RAIN and cold are ending for the 8,000 Malawians who have died in Sherwood Durban, who want to be returned to their country. 12 children have been born in this area and are living with their mother as plans continue to return them to their country.
This was revealed by the Prime Minister of KwaZulu-Natal yesterday, Mr. Thami Ntuli when he visited the area with officials from different departments, including home affairs. Ntuli said that a committee will be established that will oversee the speeding up of the program to return Malawians to their country before there is a disaster.
“There is an urgent need to speed up the program for the return of Malawians to their country. The situation they are living in is not good as the children have been born, the cold and the rain are only for them. It will be a disaster if the number of people who flock to this area to be returned to their country increases,” he said.
He said that the abductors and abusers of immigrants should not be arrested because they are committing crimes.
“Those arrested are doing this because they are breaking the law. Harassment and extortion, even if it is called an immigrant shop, is a crime,” he said.
He said they are trying to solve the problem of people in the country illegally by helping them return to their countries.
“No one should say that they should leave and return to their countries because they know how they entered. The problem for all of us is that the immigrants who have escaped return to their countries.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa has accused the organizers of widespread marches against immigrants that they are trying to score political points and want to create unity in the country.
“They are planting slander in the country and there are attempts to tarnish the country’s name and degrade its reputation. The security forces will do their job,” he said while speaking at the commemoration of the June 16 incident, at Nasrec in Johannesburg.
Ramaphosa said the government is busy with a program to return people from other countries to their countries.
“I have discussed with the president of Malawi, we will cooperate on plans to move the people of that country. There is already no need for there to be a deadline of June 30 (for the departure of illegal immigrants) because we are on the verge of moving them,” he said.
The Deputy Minister of Justice, Mr. Joh Jeffery, who visited Sherwood yesterday to inspect the court announced by Ramaphosa to deal with immigrants, said that there are about 1,800 people from Malawi, whom he identified as being in the country illegally.
“600 have already left, others are continuing to leave. We are speeding up the plan to take them to Lindela so that they can be transferred to their country,” said Jeffrey.