Grandi Theunissen, FF Plus Alderman and Tshwane MMC for Safety, has announced that illegal immigrants, “particularly those guilty of crime and illegal land occupation,” will soon face deportation to their country of origin.
This comes after the Tshwane Metro and the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) agreed on Friday to co-operate on solving the issue of illegal occupations within the city. It is expected that a formal cooperative agreement will be entered into soon.
The FF Plus has discussed how to address several pressing problems with the DHA, including illegal land occupation, crime, the sale of counterfeit goods, cable theft, illegal electricity connections and extortion.
One of the most pressing concerns is foreign nationals illegally occupying abandoned buildings in the Pretoria CBD, where it is alleged, they rent rooms to other undocumented foreigners. Due to the conditions of these buildings, the City views it as a health, fire and safety risk.
Theunissen announced that there is suspicion of syndicates corroborating with City officials, law firms and the Deeds Office to transfer properties to criminals’ names.
Large quantities of counterfeit goods are allegedly sold in Pretoria West, where many Somali nationals live. Drug trafficking is “the order of the day in Sunnyside” according to Theunissen, who notes the area is home to many Nigerian nationals.
Further, Theunissen notes Centurion and Pretoria East, where Zimbabweans and Mozambicans are concentrated respectively, are particularly affected by cable theft and infrastructure vandalism.
In addition to helping with immigration control, the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber was also asked to assist with immediate deportation, more stringent border control and investigating corruption at South African borders.
The FF Plus is of the opinion that other departments should also be involved to curb the problem effectively.
“The illegal hijacking of buildings in Tshwane must be stopped, so, the FF Plus is committed to eradicating the problem and the crime that goes hand in hand with it,” the party said in a statement.
