Dirco spokesperson Chrispin Phiri. (@Chrispin_JPhiri/Twitter)
As the US administration on Thursday warned South Africa of “severe consequences” over the arrest and subsequent deportation of seven Kenyan nationals, found to have been engaged in US work without the necessary permits, SA has reaffirmed its sovereignty.
Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesperson Chrispin Phiri, said South Africa reaffirmed sovereign immigration enforcement and that US data allegations would be addressed through diplomatic channels.
Phiri said the deportation of US administration-linked Kenyan nationals by the Department of Home Affairs, was conducted “in strict accordance with South African immigration law”.
“These individuals were engaged in work without the necessary work permits.
“The government will not negotiate its sovereignty and the implementation of the rule of law,” cautioned Phiri.
He said South Africa treated all matters of data security “with the utmost seriousness and operates under stringent legal and diplomatic protocols”.
“We categorically reject any suggestion of state involvement in such actions,” said Phiri.
He described as “unsubstantiated” allegations regarding the private information US officials alleged was made public.
“We remain committed to principled and transparent diplomacy.
“Official channels have been opened with the United States government to seek clarity on this allegation and to reinforce that our bilateral engagements, must be grounded in mutual respect and factual dialogue,” added Phiri.
In what has signalled a further strain in SA-US relations, following unsubstantiated claims by US President Donald Trump of “an Afrikaner genocide” he alleged took place in South Africa, the office of the US Department of State issued a warning – through the US embassy in Pretoria – over the Kenyan incident.
Describing the development as the “doxing and harassment of American officials by the South African government”, the US administration said the US condemned “in the strongest terms the South African government’s recent detention of US officials, performing their duties to provide humanitarian support to Afrikaners”.
“Furthermore, the public release of our US officials’ passport information is an unacceptable form of harassment,” said the statement.
It warned: “This can only be seen as an attempt to intimidate US government personnel in South Africa on official business.
“The United States will not tolerate such behaviour toward its government officials or toward any of its citizens, who are legally and peacefully operating abroad.
“The public release of personal identifying information puts the official in harm’s way.
“Failure by the South African Government to hold those responsible accountable, will result in severe consequences.
“We call on the government of South Africa to take immediate action by bringing this situation under control and hold those responsible accountable.”
Dr Ongama Mtimka of the Nelson Mandela University’s Department of History and Political Studies, said the US embassy in South Africa was “seemingly degenerating into a diplomatically incompetent mission that has traded international diplomacy and protocol for disrespect and downright undermining of South Africa as its host nation”.
Said Mtimka: “How such an office that has hosted great diplomats over the years is degenerating so rapidly, is baffling.
“Instead of treading carefully and balancing between diplomacy and the bullish posture of Washington, they have turned into embarrassing ‘yes men and women’.
“They are have shifted from being masters of cultural diplomacy to antagonising the people of this country, by undermining their democratically elected government and its institutions.”
Wits University’s honorary professor in the International Relations Department, John Stremlau, said: “South African Minister of Home Affairs Leon Shriber, has given excellent reasons that these seven Kenyan citizens arrested for illegally working on tourist visas have been deported, according to reports.
“The Kenyans have been busy processing applications of white Afrikaners seeking refugee status in the United States.
“I suspect that no South Africans were willing to do the dirty work – an undertaking about the Trump lie on the so-called persecution of whites in South Africa – calling it a genocide against Afrikaners.
“Minister Schriber is white and Trump deports millions of people of colour, but has processed immigration requests from about 125 000 to 75 7000 from white Afrikaners from South Africa.
“To South Africa’s credit, this is a stark reminder in a multi-racial liberal democracy.
“I just wish the US president would endorse multi-racialism and non-racialism – a struggle the US has gone through in centuries as many as SA.
“Despite inequalities South Africa has embraced democracy.”
Meanwhile, ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu, has condemned the right wing AfriForum and its leader Kallie Kriel for spreading “racism disinformation and attacks”.
Bhengu said the ANC “unequivocally condemns Kallie Kriel and AfriForum for their latest actions, which constitute a reckless, racist and deliberate campaign to undermine South Africa’s sovereignty – discrediting lawful state institutions and inciting fear through conduct was “no longer fringe rhetoric – it is a calculated political project aimed at destabilising our democracy and fracturing social cohesion”.
She said the lawful intervention by the Department of Home Affairs against unauthorised foreign nationals operating illegally in South Africa “has been cynically distorted by AfriForum into a false narrative of racial persecution”.
“This is not a misunderstanding of facts but an intentional attempt to poison public discourse, inciting racial hysteria and portraying South Africa as a hostile state to external right-wing networks.
“Such behaviour is unpatriotic and dangerous.
“AfriForum has once again chosen to posture as a conduit for foreign political, interests instead of a responsible organisation rooted in South Africa’s constitutional reality.
“By internationalising domestic matters, exaggerating false claims of victimhood and lobbying external actors against our country, they reveal themselves as wedge drivers whose politics depend on division,” Bhengu said.
She said: “As Isithwalandwe president OR Tambo warned, these are those who travel from ear-to-ear, sowing discord, weakening unity and undermining the people’s confidence in their own state.
“The ANC calls on the people of South Africa to rise and defend our democracy – rejecting AfriForum’s racist disinformation campaign.
“We call on workers, youth, faith communities, progressive Afrikaners and all peace-loving South Africans to refuse to stay silent in the face of provocation.
“Our freedom was won through sacrifice and struggle – not so that a small group could distorting reality, insulting the intelligence of our people and endangering national unity.”
The ANC, said Bhengu, called on the South African government “to act firmly and decisively, within the law, against any organisation or individual that persistently undermines constitutional institution – spreading racial hatred, or colludes with external forces against South Africa”.
“Our sovereignty is non-negotiable and no one is above the law.
“South Africa was forged through courage, solidarity and a shared commitment to justice belonging to all who live in it.
“The ANC will not allow racist disinformation to reverse our gains or to drag our nation backwards.
“The people must speak out, defend their nation and mobilise against such elements.
“It is time we expose the truth and defend the democratic project,” said Bhengu.
Eyaaz
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