A group of 15 NGOs (non-governmental organisations) has called out the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, for his directive that all foreign nationals employed by entities funded by his department be removed from their positions.
The NGOs say McKenzie’s directive is unlawful and incites hate against foreign nationals.
This comes after he declared at the signing of stakeholder compacts with public entities under his department: “I want them out… Get them out before I get you out.”
He further told attendees: “If you are (hiring) foreigners… I expect the CEOs, the board chairpersons, and the whole board to take action within two weeks after receiving my letter tomorrow.”
The NGOs argue that McKenzie’s actions are morally repugnant and entirely devoid of legal authority.
“His demand of CEOs that they immediately dismiss foreign employees or face dismissal themselves constitutes an egregious violation of South Africa’s constitutional law, its labour laws and its international treaty obligations,” they said in a joint press statement.
They further reminded him that South Africa’s constitution enshrines the rights of everyone, including foreign nationals, to fair labour practices, and his remarks and instructions undermine these rights and amount to unlawful discrimination based on nationality, which is expressly prohibited under both domestic and international law.
“Moreover, the threat to summarily dismiss public entity CEOs for failure to carry out illegal instructions constitutes a gross abuse of ministerial power. The Public Finance Management Act and basic tenets of administrative justice do not grant Ministers the authority to compel unconstitutional conduct or to bypass lawful grievance and employment processes,” further reads the statement.
They added that McKenzie, in his capacity as a steward of public resources and constitutional values, has a duty to act lawfully, rationally, and in good faith. His directive shows him to be entirely unappreciative of this duty.
“His remarks are clearly intended to inflame a dangerous and growing xenophobic sentiment in South Africa. It seems unthinkable that the South African executive would accommodate within its ranks such odious hate-mongering even as our President visits the United States and rightly calls out the deliberate disinformation being promulgated about South Africa and incentivising of hate and division and again rightly insists on the value, dignity and equality of Palestinian lives.
“Those postures can in no way be reconciled with inclusion within the executive of a minister who actively cultivates cruelty and harm to foreign nationals within our borders, many of whom are lawfully employed and contribute to our communities and country.”
