Even the Washington Post noticed Mashaba’s “Trump tendencies”

Earlier this week, the ANC called out Herman Mashaba’s “Trump-like” tendencies. And it seems they are not alone. The Washington Post, an esteem publication over in the States, also picked up on it.

In an editorial, the paper wrote: “The Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba seemed to be channeling President Trump“, referring to his hardline stance on immigration following the Rosettenville raids.

Well, Mashaba and Trump are both businessmen with no public service experience…

But to be fair to Mashaba, he is really just parroting a more radical version of what Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said in October last year.

“It is difficult not to feel that our national commitment to liberal asylum and refugee policies is not being abused.

“Immigration is the hard face of sovereignty and requires hard choices to be made,” Gigaba said.

The Washington Post notes the following:

A green paper — a kind of pre-legislation policy paper — on international migration published last year by the Department of Home Affairs proposes, for instance, to set up processing and detention centers for asylum seekers near the borders. It also proposes that asylum seekers no longer necessarily be granted the right to work, except under exceptional circumstances. Both could strip asylum seekers of crucial benefits, migrant rights groups say.

There are also fears that an overhaul of immigration laws could incite xenophobic violence, compromise refugee rights and jeopardize South Africa’s moral leadership in Africa.