MEDIA RELEASE: 9 Out of every 10 Illegal Immigrants from Zimbabwe
24 July 2007
MEDIA RELEASE
9 Out of every 10 Illegal Immigrants from Zimbabwe
We can no longer ignore the huge challenge of illegal immigrants in the
Tshwane Metro. The SAPS took five more illegal immigrants, who have
been in South Africa for a month, away, this morning, in Pierre van
Ryneveld. The SAPS have many more emergency calls to cope with and it
is a challenge to be everywhere at the same time. It appears that the
SAPS struggle to cope with the current situation.
According to Adriaan de Kock of Monitornet an average of 2 illegal immigrants per day are being apprehended.
They cannot keep up with cleaning up operations because there are many
more that simply run away. Most of the illegal immigrants are from
Zimbabwe, with an average of 1 out of every 10 from Mozambique.
Many of the illegal immigrants come straight back after they have been deported.
The problem is perpetuated when South African citizens informally
employ workers who are illegal immigrants because they are prepared to
work for ½ price in gardens and on building sites. Thus taking
the money out of the mouths of the local South African informal work
force.
The ACDP is calling on Local Government to come up with an emergency
plan to assist with the huge influx of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe
at the moment.
We can no longer continue to ignore the problem and have residents such
as Manie Maritz of BMW (who were shot and killed after arriving
home from a wedding) and many more killed for cell phones and other
electronic equipment.
For humanitarian reasons we need to urgently address the problem and
one solution would be to erect refuge camps on our border. This may
save a lot of hardships for the people of Zimbabwe and for the
residents of Tshwane Metro.