City rejects terms for joint committee on immigrations issues

The City of Johannesburg‘s Executive Mayor, Herman Mashaba, has declined the Department of Home Affairs’ proposed terms of reference for the formation of a joint committee between the department and the City, in order to address illegal immigration challenges in the city.

After two stern warnings and the threat of court action against the Department of Home Affairs, Mashaba announced in December last year that the City will be part of a joint committee with the department that will deal with illegal immigration.

The mayor said the draft terms of reference preferred by the department were not sufficient to address the challenge.

“The set objectives of the committee were open-ended and failed to address the issue at hand. No time frame is provided for the committee to complete its work and there is no budget addressed,” Mashaba said

The mayor also said that under the current terms of reference, the department has effectively sought to shirk its legal obligation and that neither parties have any recourse should they fail to carry out their duties in terms of the proposed joint committee.

“Accepting the department’s terms of reference would result in the creation of a forum which would effectively have its hands tied behind its back. This is the kind of talk shop I warned against when the joint committee was first proposed.

“I have therefore requested the department to provide me with a comprehensive and specific plan to address the issue of illegal immigrants within the city, as well as plans to process migrants within the city by the end of business on 30 March, failing which we will approach the courts for an order to mandate the Department of Home Affairs to do so.”

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