‘We’re not serving Harare or Lagos’: Mashaba says ActionSA mayors must serve South Africans first
· Citizen
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba says his party’s mayoral candidates must serve South Africans first if they are elected into public office.
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He was speaking in KwaZulu-Natal on the weekend, where his party announced mayoral candidates for eThekwini, KwaDukuza, and Newcastle.
“We are not announcing mayors of the world to go and serve Harare, to go and serve Lagos, to go and serve Lahore… we are unapologetic as a political party. I am not in politics to serve the world. I am here to serve the people of South Africa.
“The world does not need to take care of us, we want South Africans to be self-sustainable… the only way you avoid hand-outs is that you ensure that you take care of yourself first and your family,” he said.
Mashaba said once his party is in control of municipalities after the 4 November local government elections, they will put pressure on national government to deal with illegal immigration in municipalities.
“We are going to put pressure on national government to ensure that there is mass deportation of people that do not belong here. We are unapologetic about this,” he said.
Sharing government services with illegal immigrants
Mashaba said South Africa is dealing with backlogs in unemployment, housing, and other services. He said illegal immigration is worsening matters for South Africans.
“When I was the mayor of Johannesburg, I was sitting with more than 300 000 housing backlog. I am sure the same applies here in KZN. I see how our people are living in squalor, but we have a government that says, ‘ No, we must take care of the world.
“And I am saying, no, I refuse. If I am the only South African refusing, then I am happy to, and you can call me names, you can call me whatever. Fortunate enough I have the constitution of the republic of South Africa on my side,” he said.
Ubuntu and migration
Mashaba said he has been complaining about illegal immigration in South Africa since he was elected mayor of Johannesburg in 2016. He said at the time he was reported to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
“Fortunate enough the constitution of this country is on our side, people cannot come into our country illegally, this country was built on the backs of migrants and for us as ActionSA we want people of the world to come and enjoy this beautiful country.
“We want people of the world to come here as tourists, as investors, or whatever, but come and study here. We want them to come here legally, and when they are here, they must respect the laws of our country,” he said.
Mashaba said South Africa should put the principles of Ubuntu aside and apply the rule of law when it comes to matters of illegal immigration.
“I have said to South Africans, please, we have been abused for a long time that we must apply ubuntu, and I call upon all actioners across the country – we must suspend ubuntu for now; let us put priority on the rule of law.
“Every time there is an issue, they are saying no, we must have ubuntu. What about the ubuntu of 54% of South Africans? If we are applying the principles of ubuntu, why should we not start with South Africans?” he said.