‘Illegal foreigners a heavy burden to Gauteng’
House department reel under squatters
Gauteng human settlements MEC Uhuru Moiloa says illegal foreign nationals living in informal settlements in the province give his department serious problems. Speaking to journalists in Johannesburg yesterday, Moiloa said Gauteng will continue to attract people from other parts of the country and the world who seek economic opportunities.
Moiloa said thousands were flocking into the country’s economic hub for a better life. He said the department was going ahead with its plan to formalise informal settlements in the province in order to give people basic services.
“The challenge is illegal foreigners who are also occupying the land in our country. This is a sore point that national government has to deal with... There are people that are moving into our country, some of them are not documented,” Moiloa said. “This is what is expected of home affairs and law enforcement agencies to relieve us of that burden. We welcome people that are documented in our country because with those ones we are looking at an option of rental housing so that they can contribute to revenue and welfare of our country.” According to the Gauteng City-Region Observatory, the number of households living in informal settlements in the province has increased by 51% from 395 449 in 2001 to 598 406 in 2016.
“These [foreign nationals] are human beings. In many respects these are young people that are just looking for better economic opportunities. You can’t chase them away as if they are animals. They are human beings. Our task is to build inclusive cities ...
we have to work around that situation to ensure that we accommodate them.”
Bishop Paul Verryn of the Church Unity Commission
said it was difficult for SA to find solutions around foreigners living in informal settlements as there was negative sentiment towards them.