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A Chef Celebrates Immigrant Flavors in Anti-Migrant South Africa

Around five million immigrants are thought to live in South Africa, a country of about fifty million, where a chef is borrowing from immigrant-run kitchens; the menu is not the controversial part.

On air: Hank Ledger on Wake Up, America
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Watch it as it aired: Hank Ledger on this story, from Wake Up, America at 5:57 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are The New York Times's, the jokes are ours.

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  1. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorOur guest is Thabo Winterbottom, head of the Southern Cape Alliance for Orderly Borders. Sir, a self-taught chef in South Africa is celebrating immigrant restaurants.

  2. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorYour reaction?

  3. Thabo WinterbottomWonderful, Hank, truly. Let me be clear that we have no problem with immigrants.

  4. Thabo WinterbottomOur problem is with undocumented neighbors, and that is a documented difference.

  5. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAl Jazeera reported anti-immigration activists say they protest only against undocumented residents. Johannesburg has Ethiopians running busy restaurants.

  6. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorDo you check their papers before you order?

  7. Thabo WinterbottomNo. We do not eat there. We just go in, sit down, order, and leave a tip. For research.

  8. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorResearch.

  9. Thabo WinterbottomExtensive research. Our last meeting had a platter for thirty, purely to study the undocumented, I mean the unlicensed, I mean the documented flavors.

  10. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNPR says Zimbabweans trained as doctors are driving Ubers in Johannesburg. Did you take an Uber to this interview?

  11. Thabo WinterbottomI took a ride, yes. Five stars. He was a doctor, apparently. I tipped him as a doctor.

  12. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA leading xenophobic group gave undocumented immigrants until June thirtieth to leave. Do you support that deadline?

  13. Thabo WinterbottomWe support order, Hank. Orderly departure, with a reasonable notice period, and ideally a farewell lunch from the best place on this menu.

  14. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA farewell lunch. Cooked by the people leaving.

  15. Thabo WinterbottomCatered. Forty people. I have already placed the order.

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