Alex residents evict undocumented immigrants as premier decries illegal immigration
Days after Alexandra residents evicted undocumented foreign nationals in River park in Alexandra, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the provincial government must take a firm stance against illegal immigration.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has raised concerns about illegal immigration, lamenting the strain undocumented foreigners place on public services. His recent remarks come as communities, like Alexandra in Johannesburg, take matters into their own hands, launching a clean-up campaign to evict undocumented immigrants in River Park on May 1.
Speaking at the ANC Gauteng provincial task team two-day lekgotla in Fourways, Lesufi highlighted the severity of the issue, especially in some informal settlements. “We can’t have an informal settlement where over 65% of its citizens are undocumented foreign nationals in our own country. It must come to an end. There is no country that can agree that you have people that you don’t know who they are, where they come from, where they sleep, what they do, and they are in our country doing as they wish.”
In a video, shared by eNCA, Lesufi noted that hospitals are overflowing, adding that foreign nationals do not present any form of documentation at hospitals, but they still expect to get services. “Everyone knows our ubuntu, but our ubuntu cannot be abused… We can’t surrender our country to criminals.”
Also read: Illegal immigration must be addressed
Days before Lesufi’s statement, some residents of River Park, alongside anti-illegal immigration group Vuka Mzansi, and Last Gado Civic Movement, evicted undocumented foreign nationals, with the landlords’ consent. During the campaign, some property owners accused undocumented tenants of hijacking their buildings and refusing to pay rent.
A spokesperson for Last Gado Civic Movement explained their drastic measures, citing violent incidents, allegedly involving undocumented migrants. “Weeks ago, we were working with the community of River Park. When we got there, a foreigner had shot a South African. The community is scared because the population of undocumented immigrants is too much in River park. Even landlords said they don’t want them anymore.”
He said, in one of their other operations, they caught a foreign national with a gun and called the police. When they went to where he was renting, they found a lot of stolen goods. The landlord explained that, although he was troublesome, they could not evict him, because she was afraid of him.
Lesufi said the ‘honeymoon’ phase, where foreign nationals do as please in South Africa, must come to an end, noting that they must either get documents or leave.
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