Johnathan Paoli
Former Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members of Parliament (MPs) Kenny Motsamai and Patrick Sindane have officially defected to the Patriotic Alliance (PA).
Thai came out when PA deputy president Kenny Kunene briefed the media on Thursday in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg on post-elections developments, including welcoming Motsamai and Sindane.
The two MPs claimed their decision to leave the EFF was based largely upon disagreements with the party’s stance on foreign nationals.
Motsamai, a former Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) combatant was released in 2017, after 27 years behind bars.
He joined the EFF in July 2018, became a permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces from Gauteng in 2019, and an MP for the party following the national and provincial elections this year.
Motsamai said he moved to the PA primarily due to the party’s view on immigration.
“I joined the PA because their constitution is talking about the land. We want people who are undocumented to return to where they belong and give us peace, so that we can sort out our problems here in South Africa,” he said.
He said the problem with immigration, could be found in corruption and the failure of Home Affairs to address the issues.
Motsamai highlighted socio-conditions created by undocumented immigrants as crime and the exploitation of workers resulting in horrendous working conditions, bordering on slavery.
“I have come to help Africans, and the PA is the only organisation that can assist me in helping engage this problem of undocumented, enslaved people,” he said.
Sindane on the other hand is facing a rape rap and has appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s court on Monday on a December 2021 rape charge.
Other EFF members jumping ship include the former Gauteng provincial command team member Noko Mohlwana and Yonelani Feni from Mpumalanga.
Kunene used the occasion to defend PA leader and Sports, Arts and Culture minister Gayton McKenzie’s recent publication of the list of recipients of the department’s Covid-19 relief fund saying it is in line with the party’s drive for transparency and accountability.
“We support minister Gayton McKenzie for being transparent and we call upon him to continue publishing the lists so that South Africans can be able to see who was supported.”
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