Pretoria - Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba and Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba met in Pretoria on Tuesday to discuss issues related to the management of international migration.
The meeting was prompted by utterances attributed to the Johannesburg Mayor, wherein illegal immigrants were labelled as criminals.
Minister Gigaba viewed the comments as unfortunate and called for a meeting with the Mayor to explain to him government's policy and interventions in relation to the management of international migration.
Addressing the media after their meeting, Minister Gigaba said they had a very good meeting with the mayor.
“We have agreed that we are going to have a broader meeting next year to discuss the matter further. The management of immigration is not only the responsibility of Home Affairs,” he said.
Minister Gigaba said there is a need to ensure that government operates smoothly.
“The City [of Johannesburg] has challenges that they brought to us and we have agreed to work together to resolve those challenges,” he said.
Minister Gigaba said the overwhelming number of asylum seekers in the country are documented.
“We are making strides to addressing these challenges. We are quite happy that the Mayor asked for assistance from government with the challenges the City is facing,” he said.
Mayor Mashaba said during the meeting, they agreed that a team from both offices will work together to deal with the matter of illegal immigrants in the city.
“…We need the intervention national government,” said the Mayor, highlighting that the city was also contending with the issue of “hijacked” buildings. – SAnews.gov.za
