VOA慢速英语2018--南非反移民政党兴起

South Africans See Rise of Anti-Immigrant Policies

A new political party in South Africa wants the government to expel all foreigners.

The African Basic Movement party claims that foreigners bring crime into the country. It also says they are responsible for high unemployment.

Political observers say the party is unlikely to win many seats in the South African general elections next year. But they say its appearance shows that the wave of nationalist, populist politics in other countries has come to South Africa.

Thembelani Ngubane is the head of the African Basic Movement, which he started last year. Ngubane says his group already has tens of thousands of members and signatures that support a plan to expel all foreigners by the end of the year. Those numbers could not be independently confirmed.

The party recently registered to compete in the 2019 elections. But critics question whether its goals follows South Africa's progressive, inclusive constitution. They also wonder whether the party's positions are dangerously close to hate speech, which is illegal in South Africa.

"We should get rid of all foreigners who are here, they are taking South Africa's jobs," Ngubane told VOA.

"They sleep with our sisters. They give them children. They get married to them, so that they get South African citizenship¹. When they get them, they abandon them ... So South Africa is like chaos². And they are criminals. We can't catch them. They have no fingerprints³ because they are from other countries."

Dangerous direction

About two million foreign nationals live in South Africa. The latest population count shows that most come from neighboring countries, such as Zimbabwe. However, the actual number is thought to be higher.

The rise in xenophobic politics is extremely worrying, says Sharon Ekambaram of the rights group Lawyers for Human Rights. She warns it could lead to xenophobic violence because South Africa sometimes experiences violent clashes between unsatisfied citizens and foreign nationals.

"I can't even articulate how dangerous this is for our democracy," Ekambaram said, talking about the rise of Ngubane's party.

"This is clearly a group that is racist⁴. They're xenophobic … and I don't think there's a place for those kinds of people in our country.”

She also said that, if the group has registered as a party, election officials should then investigate whether that is constitutional.

Ekambaram added that the party's ideas are weak. She said researchers have found that foreign nationals are often job creators, and do not cause more violent crime than South African citizens.

ANC opens the door

Another observer, Ralph Mathekga, says he is concerned, but not that the African Basic Movement will beat the ruling African National Congress or ANC in the elections. What worries him, he says, is that the movement’s extreme ideas will enable other nationalist beliefs to gain standing⁵.

Mathekga believes the many corruption⁶ cases involving the ANC and its inability to reduce unemployment and poverty make it easier for other parties to compete.

"I'm not surprised," he told VOA about the rise of the African Basic Movement.

"South Africa's politics is going in that direction, of populism. You have always had that level of leftist populism that has been there within South African politics. But the thing that is very, very different is the emergence⁷ of nationalist populism.”

Pointing to the United States, Ngubane praises President Donald Trump⁸'s policies against illegal immigration. He shares the U.S. leader's beliefs.

"Donald Trump is putting Americans first. Here, we are putting South Africans first. You see, you cannot let your child sleep on [an] empty stomach and feed your neighbor's child. That is the problem. Here in South Africa, our children sleeps on empty stomach. Our neighbors like Pakistan, Chinese, they sleep on full stomach. We don't want that."

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

abandon - v. to leave and never return to (someone who needs protection or help)?

articulate - v. able to express ideas clearly and effectively in speech or writing?

chaos - n. complete confusion and disorder⁹?

emergence - n. the act of becoming known or coming into view?

fingerprints - n. the mark that is made by pressing the tip of a finger on a surface?

rid - v. to no longer have or be affected¹⁰ or bothered by (someone or something that is unwanted or annoying)?

signature - n. a person's name written in that person's handwriting?

stomach - n. the organ in your body where food goes and begins to be digested after you swallow it?

xenophobic - adj. fearing or hating strangers or foreigners

1 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。