MK Party backs March and March

The u Mkhonto we Sizwe Party is fully behind the March and March movement, which has been calling for undocumented foreigners to leave the country, MK Party secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo says. March and March has given undocumented foreigners until 30 June to leave the country. If they fail to do so, the organisation plans to hold a national shutdown in a bid to send them back to their countries of origin. In a media briefing on Thursday, Nomvalo told journalists that undocumented foreigners have taken over parts of towns and cities and reduced them to centres of crime. “There are areas which have been surrendered by South Africans because of illegal immigrants. Our understanding is that March and March are not fighting legal immigrants. They are fighting against people who have broken the law. If you are called an illegal immigrant, it means you have broken the law because you are here illegally,” he said. Nomvalo said the state found it difficult to trace undocumented foreigners when they had committed crimes in South Africa. He accused undocumented foreigners of establishing drug cartels and criminal syndicates. “If you come here with good intentions, why don’t you register with Home Affairs? What are you hiding? It means your coming here is not done in good faith; it is done in bad faith. We sympathise with the struggle of March and March, unapologetically so, because we believe they stand for the correct cause, which the MK Party also supports in its stance against illegal immigration.” The Economic Freedom Fighters, among several other political parties and civic movements, have accused March and March of being a xenophobic movement, with some claiming it violates human rights. Some political parties, including ActionSA, have, however, commended March and March for what they describe as bravery in calling for undocumented foreigners to leave the country. “Protesting in this country is constitutional and I’ve never h