Ferial - this message is in respect of your choice of ActionSA MP Dereleen James as your ‘person of the week’ in today’s ‘Democracy 26’ newsletter.
In support of your choice you stated that James “has shown what it means to be an MP”
I am wondering if, when you made your choice, you thought that showing “what it means to be an MP” also means publicly and unashamedly proclaiming, as James did a couple of weeks ago in an interview posted on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvCcNuC1O6k - that “I am quite proud to be called xenophobic” …?
At a time when xenophobic rhetoric and actions continue to sow hatred and division by opportunistically scapegoating migrants for the historic and continued failures of the state, whilst seeking to criminalise all migrants, a large number of whom (mostly African), through no fault of their own and due to deep corruption and dysfunctionality within DHA and SAPS, remain undocumented, any public affirmation of those who celebrate their xenophobia is surely misplaced.