First Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) Nomvula Paula Mokonyane has said, South Africans were naïve to say “South Africa belongs to all those who live in it!”.
According to her, South Africans believed that including the foreign nationals will help the nation to be well developed but they (South Africans) are not benefitting from it.
She argued that allowing foreign nationals to stay and be part of them has resulted in illegal mining and drug abuse.
“I think we were a bit naïve, believing that South Africa belongs to all those who live in it! and that we were all together in those difficult times ….. It is not working for South Africans nor it is working for the very neighbouring countries. We have a challenge as we speak now dealing with illegal mining, we have a problem now with drugs in our townships and villages” Nomvula Mokonyane said this while reacting to the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP).
She therefore urged the security personnel and the Department of Home Affairs to put in place pragmatic measures to tackle illegal migrants.
“We have a number of suspects who get arrested but because they are documented and they are not in the system, you can not identify them” She added.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has extended the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP) for another six months.
According to Motsoaledi, the validity of the ZEP will be extended from 30 June to 31 December 2023.
The extension comes after the department had “approved thousands of waiver applications of the affected Zimbabwean nationals” and was “considering and approving waiver applications daily”.
“This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of visa and waiver applications. The Departmental Advisory Committee (DAC) led by Dr Cassius Lubisi is now dealing with the increased number of visa applications,” Motsoaledi said.
The department, said Motsoaledi, has been receiving between 1 000 and 1 500 visa and waiver applications daily, and more officials have been deployed to assist in processing the applications.
Source: Elvisanokyenews.com
