Migration issues are prominent in the manifestos of political parties contesting in the upcoming May 29 elections in South Africa, Ngqabutho Mabhena, Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Community in South Africa, has said.
South Africa is gearing up for its general elections next month, where a new National Assembly and provincial legislatures across nine provinces will be elected, followed by the selection of the country’s president by the National Assembly.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) party faces a significant challenge in maintaining its parliamentary majority in what will be the country’s seventh democratic election since the end of Apartheid in 1994.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are the primary opposition parties vying for electoral success.
Former President Jacob Zuma’s endorsement of the newly formed Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party has also stirred speculation about potential shifts in traditional ANC voter support.
Mabhena noted that while political parties prioritise immigration in their campaigns, internal concerns such as unemployment, energy shortages, and crime remain pressing issues for South Africans.
He highlighted divergent approaches among parties, ranging from calls for stricter border controls by some to more inclusive policies advocated by others.
“The South African elections taking place on May 29th are different from the Zimbabwean elections in that they are not voting for a president. There is no presidential voting system as we have in Zimbabwe. It’s proportional representation, although there will be independent candidates. But the people vote for political parties.
“In the manifestos of some political parties that we have seen, they are all making migration a key issue in the election. The presence of undocumented migrants in South Africa. If you listen to what the African National Congress says, it seeks to tighten the borders, it seeks to overhaul the immigration and citizenship laws, the IFP says he same thing. You know, Action South Africa, which was formed basically to fight migrants,” he said.
Mabhena added that, “But within the South African community itself, the issue of migration is not high on the agenda. What is high on the agenda is unemployment, load shedding, crime and so forth. But of course, political parties want to make an excuse and use the question of migration as a key political question.”
“We saw Helen Zille of the Democratic alliance breaking away from that view, going to an extent saying that holders of Zimbabwe exemption payments should be granted citizenship, were followed what the EFF says on the question of borders as they will want borders to be dismantled and build one Africa, so its an interesting election.”
Despite the political discourse on migration, Mabhena noted that attacks on migrant communities have not surfaced during the campaign period.
“Its an election where the political parties want to win the minds of South Africans so that on the 29th of May South Africans will vote for them.”
