Twenty-one undocumented foreign nationals were apprehended, and 13 shops were closed during Operation Engangeni Ngesango Iyafohla in Durban on Thursday. 

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, the South African Police Service, metro police, Home Affairs, and other stakeholders conducted the operation to address concerns raised by intelligence regarding the employment of hundreds of undocumented immigrants.

During the operation, police vans were filled with illegal immigrants, illicit goods were confiscated, and unlicensed stores were closed. 

Ntuli said the police conducted the operation to halt criminal activities in the province.

He said operations are conducted with or without him. However, on Thursday, he chose to join to witness the current problems in the province and the country.

“It’s a successful operation because they were able, in fact, to discover 21 illegal immigrants and they were able, in fact, to close down 13 shops that were operating without permits, or rather with permits that have expired,” Ntuli said. 

He clarified that the established procedure for dealing with illegal immigrants apprehended by the police is deportation to their home countries. This process is consistently followed by the country.

Additionally, if your shop closes due to an expired permit, you must follow the correct procedures to renew it before you can reopen.

“A lot of goods were discovered that have expired, and the barcodes do not match what the goods are about.”

He said that when you check the record of cigarettes, the findings indicate it is something else, not cigarettes. 

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“What is unfortunate, when we are interviewing the owners of the shops as to where they are buying, where this is being manufactured, they cannot tell you, which shows that they are not telling the truth,” Ntuli said. 

He emphasised the impossibility of selling a product without knowing its manufacturing origin.

On stores closed by owners fleeing arrest or owners not wanting to divulge where they bought their products, Ntuli said police know what to do in those cases.

In past operations of a similar nature, factories employing undocumented immigrants would often close their gates. However, police would still gain access by scaling the gates, thus finding ways to conduct their inspections.

Ntuli stated they would continue to support the police in their work to ensure all citizens in the province remain law-abiding.

“Our police in the province are doing good work. As you see them even today, they are visible; they are all over. They are attacking different types of crime.” 

Ntuli highlighted that on November 3, he will visit the border between eSwatini and KZN because he wants to understand what makes the movement from other countries into KZN easy. 

He stated that he once visited the border between Mozambique and KZN, where he was able to see the reasons for immigrants and illicit goods to move in and out of KZN and South Africa without following the proper channels. 

“Those are the challenges we are faced with as a country and that we are engaging, even with the minister. We do engage about these challenges that we are faced with, trying to find ways of enhancing whatever programmes or plans that are there to try and protect our country and protect our province.

“We are quite aware of the impact of the illegal immigrants in our country, apart from the issue of the competition, which is unfair when it comes to our economy, the GDP, because the illicit goods do not contribute to the GDP. And for the illegal immigrants, they compete for job opportunities with the unemployed youth in our province.” 

Ntuli concluded by applauding the police and departments working with them on operations in KZN.

thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za

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