South Africa has, for a long time, been grappling with harassment of, and violence against, foreigners and immigrants, especially those from the African continent. This includes refugees and those seeking asylum in the country, both documented and undocumented, despite protection by South Africa’s constitution of all these people.
The resentment arises in part from the scapegoating of foreigners over economic hardships, lack of equitable social amenities, unemployment, crime and drug abuse. Many blame their lack of economic opportunities on migrants ‘stealing’ their jobs by working for a lower wage (many of the migrants come from poorer counties).
With elections to be held in May, xenophobic South Africans are being wooed by political parties that endorse the deportation en masse of immigrants. In this clip, Julius Malema – the leader of the hard-left EFF party – strongly denounces this stance and makes clear why he won’t be trying to win over the ‘xenophobic vote.’
Would you vote for him?