ActionSA president and Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba says he will create a special metro police unit to arrest undocumented foreign nationals if he is elected mayor.
Mashaba made the comments in an interview with the Mail & Guardian, saying the unit would be one of the first structures he would establish in the City of Johannesburg.
He said the unit would operate daily and report to residents every month.
“There will be a unit operating on a daily basis and I will want a report that I will present to the residents of Johannesburg every month,” Mashaba said.
He said undocumented migrants found by the unit would be taken to Lindela or to a place identified by the Home Affairs Minister.
ActionSA backs deportations
ActionSA has long called for the deportation of undocumented migrants.
The party has also supported March and March, a group that has organised demonstrations calling for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa.
Mashaba said he would not accept even one undocumented person in a city he governs.
“I will declare war against them and I want everyone to know, including the human rights lawyers, that they can take me to court and we will fight, including home affairs,” he said.
Human rights groups and NGOs previously criticised Mashaba’s approach to undocumented migrants during his time as Johannesburg mayor between 2016 and 2019.
Inner city and hijacked buildings
Mashaba said his previous administration found many undocumented foreign nationals in hijacked buildings.
He said his administration expropriated illegally occupied buildings and entered into public-private partnerships to convert them into student accommodation and affordable rental housing.
He argued that undocumented migration could not be treated as a minor issue.
His comments come as thousands of Malawian citizens remain in Durban awaiting repatriation after March and March warned undocumented migrants to leave South Africa by 30 June.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said on Monday that 7 000 people had either been deported or repatriated to Malawi, while about 8 000 others were still awaiting processing.
Infrastructure also in focus
Mashaba said he would also prioritise service delivery, infrastructure upgrades and the redevelopment of Johannesburg’s inner city, Randburg and Roodepoort.
He said Johannesburg’s infrastructure backlog had grown since he left office and could now exceed R200 billion.
Mashaba said fixing the city in one five-year term would not be possible.
He also said he would collapse entities such as City Power and Johannesburg Water, arguing that they created unnecessary bureaucracy and slowed service delivery.