White immigrant ‘apartheid survivor’s’ dreams of holding Kiwi office

A self-proclaimed South African apartheid “survivor” is the latest face of the new nationalism movement sweeping the globe.

South African-born politician Martin Frauenstien has shaken up political discourse in New Zealand and back in his native South Africa, after it emerged he was running for office in his new home country.

Frauenstein, a member of the New Conservative Party, is running for member of parliament representing Otaki, with his competition including National Party MP Nathan Guy who has maintained power since 2008.

After leaving South Africa promptly two years following the regime change of 1994, along with thousands of South African whites fleeing the political uncertainty of the time, the politician described himself as having been “raised among the Xhosa people”.

This and his involvement with the Democratic Alliance in South Africa gave him clear views on democracy, justice, and family, says his official profile.

“Justice needs to be colour blind with one law for everyone.”

Racism disguised as nationalism?

Social media, however, have not been buying it, and he has been called a racist on several Twitter threads, following the announcement of his candidacy.

Frauenstein has faced plenty of criticism because of his claim of being an apartheid survivor, with some people calling him racist, after his bizarre YouTube Video detailing why he left South Africa in 1996. These include a claim that Black South Africans believed HIV could be cured by raping white people.

Social media users find some of Frauenstein’s political positions rather unpalatable.

He was also criticised for his anti-immigration stance in New Zealand despite being an immigrant himself.

Why is nationalism on the rise?

According to experts, the rise of nationalism globally may not simply be directly linked to emigration patterns, but it is definitely among the reasons.

The election of militant, Jair Bolsonaro as President in Brazil, that of Donald Trump in the United States, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, and Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has seen a new era of nationalism in major and smaller economies across the world in just four years.

According to Wouter Wessels, MP and spokesperson of the Freedom Front Plus, it was difficult to draw many parallels with the nationalist or conservative agenda locally with global trends.

“Conservatism is a very different thing globally than it is in South Africa. Certain views the world over are usually seen as the new liberal ideas or neoliberal ideology, while in South Africa things on the right wing means something slightly different,” he explained.

“For instance, views promoting self-determination and minority rights are viewed as liberal values in most places, but in South Africa, especially because of our history, those are seen as conservative.”

South Africa giving more people more reasons to leave the country

There was a time when white South Africans were moving out of the country in droves, over the political and economic uncertainty since the 1994 elections and as the ANC continued to maintain power.

Currently, however, the decision to leave the country is largely seen as more of a rational decision, based on better job prospects and escaping South Africa’s economic downfall, according to Dawie Roodt, chief economist at Efficient Group.

While it is true that people were finding political refuge in places such as Australia and New Zealand, South Africa is giving people plenty more financial reasons to leave the country.

The parliamentary process to legalise expropriation of land without compensation also bolstered a mass exodus of people and money from the country, as those who did not want to leave the country simply took their liquid assets offshore.

According to Roodt, who also handles the portfolios of people seeking to take themselves or their money out of the country, clients may leave for various reasons, but among the most common were related to the political and economic uncertainty in the country.

“I had a client of mine from Boland, who had some farms here, exporting his own fruits,” Roodt said. “With all the talk about expropriation without compensation, he gradually started buying farms in Australia and developing those farms. Eventually he moved with his sons to Australia.

“He still has the same clients in Germany and other places and what he has basically done is to export his farms and that is what is currently happening. I don’t think politicians realise that we are losing skills and money to emigration because, simply put, people do not trust the government.”

simnikiweh@citizen.co.za

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