South African anti-immigration activist says citizens don’t need jobs, govt allowance enough
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Nkosikhona Ndabandaba, popularly known as Phakel’umthakathi and a prominent anti-immigration campaigner in South Africa, claims South African citizens do not need to work because the country can pay each citizen one million rand — about $60,877 or N85 million — as a yearly living allowance.
Speaking on a podcast, he argued that South Africa could mirror Dubai, where he claimed only foreigners work while citizens collect allowances from the government.
The comparison is inaccurate. Foreign nationals make up about 88% of the UAE’s population, which explains their dominance in the workforce. In South Africa, foreign nationals are not more than 5% of the total population. Meanwhile, the UAE does not pay unconditional cash transfers to citizens simply for being citizens. Instead, the government provides targeted social services to eligible citizens based on specific conditions.
But Phakel’umthakathi insisted South Africans should not have to work. “South Africa can pay every South African one million rand every year for the rest of their lives. We don’t even need to work. We can have these illegal immigrants come to South Africa to work for us, like in Dubai. In the UAE, only foreigners are working; Arabs aren’t working,” he said.
South Africa has one of the world’s highest unemployment rates at 32.7%, according to Statistics South Africa. For Phakel’umthakathi and other anti-immigrant activists, removing foreigners from the country is presented as the path to better living conditions.
