By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
March and March demonstrators gathered at Sea Point on Tuesday in order to echo their calls for stronger implementation of illegal immigration laws.
The demonstrators marched from Fort Road all the way through Beach Road, as the march concluded at the Mandela Glasses and took place from 9am to 3pm. The branch leader for March and March Cape Town had addressed the demonstrators; “We are here today to march against the influx of unauthorised immigrants in South Africa” said Charlie.
“We know the impact of these foreigners in our country, from drugs in our communities to Ethiopians and Somalians who have taken over the spaza shops businesses” he continued.
He expressed that there is difficulty for South Africans to open their own small businesses citing that foreign nationals have acted like “cartels” within the spaza shop business. On Monday the government announced that 2,745 foreign nationals have been repatriated ever since President Cyril Ramaphosa made his national address on June 7.
“We are urging South Africans to also stand up against this and urge the government to do something about it, and Home Affairs to confirm that their papers are not fraudulent,” said Charlie.
Demonstrators paraded their placards and chanted slogans as they made their way through the area, expressing their concerns and demanding government intervention on immigration challenges.
“As of last night, the number we can report is 2,745 repatriations that have come in this period since the president spoke,” Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber told reporters on Monday.
The government also noted that most of those who repatriated were in South Africa illegally. The repatriations included Malawian nationals where 7000 of whom were sheltered in an open field in the Eastern port city of Durban, this was according to the inter-ministerial committee meeting held after the President’s address.
Leader of March and March, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has called for a peaceful protest on June 30 against undocumented foreign nationals, and has urged supporters to have their focus remain on dialogue with the government rather than violence or looting.
Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, has stated that the province will remain on high alert to ease the tensions around illegal immigration and other associated protests taking place as a Joint Operations Centre (JOC) meeting was held on Monday.
He cited that the primary concerns for the province will be to provide; visible policing hotspots, strengthening intelligence networks, proactive communications, rapid mediation and engagement.