‘That’s not who we are’: Tumisho Masha rejects xenophobic label

As tension mounts across South Africa amid the March and March civic movement, actor Tumisho Masha weighed in on the global conversation surrounding the anti-migrant protests.

Taking to his timeline on Monday, Tumisho addressed the international backlash.

“We’re being painted as xenophobic, as lazy, as a nation that simply hates other Africans, that’s not who we are,” he said.

“This is the same South Africa that has sent peacekeepers into the Democratic Republic of Congo, the same South Africa that stood with Mozambique against terrorism, the same South Africa that has welcomed millions of people from across our continent.”

The issue at stake is the unregulated influx of undocumented immigrants into the country, he said.

Every sovereign nation has both the right and responsibility to secure its borders and enforce its immigration laws. That’s not hatred; that’s government

—  Actor Tumisho Masha

“We’re sitting with one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. Our hospitals are under pressure. Our schools are overcrowded. Our police are stretched thin. Our economy is struggling to provide opportunities even for South Africans.

“Every sovereign nation has both the right and responsibility to secure its borders and enforce its immigration laws. That’s not hatred; that’s government.

“As South Africans we must also understand what’s at stake. This is the moment where narratives are formed. If we stay silent, others will tell our story.”

Tumisho urged those that will be marching to do so peacefully, without violence and without looting.

“We reject violence, we reject vigilantism, but we also reject a lie that defending South Africa’s borders makes us bad people because it just doesn’t. It makes us a sovereign nation asking for the same right every other country on earth expects for itself.”

While many react to the nationwide protests, some content creators have taken to their timeline to make light of the matter.

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