A convoy of police and home affairs officials descended on factories in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday where 17 undocumented foreign nationals and two Pakistani-national factory owners were arrested. At around 1pm on Tuesday, at least 20 officials and police stormed a mattress-manufacturing factory in Eastwood after receiving a tip-off that multiple undocumented foreign-nationals were employed there. When The Witness arrived, the 17 foreign nationals were already in the back of police vans while immigration officers rushed around to capture their details.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli, who joined police officers and Home Affairs immigration officials on the ground, said the raids were part of a push by the provincial government to confront illegal immigration, exploitative labour practices and criminal networks head-on. Ntuli said he joined the operation personally to witness the situation on the ground and to better understand the scale of the problem. According to him, illegal employment practices have broader implications for unemployment and economic fairness.“For the 17 job opportunities that could have been available to South Africans, or to people who are here legally, we found that they were occupied by illegal foreigners,” he said.
“When they are deported, there will be space for South Africans who are looking for work. This also helps address the issue of people who are in our country illegally.” Ntuli also lifted the lid on another challenge: the system’s limited capacity to process deportations quickly. “At one point, police reported that their holding facilities were full because of the slow pace of deportation.
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After engaging with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, measures were put in place, including additional buses to transport deportees,” said Ntuli. Ntuli added that many employers deliberately hire undocumented workers to bypass labour regulations and pay below-standard wages. He said the conditions inside some of the Eastwood factories raised red flags, prompting the need for the Department of Labourto become directly involved in future inspections.
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