think about who we’re doing business with – and whether their investments come with negative side effects.