MAYIBUYE UNEQUIVOCALLY CONDEMNS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

It is a harsh reality that in a battle between two opposing forces, those who choose to sit on the fence get caught in the crossfire emanating from the quarreling sides.

Now with regards the present national debate about illegal foreigners, Afrika Mayibuye Movement is one of the few political parties which has so far indicated its stance by unequivocally condemning the influx of illegal immigrants into South Africa.

Speaking at a special media conference organised by his movement this past week, Mayibuye party leader Floyd Shivambu said “our view in relation to protests led by Ngizwa Mchunu and other March and March supporters is that all the concerns that they are raising are legitimate and we will not jump onto the bandwagon of those who want to deligitimise and insult those who say the country has a sitting crisis regarding illegal immigration.”

He said illegal immigration “confuses planning; confuses the allocation of resources; confuses the matter of the number of houses that need to be built as well as the number of informal settlements that still need to be formalised, as well as the number of jobs that must be created for our people.”

Shivambu said one of the issues that Afrika Mayibuye Movement has identified in its foundational documents is that the private sector; business owners, are the primary beneficiaries of illegal immigration in South Africa.

“They employ these illegal immigrants from other parts of the African continent who are obviously unprotected, and come pay day they set the police on them and remind them that they are in South Africa illegally,” he lamented

“Those workers can’t form a union to protect their rights and this state of affairs is prevalent in the construction sector, mining and agricultural sector as well as in the hospitality sector which is dominated by employees who are illegal immigrants, this as employers prefer them to South Africans,” said Shivambu.

“It will not help anyone to sit on their laurels and insult people who are raising legitimate concerns, and we must therefore all sit down and talk about how we are going to resolve the issue of illegal and undocumented foreigners,” he said.

“One of the immediate solutions is to criminalise the practice of employing illegal and undocumented foreigners, and employers who are guilty in this regard must face serious consequences so that our people must be given those jobs ultimately,” he said.

“The unemployment crisis won’t be resolved because when for example 2 million jobs are created, those jobs are taken by foreigners and even if another 2 million jobs were to be created, those jobs would be taken by foreigners,” he griped.

Shivambu said there is a lot that can be done at Municipal level to curb ownership of small businesses and spaza shops by illegal immigrants.

He said this can be done by imposing strict licensing requirements.

Now dispelling perceptions that the party’s anti illegal immigration stance may be construed as being anti Pan Africanist ideals, the party’s Spokesperson Hlumelo Biko said the following to Tshwane Talks:

“We are a party rooted in Pan Africanist values but our electorate is in South Africa; our primary concern is creating conditions under which ordinary South Africans will have an opportunity to live under full employment and given the unchecked influx of illegal immigrants happening at the moment, we do not think full employment of our people will be a realistic goal.”

He said something has to give because Pan Africanism is driven at its core by the love for African people and that South Africans are Africans too.

“This means the leadership of the SADC countries has an equal obligation to protect South Africans from undocumented emigrants leaving their countries, and we will therefore make sure that this balance is retained and promoted,” he said.