Q&A with Herman Mashaba on his association with March and March

Would it be fair to say you’re fanning the flames of xenophobia in this country for your own political ends?

How would one position the concerns of South Africans with the real issue of illegal, undocumented foreigners for anyone to be targeted as xenophobic or using xenophobia for political ends? Let me remind you that I’m the one who broke the silence about this issue in 2016, while giving feedback to the residents of Joburg after 100 days in office as the executive mayor. I wasn’t looking for any political position then.

Now you are, and you’ve publicly associated yourself with the ultra-populist anti-foreigner agenda of March and March.

I will associate with, and have always associated with, anyone who’s against undocumented foreign nationals in our country who are causing havoc.

The actually very small number of undocumented foreign nationals in South Africa doesn’t support this, surely?

Last week, the statistician-general confirmed, scientifically, 3.1-million undocumented …

That’s 5% of the population, isn’t it?

If we’ve got 3.1-million in a population of 60-million, in a country where we have 12-million unemployed South Africans, how can this number be small?

That brings us to the question of …

Let me tell you something …

You know you’ve got to give me some space?

But you must also give me some space so that I help you with facts.

But your facts are all wrong, that’s the problem.

What facts? That we’ve got more than 3.1-million? Is that wrong?

No. But that 5% of the population are responsible for our crime, joblessness, overcrowded schools, shortage of hospital beds …

They contribute, not that they’re 100%. In a country where 59 of our own people are being murdered on a daily basis and then we must still accommodate another 3.1-million people who we don’t know where they come from.

We do. Most of them are from Zimbabwe because their economy was destroyed and they had no choice.

They’re criminals because they came into my country illegally. If you have a soft heart for criminals, that’s your democratic right, I will not deny you. But please don’t deny me for standing up for the poor of my country.

By together with March and March scapegoating 3.1-million people for the country’s problems?

March and March is calling on the South African government to mass-deport those people, and I’m in full agreement with them because we have our own issues to deal with. We’ve been murdered, our women are raped, employment opportunities taken from our people.

Surely the government’s failure to investigate, prosecute and convict criminals is a large part of the problem?

It’s not a large part; it’s the source of the problem.

How will deporting undocumented foreigners improve the lives of poor South Africans?

There will be more space in our schools.

Even if, according to the department of basic education, only 1.8% of pupils at these schools are foreign nationals?

If there’s one alien in our schools, it’s one too many. I don’t want to live in a country where there’s one illegal person.