'Is this what Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu spent years in jail for?' — Hanekom slams McKenzie

Former tourism minister and ANC stalwart Derek Hanekom has slammed Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie for saying he would switch off the oxygen supply to a foreigner to save a South African life.

McKenzie's comment comes amid heightened talks about the influx of foreign nationals in government hospitals. 

He told eNCA sacrificing a foreigner for a South African was expected of him as a leader.

“I am supposed to do that if there is a South African and Zimbabwean or Mozambican on oxygen, and here is an SA citizen, born and bred in SA. I will turn it off as a leader. Because that is my duty,” he said.

McKenzie's comment drew mixed reactions from many people on social media, including Hanekom. 

“Is this what Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and many others spent so many years in jail for? Is this what Chris Hani and Ruth First died for? What would Albert Luthuli and Oliver Tambo have said about this? Turn off the oxygen? Is this us?” asked Hanekom.

Amid the backlash, McKenzie made another statement, telling his party's supporters the PA's green T-shirt is not for people sympathetic to foreign nationals. 

“We say, as the Patriotic Alliance, that no foreigner, legal or illegal, should have a job here while a South African is sitting at home. 

“That is the distinction between all the parties and the Patriotic Alliance. We are saying that we have nurses here in Eldorado Park, we do not want nurses from Zimbabwe. You can only come here with a special skill. If we don’t have a brain surgeon here, we will welcome a legal foreigner that brings back the critical skills here,” he told a crowd at the unveiling of a wall of remembrance for Nathaniel Julies in Eldorado Park.

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