The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has strongly rejected allegations made by ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula, accusing him of spreading “defamatory falsehoods” by linking the party to anti-immigrant vigilantism.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the EFF denied Mbalula’s claims that it had participated in door-to-door campaigns targeting foreign nationals or demanded that migrants leave South Africa.”
The EFF has never organised, endorsed or participated in door-to-door campaigns to intimidate, threaten or forcibly remove foreign nationals from their homes,” the party said.
The party argued that its position has always been guided by Pan-Africanism and that it has consistently opposed xenophobia, maintaining that South Africa’s socio-economic challenges should not be blamed on African migrants.
The EFF also rejected Mbalula’s assertion that its 2022 oversight visits to restaurants and businesses helped fuel anti-immigrant sentiment. It said the visits, led by party leader Julius Malema, were legitimate parliamentary oversight exercises aimed at assessing employers’ compliance with labour legislation, including whether businesses were adhering to employment laws and preventing the exploitation of undocumented workers.
The party described Mbalula’s claims as an attempt to rewrite history, arguing that xenophobic violence in South Africa predates the EFF’s formation. It pointed to outbreaks of anti-immigrant violence dating back to 2007 and the widespread attacks of 2008 as evidence that the problem existed long before the EFF was established.
The EFF further accused the ANC of attempting to evade responsibility for the country’s immigration and governance challenges, saying the governing party has overseen the deterioration of border management, selective enforcement of labour laws and a decline in public confidence in the state’s ability to uphold the rule of law.
The statement follows Mbalula’s recent remarks accusing the EFF of contributing to the normalisation of targeting foreign nationals through its 2022 inspections of businesses, as political parties continue to exchange blame amid renewed anti-immigrant tensions in South Africa.
