The opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Friday slammed South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi for his negative comments on “illegal” foreign nationals who entered the country undocumented to seek green pastures.
Motsoaledi shared his views on undocumented foreign nationals in the country on a video that went viral this week.
In the video, the minister claimed that South Africa was “the only sovereign country in the world where it is open season for rascals who have committed serious crimes in their own countries of birth to come and take comfort here.”
EFF lawmaker Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said Motsoaledi, who is a member of the ruling African National Congress, was a “political degenerate” who targeted “vulnerable and poor” black foreigners – instead of tackling alleged corruption in his own ministry.
“We are being mobilised and coerced to focus all our energies on foreigners who are black, vulnerable and poor,” Ndlozi said.
He added: “This is to silence and divert the focus from the ruling establishment. Motsoaledi is a political degenerate.”
He described Motsoaledi as “an idiot on a crusade,” saying his “attack” on black foreigners sought to give credence to the “tide of Afrophobia.”
“Idiot Motsoaledi on a crusade dealing with ‘illegal’ immigrants, all of whom are black, seeks to give credence to the tide of Afrophobia.
“This is another diversion. Crusades should be at Home Affairs Ministry with public arrests and shaming of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats who collapsed the system,” Ndlozi said.
He added: “We must fight crime. But let’s not mislead each other. A crusade on poor foreign nationals under the guise of fighting crime is wrong.”
NM/jn/APA