‘SA’S DONALD TRUMP’
MAYOR: HIS CLAMPDOWN ON IMMIGRANTS IS ‘POPULIST’ TO CATCH VOTES, SAY EXPERTS
Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba not only takes on President Cyril Ramaphosa on his open borders, but plays a dangerous game clamping down on immigrants, earning him the nickname ‘Maverick Trump’ as experts tear into his ‘populist, vote-catching politics’.
Mashaba has chosen to send a message of South Africans first. This may well be in line with popular will, but it also puts him in step with the world’s Trumps and Le Pens.
Loren Landau
SA research chair at the African Centre for Migration and Society
Jozi leader also takes on Ramaphosa, calling his open borders irresponsible.
Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s “irresponsible maverick Donald Trump” tactics in singling out foreign nationals to gain votes by popularity is at the expense of those most marginalised in society.
Mashaba has been criticised for clamping down on foreigners in the city and accusing some of them of crime.
He has also taken on President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mashaba yesterday announced that he is working with home affairs and has already conducted seven raids to close in on immigrants without legal documents. A total of 230 immigrants have been repatriated to date.
Mashaba also criticised Ramphosa’s stance on open borders and free movement of people across the continent, calling it “reckless”.
Political analyst Daniel Silke said unlike the ANC’s liberal stance on immigrants, populist policies like Mashaba’s “did not take into account the human aspect of what people face”.
“This is unbridled populism. It doesn’t worry about the actual lives of those people involved. It is certainly a political vote-capture for Mashaba – and immigrants are always an easy target.
“They don’t vote and are shunted from pillar to post as we have seen in the past with xenophobic violence. He is playing a populist vote-catching game that can be dangerous. He is a bit like the Donald Trump of SA politics,” Silke said.
“I thought [EFF leader Julius] Malema was the Trump on the left nationalist side, but Mashaba has his own style of being a populist.”
This is political grandstanding to make a name for himself. “Mashaba looks like he is prepared to carve out a particular niche as mayor on his own terms.
“He knew cracking down on migrants’ pressed the right buttons amongst the electorate, but not among civil society.”
Loren Landau, SA research chair at the African Centre for Migration and Society, said that globally, municipalities were asserting themselves as independent political actors.
“In New York, San Francisco, London and elsewhere, cities have condemned xenophobia because they know connection is what makes cities great.
“Mashaba has chosen to send a message of South Africans first,” she said. “This may well be in line with popular will, but it also puts him in step with the world’s Trumps and [French politician Marine] Le Pens.”
There is a mix of playing to his constituencies. “Perhaps this is an effort to expand DA support among black voters in advance of next year’s elections. More likely, it’s meant to satisfy his true constituency: wealthy land developers who are trying to clean up the city for their own profits,” said Landau.
While Johannesburg has many problems, the question is whether immigrants are the cause. “In this case, the answer is squarely no. Poor services and security are not immigrants’ fault.”
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga questioned the DA’s silence.
“Mashaba knows if he stands on this he will get the votes. But is it a moral way to get the votes?
“This is bigotry. This is not in line with liberal principles of opening the borders and ensuring free trade. The party is very silent. The sad part is people listen to these things.”
He probably won’t like to hear it, but Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba is on the way to becoming the other side of the same very dangerous racist and xenophobic coin occupied by EFF leader Julius Malema. His comments yesterday about foreigners in his city had the same flavour as Malema’s about white people.
And, in the same way as Malema is shamelessly playing to the populist gallery as a way of garnering support, Mashaba’s stance on foreigners is exploiting the fears of South Africans that they will lose out on housing, jobs and other resources because of the influx of people from the rest of Africa.
Just as Malema’s inflammatory rhetoric could lead to violence, so, too, could Mashaba’s statement. It takes very little to spark a conflagration in that highly volatile area of our society.
The Joburg mayor has made it his DA campaign policy that he will be the man who rids the city of illegal foreigners … and he has drawn battle lines with national government as he does so.
Mashaba took on no less than President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing him of being “reckless” in suggesting that Africa’s borders open up to allow freer movement of its people. Mashaba said Ramaphosa’s remarks – at a major African gathering in Kigali, Rwanda, this week – were “completely devoid of understanding of the real challenges we are facing on the ground”.
We are not saying that Mashaba’s remarks have no basis in reality: he speaks the truth when he says our immigration and border control systems should be run efficiently. And increasing population numbers – wherever those people come from (the rest of this country or elsewhere in Africa) – do mean there is less to go round.
But there are ways of achieving this without picking a fight with the president and blatantly playing the foreigner card.