Herman Mashaba ideally wants there to be no undocumented immigrants in the country. File Picture: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has advocated for the newly sworn-in Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber to establish a special unit within his department to handle illegal immigrant issues.
Last week, Schreiber extended the temporary concession for foreigners waiting for visa, waiver and appeal outcomes.
According to Schreiber, the extension seeks to protect applicants, especially those contributing scarce skills in South Africa from facing negative outcomes of being mistakenly labelled undesirable while they wait for their application outcomes from the department.
“The decision to avert adverse consequences for applicants who seek to obtain lawful visas in order to contribute to South Africa, either through their skills or as tourists, signals the minister’s commitment to improving the visa system to make South Africa a more attractive destination for international investment, tourism and job creation,” said the Department of Home Affairs in a statement.
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Mashaba declared that their representative in Parliament, Lerato Ngobeni issued a statement on Friday and has taken up the matter with the minister.
In addition, Mashaba said the minister was fully aware that they will not permit any minister or anyone else to jeopardise the country's sovereignty.
Mashaba noted that those in South Africa illegally need to be deported, but that due processes need to be followed.
“We cannot just go around the streets picking up anyone,’’ he said.
As a matter of urgency, Mashaba said Schreiber needs to establish a special unit within the law enforcement agencies to ensure he streamlines the illegal immigrants coming in South Africa.
Mashaba said that the country needed to be in a position in the future where there is not one single undocumented person in Mzansi.
Mashaba said anyone coming into South Africa must demonstrate, as per the law’s prescripts, that they have a reason to be in the country.
“We cannot allow anyone to bring illegality into our country; drug dealers and drug syndicates are making our country their playground, hijacking buildings and bringing in people to come and work in restaurants, whereas 12 million South Africans are unemployed. In addition, bringing people to run spaza shops in our communities,” he said.
Moreover, Mashaba said terrorist groups are a major concern in South Africa and foreign embassies are aware of this.
“All those funding spaza shops bring money through illegal means and money doesn’t come through our normal banking systems and when they have made profits from our people, the money is also taken out through illegal means,” he said.
Mashaba also issued a warning, claiming that illegal immigrants funding terrorist groups in secret, will lead to their takeover of South Africa soon.
IOL