Johannesburg — Gauteng police have appealed to government to expedite the deportation of undocumented people who they say have been filling up prison cells.
The province’s police officials appeared before the Gauteng Legislature Portfolio Committee on Community Safety, to speak to the members on how they can implement safety interventions in Dipelsoot, and throughout the province, EWN reported.
According to Johannesburg District Commissioner, Max Masha. police were limited by the fact that they could not immediately report undocumented people after they were arrested, as many holding facilities were at 200% capacity.
“With these undocumented people, some of them came back into the country, and that is why we were saying earlier on, that the borders need to be strengthened because if they come back, they go back where they started, and that becomes a challenge, and that could be one of the reasons in 2022/23 our crimes were relatively low, but lately, we are having challenges because people are coming back,” Mosha said.
Gauteng Police Commissioner, Elias Mawela spoke about the challenges undocumented people pose in the country. #eNCA #DStv403 #AllAngles pic.twitter.com/zYUbDkahNv
— eNCA (@eNCA) December 12, 2023
Gauteng police commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, echoed Masha’s sentiments and lamented the way in which the government has dealt with undocumented migrants, TimesLIVE said.
He was asked to explain what the police’s plan was to deal with the high level of crime in Diepsloot, where community members were complaining about undocumented people who were involved in crimes in the township.
“When they undocumented migrants appear before court, the majority of them pay their fines and return back to the community. In a way, by taking those people through the court process, you are legitimising their status in the country,” Mawela said.
“Another loophole that undocumented migrants exploit is that once you have appeared before court, you can say ‘actually, my lord, I’m here for asylum purposes’. You are then being given an opportunity to go and apply for asylum status. You are then legit in the country,” he said.
“This is something that requires the lawmakers to correct. We as police have done our part,” he added.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
