By Rorisang Rampheteng:
Calls for tougher action against illegal immigration echoed through the streets of Bloemfontein on Tuesday as Mangaung residents marched to the Office of the Free State Premier to deliver a memorandum demanding government intervention.
The protesters said illegal immigration and unemployment remain among the province’s most pressing challenges. They urged the provincial government to tighten the enforcement of immigration laws, improve border control and introduce measures that will create more employment opportunities, particularly for young people.
This echoed similar views expressed by protesters in nationwide demonstrations that also took place mainly in major cities in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, North West and Limpopo. The protesters’ marches were organised by the civil society advocacy movement, March and March to highlight the crisis of undocumented immigrants, mainly from the rest of the African continent, who flooded the country and competed with the local population over scarce public services such as jobs, healthcare, and education. It is alleged that some of the migrants were involved in crimes such as human trafficking, selling drugs and car hijackingand vehicle theft, theft of identity documents, cyber crimes, among others.
Addressing the crowd after receiving the memorandum, Free State Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae said the provincial government has been seized with the issue of undocumented immigrants in conjunction with law enforcement agencies for a while. “We have been working on this matter since 2023 together with law enforcement agencies,” Mathae said.
She appealed to South African women to avoid getting into marriages that, she said, are used by foreign nationals to gain access to land or legal status. “We must educate our women to stop getting married to foreign nationals because that is one of the ways our land is being sold,” Mathae said.
Mathae said government efforts would be more effective if communities worked together with law enforcement by reporting unlawful activities and supporting initiatives aimed at addressing illegal immigration.
The demonstrators maintained that tackling unemployment should remain a priority alongside immigration enforcement, saying the Free State needs stronger economic interventions to create jobs and improve the livelihoods of local residents.
The memorandum from the protest leadership was formally handed over to the Premier’s Office, with the protesters expressing hope that the provincial government would respond to their demands with practical and lasting solutions – @NewsSA_Online
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