POLL | Should Gayton McKenzie's Patriotic Alliance be given the home affairs ministry?

With the country entering the terrain of power-sharing among political parties, Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie remains adamant that his party should run the home affairs ministry.

McKenzie has made inflammatory comments about undocumented foreigners and the need for South Africa to secure its borders, with many criticising and cautioning him against it as the remarks could incite xenophobic violence. 

PA deputy president Kenny Kunene previously said his “strong interest”' in wanting to control the home affairs department, pending talks about a government of national unity (GNU), is driven by passion to get rid of “corrupt officials”.

“We want to get rid of corrupt home affairs officials who give illegal immigrants IDs [without following proper procedures]. We want to use the department to ensure our borders are secure,” Kunene said.

“Our young people don't have jobs because companies are employing illegal immigrants. We want to implement our turnaround strategy of the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. Abahambe abahambe [let them go, let them go].”

Kunene said he could not trust any other party to facilitate mass deportation of illegal immigrants. He accused the ANC and other parties of “creating the problem”.

The EFF led by Julius Malema, on the other hand, has adopted a pro-foreigner stance. The electorate took Malema to task on its immigration policy, raising concern that EFF rule would result in porous borders. Some political commentators attributed the party's election drop to the EFF leader calling for an “open-border” policy.

During the last days of campaigning for the May 29 elections, however, Malema seemed to change his tune about foreigners, saying he is not promising to open the country to an influx of illegal foreigners. 

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