Blame ANC, not migrants for ills – Mashaba

Blame the ANC-led government for the collapse of the rule of law in South Africa – not foreign nationals or economic migrants, largely from the African continent, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said yesterday.

Ironically listed in the latest survey by the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change on online xenophobia conversation in SA, as “having previously been found unwittingly amplifying misinformation and disinformation on foreign nationals living in the country”, Mashaba denied being xenophobic.

In the European Union-funded research covering 1 May to 1 June, organisations surveyed were ranked on a scale of one to 10 – based on the content each author posted during the period.

A rating of one meant an organisation or individual represented a strong sense of anti-xenophobia – actively countering xenophobia and positive sentiment towards foreign nations.

A 10 meant the organisation or individual was unequivocally xenophobic. Mashaba said he did not believe foreign nationals were at the heart of SA social ills.

“Socio-economic challenges in South Africa are complex and cannot be attributed to any single cause,” he said.

“The ANC-led government should be blamed for the collapse of the rule of law, the breakdown in our border policing, corruption and mismanagement at the department of home affairs.”

He said their actions have created an environment which allows crime to spike, load shedding to occur, business confidence to erode and jobs to be destroyed.

“While we recognise that South Africa was built of the back of migrants, I have said that whenever anyone wants to come to South Africa, they should do so legally,” said Mashaba.