The Gauteng Provincial Legislature Committees’ Chairperson Bishop Dulton Adams has called on all spiritual leaders to be at the forefront of the planned protests against undocumented foreign nationals to ensure that there is no violence.
With only one week remaining before the June 30 deadline set by civic groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country, law enforcement agencies are implementing measures to maintain order.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has allocated R600 million to ensure operational readiness.
Adams says the church appears to be silent during these challenging times.
He says, “We must take the example of men like Bishop (Desmond) Tutu and Allan Boesak and Frank Chikane that fought against apartheid. I just believe that the church has actually gone silent.”
Adams says, “The church has not become, is not the conscience of government anymore. After 1994, the church actually left government to rule by themselves and govern by themselves, and we’re sitting on the back foot on the peripheries watching them to govern and we’re finding ourselves in the challenge.”
THREATS AND INTIMIDATION
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has condemned the threats and intimidation directed towards foreign nationals amid the ongoing surge of protests against illegal immigration.
The SACC says while it acknowledges the challenges faced by citizens, the solution does not lie with foreign nationals.
This comes as several countries have been repatriating their citizens as calls for undocumented foreign nationals to vacate the country intensify.
SACC General Secretary Mzwandile Molo says only the government can address challenges faced by South Africans.
Molo says, “As SACC, we have met the President and as part of the interfaith meeting last week to raise our concerns and to ask government to provide a coherent, consistent leadership that allows our people to believe that the law and order will be maintained.”
He adds: “To allow the real issues are going to be engaged and those people who feel unsafe, an atmosphere needs to be created so that people who are foreign nationals have to believe that South Africa is a safe space for them, a safe country.”
SHERWOOD HALL
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli has condemned the actions of some undocumented migrants towards police officers at the Sherwood Hall site in Durban.
Government has shifted operations to the new temporary repatriation centre at Durban’s north beach.
Thousands of undocumented Malawian migrants have been moved to the new site where the verification process is being carried out before they are repatriated.
Authorities had to close the Sherwood site after complaints from residents due to health and safety issues.
Ntuli has called on the foreign nationals to respect the authorities.
He says, “We’re saying even to the illegal migrants, they need to behave, they must respect the police, they must respect authorities. What they did in Sherwood was quite very unfortunate.”
Ntuli adds, “You can’t be in a country illegally so, and when the authorities are addressing your problem, supporting you when you say you want to go back, then to behave the way they behave. Even for them, that was irresponsible, and I’m happy that the situation is calm now.”
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