MK Party MPL defends remarks on illegal immigration

MK Party KwaZulu-Natal Legislature MPL Bongumusa Mkhize has refused to back down from controversial remarks that, once the party was “done with African illegal immigrants, white undocumented foreign nationals would be next”, saying his position was consistent with that of the MK Party on illegal immigration. Mkhize said the MK Party could not be expected to sit back while the country’s sovereignty was being undermined by illegal immigration. It is for this reason that, as the MK Party, we fully support the work being done by the March and March movement.

“Surely, the campaign to deal with the issue of illegal immigrants cannot be confined to Africans,” he said. While Mkhize has sought to clarify that he was referring specifically to white illegal immigrants rather than white South Africans generally, the explanation has done little to quell the criticism. DA KwaZulu-Natal leader Sithembiso Ngema said there could be no justification for the remarks, adding that elected public representatives should avoid statements that fuel racial tensions.

The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the deeply irresponsible remarks made by MKP Member of the Provincial Legislature, Hon. Mkhize, during the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature’s budget debate. “At a time when South Africans continue to work towards healing the wounds of our past, such remarks are reckless, dangerous, and completely at odds with the values upon which our democracy was built,” he said. Ngema accused the MK Party of embracing increasingly inflammatory rhetoric that threatened social cohesion and economic stability.