EFF rejects Mbalula’s claim it organised door-to-door anti-immigrant campaigns

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has rejected allegations by ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula that the party organised door-to-door campaigns targeting foreign nationals, calling the claims false and an attempt to “manufacture an enemy.”

Party statement: no involvement in door-to-door vigilantism

The EFF’s elections spokesperson, Thembi Msane, said the party “has never organised, endorsed or participated in door-to-door campaigns to intimidate, threaten or forcibly remove foreign nationals from their homes.” She told reporters the conduct would be incompatible with the party’s Pan-Africanist principles and its stated opposition to xenophobia.

What the EFF says is driving South Africa’s problems

Msane attributed South Africa’s social and economic difficulties to “corruption, unemployment, inequality, state incapacity and what it described as the ANC’s deliberate collapse of public institutions.” She said the EFF rejects blaming African migrants for the country’s challenges.

On criminalising the party

The EFF accused Mbalula of contradicting himself by condemning vigilantism while alleging the EFF had engaged in unlawful intimidation. Msane argued that if vigilantism is unlawful and dangerous, “then falsely accusing a political party of such conduct is equally irresponsible.” She said the allegations place members at risk, poison public debate and amount to an attempt to criminalise the organisation.

Parliamentary oversight visits and historical context

The party rejected attempts to link the recent anti-immigrant mobilisation to the EFF’s 2022 parliamentary oversight visits to restaurants and businesses led by EFF leader Julius Malema, saying those visits were part of Parliament’s constitutional oversight to assess compliance with labour legislation.

The EFF also noted that organised anti-immigrant mobilisation and xenophobic violence have existed in South Africa since at least 2007, “culminating in the deadly attacks of 2008,” a period that predates the party’s formation, the statement said.

Accusation against the ANC

Msane accused the ANC of attempting to deflect attention from its record in government, saying the governing party had overseen deterioration in immigration systems, border management and labour law enforcement. “It is under ANC rule that vigilante formations have emerged and operated openly because the state abandoned its constitutional responsibilities,” she said.

She added that rather than confronting that record, Mbalula had chosen to “manufacture an enemy” in the opposition party and that “the ANC cannot rewrite history or criminalise our constitutional work through manufactured propaganda.”

Broader context: rising anti-immigration activism

The exchange between the EFF and Mbalula comes amid months of escalating anti-immigration activism in South Africa, led by movements including March and March and Operation Dudula, which set a June 30 deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country. The campaigns have drawn support from former president Jacob Zuma, who Mbalula has separately accused of inflaming anti-foreigner sentiment ahead of the November 4 local government elections.

In recent weeks, Mbalula has warned that South Africa’s constitutional democracy cannot tolerate vigilante action, arguing that citizens taking the law into their own hands creates the perception that “there is no state in South Africa.” He has also called for stronger border management and more effective enforcement of labour and immigration laws.

The EFF and its leader have sought to distinguish their position from anti-immigrant movements, with Malema describing the attacks as “Afrophobia” rather than xenophobia, saying they disproportionately target African migrants.

“The EFF has never organised, endorsed or participated in door-to-door campaigns to intimidate, threaten or forcibly remove foreign nationals from their homes,” Msane said.