'Abahambe' order of the day as Gauteng political leaders agree on deportation of illegal migrants, but not the EFF

‘Abahambe’ order of the day as Gauteng political leaders agree on deportation of illegal migrants, but not the EFF

The Patriotic Alliance’s (PA) Gauteng Premier candidate Kenny Kunene reiterated his pledge to send illegal immigrants packing, as he vowed to deport foreign nationals, should his party win the elections.

“Abahambe” is the PA’s call to deport foreign nationals, either legally documented or not.

Kunene made the comments at an IOL elections panel discussion on Friday in Sandton, Johannesburg where he said “the biggest problem to unemployment is the agreement between monopolies and factories which sought to open borders to employ illegal immigrants and South Africans are not employed.”

Officials of different political parties in Gauteng were gathered at the venue for a heated discussion ahead of the elections.

The panel consisted about eight party officials representatives of political parties including ANC Gauteng’s deputy secretary and MEC for Economic Development, Tasneem Motara, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont, African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and GPL Dulton Adams, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Ekurhuleni Speaker, Nthabiseng Tshivenda, Patriotic Alliance (PA) and Transport MMC in the City of Johannesburg – Kenny Kunene, Rise Mzansi’s national chairperson Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and MPL Zandile Majozi, as well as Democratic Alliance (DA) and GPL Refiloe Nt’sekhe.

Engaging in the discussions, Tshivenga argued that her party, the EFF, does not believe in having borders that separated Africans.

“We believe that everyone in South Africa has the right to live in the country, obviously there are limitations, economic limitations that are limited to citizens, but we shouldn’t approach it as if we do not have a history as South Africans,” she said.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Ekurhuleni Speaker, Nthabiseng Tshivenda at the IOL Elections Panel Discussion at the Radisson Blu hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg on Friday. Picture: IOL screengrab

She defended her leader Julius Malema’s call to have South African borders open to all Africans, either for logistics, investments and business.

However, party representatives made it clear that borders should be secured to cut down on the illegal migration to the country.

Party leaders promised to crack the whip on illegal immigration and porous borders, if elected. This as the race for the Union Buildings in 2024 ramps up.

They stressed how illegal and undocumented immigrants were heavy on the government’s budget in recent years, resulting in it failing to meet its targets of service delivery to its own citizens.

This included the zama-zamas in mining and also cable theft and illegal smuggling of illicit goods.

Weighing in, Rise Mzansi’s Ramokgopa blamed the government for the loose borders, adding that it does not have the stats on undocumented foreign nationals in the country.

“We have poor, weak leadership that we have elected. We have people that are elected to do important work of implementing policy on our behalf, who are wholly incompetent and not up to the job,” she said.

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