Cape Town - Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber’s directive for officials to remove illegal immigrants from the streets is making headway in Cape Town.
According to the City, over the past few weeks, the department conducted several operations with law enforcement and police to operationalise its mandate.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said that last week Home Affairs officials, supported by members of the City’s law enforcement, followed up on information about undocumented persons living in District Six.
Following that operation, Smith said, Home Affairs teams conducted yet another tracing operation yesterday, descending on an area along the N1 between Paarden Eiland and Woodstock, where several informal structures had been erected, allegedly to house undocumented immigrants.
“Minister Schreiber and the City have made good progress working together. Last week, we did a large operation in District Six and (yesterday) morning we conducted yet another big operation,” said Smith.
“We worked the length of the N1 close to town where there are a lot of structures along the side of the road, most of which were occupied by foreign nationals.
“As a result of the operation, 34 people were arrested yesterday for not having the relevant documentation or up-to-date permits to be in the country, while 72 people were surveyed,” Smith said.
Of the 72 people surveyed, Smith said 40 were undocumented men and 32 were women who now faced deportation.
Schreiber has been vocal about focusing the department’s efforts on holding undocumented persons living in the country accountable.
Meanwhile, speaking at the portfolio committee on home affairs in Parliament, Schreiber stressed that he would be working tirelessly to revitalise the department and ensure that it becomes more digitally based to safeguard national security.
Cape Argus