Plans to Resolve Issues of Joburg’s ‘Hijacked’ Buildings and Illegal Immigrants
PRETORIA – Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba and Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba met in Pretoria on Tuesday to discuss issues related to international migration, specifically over 100,000 undocumented immigrants living illegally in Joburg, many of whom have allegedly ‘hijacked’ buildings. Gigaba said the meeting was prompted after the Joburg mayor labelled illegal immigrants as ‘criminals’, saying he found […]
PRETORIA – Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba and Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba met in Pretoria on Tuesday to discuss issues related to international migration, specifically over 100,000 undocumented immigrants living illegally in Joburg, many of whom have allegedly ‘hijacked’ buildings.
Gigaba said the meeting was prompted after the Joburg mayor labelled illegal immigrants as ‘criminals’, saying he found the comments “unfortunate” and wanted to explain to the new mayor how government’s policy and interventions work regarding international migration.
However Mashaba held his ground and said how could he regret “asking for national government intervention to ensure that we have the rule of law”?
Mashaba said earlier this month that there are approximately 115,000 illegal immigrants living in Joburg’s inner city, and that there is a state of “lawlessness” which he feels “handicapped” by national government to resolve.
He said: “Unfortunately for us to move them, we need to find them accommodation within 5km from where we find them.”
Today Mashaba said: “The City of Johannesburg is sitting with challenges of high unemployment‚ deplorable living conditions of our people and high crime rate.”
He said these “staggering” numbers of illegal immigrants are increasing daily and that intervention is imperative before the City becomes a failed state.
The Joburg Mayor said: “We cannot tolerate a situation in our city where there is a breakdown of the rule of law [and] that’s why we need to reclaim the City back for our people.”
He says Joburg is open for business but “I’m asking anyone wanting to come to South Africa‚ please ensure that you come into our country legally.”
Addressing the media after their meeting, Minister Gigaba said it had gone well and that they “agreed that we are going to have a broader meeting next year to discuss the matter further”.
He said the management of immigration is not only the responsibility of Home Affairs. A team from both offices will work together to deal with the issue of illegal immigrants in Jozi.
Gigaba said: “The City [of Johannesburg] has challenges that they brought to us and we have agreed to work together to resolve those challenges.” Joburg is not the only city with many undocumented immigrants.
The Home Affairs Minister said the overwhelming number of asylum seekers in the country are documented, and stressed that the legal immigrants contribute positively to South Africa. – SAnews.gov.za
@HermanMashaba meeting with Min. Gigaba re #InternationalMigration @Our_DA @GovernmentZA pic.twitter.com/KfRfnrM73q
— HomeAffairsSA 🇿🇦 (@HomeAffairsSA) December 13, 2016