Home Affairs Minister to crack down on illegals

Government has vowed to crack down on undocumented immigrants, with Home Affairs Minister Siyabonga Cwele promising tough measures against those who had crossed the country’s borders illegally. ‘As the ANC government we will deal with illegal and undocumented migrants in as far as it affects the security of the country. If you look at our manifesto, it says we will take tough measures against undocumented migrants involved in criminal activities here or cross-border … Our commitment is there in protecting all the people living in SA against illegal activities,’ he said. According to a Cape Argus report, Cwele denied there was any talk of xenophobia: ‘If you followed the President during the 8 January statement, he said we should engage our neighbours because they can assist us in dealing with this problem of illegal immigrants.’ Cwele said the government had demonstrated they were not xenophobic by offering Lesotho and Angolan nationals special permit programmes.