McKenzie has been accused of stoking xenophobia after reportedly demanding the removal of foreign nationals working in government roles.
Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie has come under fire for allegedly instructing his department’s managers to “get rid of the foreign nationals”.
McKenzie reportedly said this a few days ago during a stakeholder meeting. He was quoted as saying: “I want them out… Get them out before I get you out.”
Politicians ‘need proper training’
Political analyst Prof Ntsikelelo Breakfast said: “Politicians holding positions in the GNU need proper training so they know how to represent the government in a reputable way. These ministers when they speak, you will not understand whether they are doing so on behalf of the government or representing their political parties.”
“There are things that a leader representing the government should not say in public. Just like McKenzie, he is out of line because he has a tendency to do exactly what I am talking about.”
Respecting human rights
He added: “His recent utterances about immigrants working for the government were totally uncalled for as his job as a minister is to unify people and to respect the human rights of everyone not to cause division.
“Surely it is not the position of the government to tell foreigners employed by the government to go.”
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Breakfast was adamant ministers had not been trained properly on how to behave in public and to communicate the government message in a reputable way.
He said the message conveyed by politicians must not be confusing as it should be clearly stated that they speak on behalf of the government or represent their political parties.
Politicians’ words cause division
Local politicians have been previously accused of making utterances that cause division between South Africans and foreign nationals.
International reputation expert Tshepo Matseba swaid politicians needed, “to be properly trained before taking office as public servant.”
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and other civil society groups demanded that McKenzie apologize to the immigrants working for the government for uttering “xenophobic remarks”.
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