By Akani Nkuna
Businesses and shops in Pretoria’s CBD shut their doors on Tuesday as a March and March-led anti-illegal immigration protest swept through the inner city, with hundreds of demonstrators demanding the deportation of undocumented foreign nationals in South Africa.
March and March Tshwane convener Simon Malebe told Inside Politics the movement wants all undocumented foreign nationals deported, arguing that certain sectors of the economy — including street trading — should be reserved exclusively for South African citizens.
He said foreign nationals who enter the country legally and possess critical skills should, however, be welcomed.
“Foreign nationals commit a lot of crimes and cannot be traced. We are not xenophobic. Let them go back home and if a person comes here let them with the right documents, it will not be a problem. But only if they have got a critical skill, you cannot tell us selling tomatoes [in the streets] is a skill,” he said.
“We distance ourselves from issues of xenophobia. Our issue is clear; if a person has documents, they must produce documents and if they do not have documents, they should go home. If you have the relevant documents that are right, you may come to SA not to come and galavant and create problems like selling drugs and those things.”
March and March held nationwide protests across major cities on Tuesday against illegal and undocumented immigration.
The organisation had declared June 30 a national shutdown, saying it aimed to intensify pressure on government to act against illegal immigration.
In Pretoria, the march was joined by political parties including the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, ActionSA and the Afrika Mayibuye Movement as demonstrators moved from Church Square to the Sunnyside Police Station, where a memorandum of demands was handed over.
Speaking outside Sunnyside police station, MK Party Member of Parliament David Skosana said challenges linked to illegal immigration should not be downplayed in the name of “Pan-Africanism”, calling for stricter enforcement measures.
“Every country in the world has laws which everyone has to abide by… it cannot be that it is easy for everyone to come to SA where they cannot even be traceable if they commit a crime. We cannot live like that,” Skosana said.
Founder of the Kwanele Foundation, Sihle Sibisi, accused political parties and government of being intimidated by the ability of citizens to mobilise outside party structures to voice frustration over social challenges.
“We are tired of turning a blind eye seeing that our government is not listening to its people. It is about time we stood up [as citizens]. The greatest thing that our government fears is that for the first time South Africans have come together without them,” Sibisi told Inside Politics.
March and March delivered a detailed memorandum of demands at Sunnyside Police Station calling for stronger disciplinary action against corrupt Home Affairs officials, increased funding for border operations, stricter enforcement of immigration laws, and measures to prevent abuse of the public healthcare system.
The memorandum also called for an enhanced learner verification system, an investigation into private security firms employing foreign nationals, and accountability over the R500 million Spaza Shop Support Fund.
