Seventy-five illegal immigrants were arrested in Springs on Thursday during a joint operation of Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD, SAPS, SARS and Home Affairs).
Wilfred Kgasago, spokesman of the EMPD, says the arrests were for fraudulent passports and permits, no documentation at all, use of permits for wrong reasons like trading instead of studying, and expired permits.
With the problem of illegal immigrants seemingly out of hand, the law enforcers decided to saturate the Springs CBD from 10am to noon on Thursday.
He says the aim of the operation was to alleviate the problem of illegal trading by foreigners without the necessary documents, misuse of permits as well as ensuring stringent control of some of the apparent foreigners’ intent on not doing things by the book.
“The influx of foreigners into the country, most of whom are undocumented, coupled with the fact that some of them migrate to South Africa under the pretext of studying and instead establish businesses, prompted authorities to rein in on this huge challenge confronting Ekurhuleni,” says Kgasago.
