Determined members of Concerned Tshwane Residents (CTR) civic movement together with various Atteridgeville community organisations marched in protest to the local City of Tshwane Municipality offices as well as to the local SAPS police station on Monday to hand memorandums demanding an end to the influx of illegal foreigners in their area.
Many businesses owned by illegal foreigners were closed for the day during the protest like tuck shops, salon, internet cafe ect.
According to Chairperson of CRT Kagiso Kekana, their demands also include the eradication of the high crime rate, an end to the unemployment of youths as well as an end to the abundance of drugs that are destroying the lives of the youths in the area.
About 300 people attended the protest march.
“Our aim today is to restore law and order in our community of Atteridgeville and we need clarification and assurance regarding the safety of members of our community,” enthused Kekana.
“We are demanding that all foreign-owned businesses, spaza shops and tuck shops must be closed today as we want to get rid of all illegal activities in our community,” he said.
He revealed that after illegal spaza shop owners have vacated their area, they as residents of Atteridgeville will sit down with the authorities and map out a strategy to fill the gap that shall have been left by illegal, foreign business owners.
“If the illegal, foreign business owners don’t vacate the area, then their fate will be in the hands of the angry members of the community who have already made it abundantly clear that they don’t want illegal foreigners in their area,” explained Kekana.
“The ANC and the Government of National Unity ( GNU) must take decisive steps by listening to the grievances of the community, otherwise matters will get out of hand, Mabahambe!” declared Kekana.
Reacting to reports that some foreigners had sought safety and shelter at the local police station as they feared for their lives, Kekana said the following:
“The SAPS police stations are not refugee camps and foreigners who need protection must go to their embassies and camp there so that they can establish proper channels that will help them be deported out of the country back to their home countries.”
The residents, some of whom were carrying sticks and sjamboks, first marched to the local City of Tshwane Municipality offices in Atteridgeville but no City of Tshwane Municipality official came out to receive their memorandum.
In response, the irate residents shut down the offices of the Municipality before marching forward to the Atteridgeville police station where they met both Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise as well as the station commander Colonel Wilson Makua.
Modise received the memorandum from the protesting marchers on behalf of the City of Tshwane Municipality, while Colonel Makua received a separate one on behalf of the SAPS.
“We will go through the memorandum and we will comply with whatever demands that have been written herein,” said Colonel Makua upon receiving the memorandum.
“As the Municipality of Tshwane we have carried out several by-law operations in all the 8 wards of Atteridgeville and several shops were shut down during these operations due to non-compliance,” said Deputy Mayor Modise.
“We always give people an opportunity to comply and what is worrying is that after shutting down a shop, the same shop gets opened under a different name and I must put the blame on our own South African people, as they are the ones condoning this criminal activity by renting out their yards to illegal foreigners to do business,” he lamented.
“What I like about this march is that illegal spaza shop owners have been given an ultimatum to vacate the area, and I will also urge illegal foreigners to leave as we don’t want confrontation that would lead to fatalities,” he said.
He revealed that there is a by-law that gives authorities the right to arrest persons who rent out their property to illegal, foreign spaza shop owners and warned that those who will be arrested in this regard will be frustrated as they will now have criminal records, while the foreigners they have rented their property to will be nowhere to be seen and won’t come to their rescue.
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