The police ministry stated that South Africans will be arrested if found renting rooms or business premises to illegal immigrants.
The police ministry has warned South Africans not to harbour or support illegal foreign nationals.
Deputy Police Minister Cassel Mathale issued the warning earlier this week during an inter-ministerial engagement in the North West.
The deputy minister’s comments came in the same week as several high-profile arrests where illegal foreigners were implicated in smuggling, trafficking and evading police.
‘You must be arrested’
The crime prevention discussion held in Mahikeng on Tuesday was aimed at improving service delivery through coordination and unity.
Mathale said that South Africans supporting the activities of illegal foreign nationals were also breaking the law and should be treated as criminals.
The deputy minister instructed the police to also take a firm stance against illegal taverns and drinking spots that sold illicit alcohol, stating that sympathy for harmful practises should not be tolerated.
This extended to providing illegal immigrants shelter, supporting their businesses or engaging in any transactional activities.
“Anyone accommodating undocumented foreign nationals must be arrested; if you are found to be renting back rooms and taking rent from them, you must be arrested.
“[This includes] people who rent their spaza shops to illegal, undocumented foreign nationals in possession of fraudulent documents,” said the deputy minister.
While South African citizens could be traced and held accountable, Mathale said illegal immigrants who committed crimes were difficult to trace and apprehend due to their undocumented status.
Illegal immigrant crime
Mashele’s point was illustrated by the postponement of the Bekkersdal tavern shooting case this week.
Five suspects arrested in connection with the shooting that resulted in the death of 10 people were released after the case could not be enrolled with the court due to an outstanding Home Affairs verification.
Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo confirmed on Monday that the suspect’s documentation was false, but that the suspects could not be located.
Other arrests involving illegal foreign nationals this week include a man arrested near Mulbarton for allegedly trafficking 12 Ethiopian males.
At the Zimbabwean border, two men were arrested on Tuesday after a shootout with South African National Defence Force soldiers who found a group of men trying to smuggle three vehicles across the border.
On Wednesday night, Johannesburg metro police arrested a Zimbabwean man without documentation when officers found him with a stripped motorcycle which had earlier been reported stolen.
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