ActionSA wants Home Affairs to urgently intervene in illegal activities in Temba, Hammanskraal

ActionSA has written to the Home Affairs Department and SA Revenue Service (SARS) requesting a clampdown on illegal immigration and dubious businesses in Temba, Hammanskraal.Picture: Itumeleng English/African News Agency(ANA)

ActionSA has written to the Home Affairs Department and SA Revenue Service (SARS) requesting a clampdown on illegal immigration and dubious businesses in Temba, Hammanskraal.Picture: Itumeleng English/African News Agency(ANA)

Published Aug 12, 2024

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ActionSA has written to the Home Affairs Department and SA Revenue Service (SARS) requesting a clampdown on illegal immigration and dubious businesses in Temba, Hammanskraal.

Last week, during an oversight visit, the party discovered illegal foreign nationals residing in the area and operating in what they described as suspicious.

According to the party, they discovered 23 homes, many occupied by illegal immigrants, that had been converted into spaza shops, restaurants, and wholesalers selling counterfeit goods.

Other structures were found to be connected to illegal electrical transformers.

ActionSA said that the reason for their intervention in the case was influenced by a petition that was signed by citizens who are concerned about the operation of illegal foreigners in the area.

Themba is a water-stricken area where people collect water from mobile tankers. However, if the tankers do not come, they can go days without water.

The water crisis in Hammanskraal has been a major problem for almost two decades but still no solution.

The community suffered a devastating blow when the cholera outbreak hit the area in May 2023.

The outbreak was caused by a lack of maintenance of the water plant systems in the region.

ActionSA said the Tshwane Caucus will follow up on the matter with the City of Tshwane municipality to institute an investigation into the flouting of municipal trading and zoning by-laws concerning the 23 identified homes.

“It cannot be that South Africa is blackmailed into being the exception, where the proliferation of drugs, counterfeit goods, and the hijacking of buildings are met with leniency instead of a decisive crackdown.

“ActionSA has drawn the line and will utilise every legal avenue at our disposal to protect South Africa and her people from the ills that continue to destroy our communities, whether perpetrated by foreign nationals or South Africans,” it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, ActionSA’s visit comes less than two weeks after a discovery of illegal military training camps in Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

The camps are reportedly operated by illegal and undocumented foreign nationals.

ActionSA said it would continue to fight for the residents of Temba and communities across South Africa ravaged by lawlessness and the impact of illegal immigration.

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