Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Velenkosini Hlabisa has slammed illegal immigrants who recently tried to take advantage of the asylum seeker application window in South Africa, opened by the Department of Home Affairs following a controversial Constitutional Court judgment.
The instructions regarding the changes in how asylum applications were to be handled were abruptly withdrawn following widespread and violent protests in Durban and Johannesburg.
READ MORE: Protests force Home Affairs asylum directive recall, but the law remains: Here’s why
South African citizens had mixed reactions to the apex court’s ruling, with some viewing it as a dangerous development that would inadvertently open the floodgates for illegal immigrants to brand themselves as refugees.
Hlabisa, who was on the November 4 polls campaign trail in Soweto on Tuesday, shared a similar sentiment, going as far as saying that no person who skips 10 countries coming into South Africa can be considered an asylum seeker.
This as questions were raised by as to why some immigrants who were lining up to apply as asylum seekers would come as far as Pakistan and Indonesia, skipping almost all countries in North, East and Central Africa to get to South Africa.
According to Hlabisa, South Africans’ cries are legitimate and government should do everything in its power to enforce the country’s immigration laws.
Who is an asylum seeker?
“As government and all of us, we need to give a clear explanation of who is an asylum seeker. An asylum seeker should be someone from Mozambique, from Zimbabwe or any neighbouring country, who is running away for reasons of war,” said Hlabisa said during a door stop interview.
“Someone who is looking for a job is not an asylum seeker. If you are an asylum seeker, you should be running away together with your family because there are wars in your country – that is what you are running away from.
Hlabisa said many foreign nationals who are in the country illegally are economic migrants.
“Many of these foreign nationals who are in South Africa are just single persons and we know they are looking for job opportunities but jobs must be given to South Africans first like all other countries,” he added.
“The foreign nationals who are in South Africa without documentation must be deported to their respective countries. If you are an asylum seeker, you do not cross many countries to the tenth one. Your asylum country to seek relief from is the first country you arrive in.”
‘Kliptown should be like Sandton’
On Tuesday, Hlabisa was launching the Gauteng leg of the IFP’s local government elections campaign ahead of November 4.
He was accompanied by IFP’s Joburg mayoral candidate, Mlungisi Mabaso, who is the current member of the mayoral committee responsible for human settlements in Africa’s economic hub.
Hlabisa started by handing over a newly renovated and semi furnished house to a family in Meadowlands following a gas explosion that destroyed their old home and claimed the family’s most senior elder.
The IFP seeks to capture Ward 45 where residents are disgruntled with the ANC.
The campaign then moved to historic Kliptown, also in Soweto, where the Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955.
Hlabisa said the living conditions of the people of Kliptown were embarrassing given the rich history their neighbourhood enjoys in South African history.
“This place should be at the level of Sandton, if not better,” said Hlabisa as residents complained about lack of water, electricity and flooding during heavy rains.
Hlabisa, promised the residents of Soweto milk and honey should they give Mabaso the nod to become mayor of the “world-class African city”.
- IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa criticized illegal immigrants trying to exploit South Africa's asylum seeker application window opened by the Department of Home Affairs.
- The asylum application instructions were withdrawn after violent protests in Durban and Johannesburg.
- Hlabisa stated asylum seekers should be fleeing war from neighboring countries and not economic migrants crossing multiple countries to reach South Africa.
- He emphasized that undocumented foreign nationals seeking jobs should be deported and prioritized South Africans should get job opportunities.
- During the IFP’s campaign launch in Gauteng, Hlabisa condemned poor living conditions in Kliptown and promised improvements if their mayoral candidate Mlungisi Mabaso is elected.
