ABSTRACT
As global consumption and mobility know no borders, a global diaspora is emerging caused by the de-territorialisation of globalisation and systemic exodus due to civil wars, famine, underdevelopment, indebtedness, global inequalities, terrorism, cyberterrorism, bioterrorism, and cultism, for example. In addition, global mobility and capitalism produce a multi-locality of displaced and free-floating subjects. South Africa has assumed a large role as a home for refugees and those seeking asylum. In a once-rainbow nation opened to all, immigration has manifested as a salient issue in politicking. Whilst the politicising of immigration is a global occurrence, South Africa is caught between the decolonial turn of solidarity with the global South and facing the socio-economic challenges of immigration. As much as the media is responsible for the representation and framing of the immigration issue, this role also falls on the prerogatives of politicians as rhetorical stakeholders in the political and public discourse that affect migration policy and its enactment. This chapter looks at the politicising of immigration by two political parties in South Africa (The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and ActionSA). By exploring party political positionalities of immigration as a salient political issue, we can interrogate various versions of nationalisms self-presented by political parties.
