Foreigners gives goverment a sleepless night

ELUKWATINI – Foreigners who cross ports of entry illegally are giving the provincial government sleepless nights. This was revealed during minister
Ms Naledi Pandor’s imbizo held last week.

Holding the event in the province gave the premier Mr David Mabuza an opportunity to share with the minister the seriousness of the impact of illegal immigrants of Swaziland and Mozambique.

Speaking during the event, Mabuza indicated that even though our neighbouring countries played a significant role in the apartheid era, the province was not coping with this influx.

“We understand that some of our neigh-bouring countries assisted us during difficult times, and we are related and have a history. But an undocumented nation is accumulating in our province and this gives government a headache. I cannot give these people houses, social grants and textbooks,” said Mabuza.

He also requested Pandor to report the seriousness of the matter to parliament in an effort to try and find a solution.

He said this made it difficult for government to budget properly and to deliver proper services to the citizens of Mpumalanga.

It had been discovered that many people, especially pregnant women, crossed the border illegally because they wanted their children to be born in South Africa so that they could have citizenship and receive social grants.

He said even even though these children were born in the country, it was difficult for them to obtain birth certificates because their parents didn’t have identity documents.
During the event, community members were given an opportunity to voice their concerns. Ms Cathy Mbanda said she had been struggling to rectify mistakes by home affairs concerning her 24-year-old daughter. “They made a mistake on my daughter’s ID by indicating that she was male. I’m still struggling to solve it as it’s affecting my child’s future. I don’t understand why they won’t help me,” said Mbanda.
After Pandor paid attention to some of the problems raised by community members, she indicated that certain challenges could be easily addressed.

“There are simple problems that officials can solve quickly instead of wasting time, like that of Mama Mbanda. Those people can see that her child is a female, why waste time? I think we need to host a service-delivery week for home affairs,” said Pandor.

She also encouraged parents to register new births within 30 days so that when these children grew up, they wouldn’t face problems when it came to birth certificates and IDs.