GAUTENG PREMIER hopeful Kenny Kunene has pledged to establish another Lindela repatriation centre that will detain undocumented foreign nationals for seven days before deportation.
Kunene, who is the deputy president of the Patriotic Alliance (PA), did not mince his words, saying the country would not spend a cent in feeding illegal migrants who would have been awaiting deportation.
In a telephonic interview on Wednesday, ahead of the May 29 elections, Kunene told The Star that if he were to be elected Gauteng premier, he would clean up the province’s illegal migrants by finding land where he would establish a makeshift repatriation centre.
In the beginning of the year, Kunene’s party, led by its president, Gayton McKenzie, hit news headlines after their members patrolled the Limpopo River near the Beit Border to restrict the illegal entry of Zimbabweans into South Africa.
PA members could be heard yelling “abahambe!” meaning they should go back after the festive season.
Now Kunene said another Lindela would be constructed if he were to be elected premier.
If it came to fruition, it would be the second repatriation centre in Gauteng following Lindela, a detention centre that holds undocumented migrants.
“The first thing I’m going to do is to put together security forces like immigration officers and the army that are both being underused … we have young people who are unemployed who we will send to the army so they can go there and enhance their university skills while they are trained on how to defend their country.
“They will help when we have to deport them because they will patrol the border as part of the army that will assist the immigration officers that are deployed all over the country,” Kunene told The Star.
He said the SAPS knew where illegal immigrants were but doing nothing about it.
“We know they are in Sunnyside, Yeoville, Hillbrow, Rosettenville, Cosmo City and we know they are in squatter camps.”
He added that the next thing to do was to get unoccupied land.
“We will get the cheapest tent in the market, put barbed wire and electric fence all around … we get all SA security and we get the metro cops to assist.
“When we arrest them we put them on trucks and we take them there. When they are there they must be deported within seven days,” Kunene said.
He said South Africans could not spend money to feed “criminals”.
“Once you have entered the country illegally, it means you are a criminal.
“So we will go to Tshwane market and Joburg market and ask for vegetables that are going to be thrown away … we will give them soup in the morning, lunch and supper. That’s what they will eat while they are there because they are illegally in the country. We can’t spend money we don’t have,” Kunene said.
Asked if that would be humane, Kunene said that neighbouring countries like Zimbabwe and Botswana were helping South Africa curb illegal immigration.
He was referring to Zimbabwe deporting scores of Malawian citizens in Zimbabwe that were believed to have been headed to South Africa.
“What is inhumane is the conditions in Diepsloot and all the buildings that have been hijacked. When South Africans drive without a driving licence or an expired disc you get punished. Why should the system of government impose the law only on South Africans?”
Kunene was adamant that the ANC had destroyed the country and were bringing back slavery because foreign migrants in the country worked for a minimum wage.
“Mass deporting them is also helping them because the ANC government has also brought back slavery,” he said.
Efforts to reach the Department of Home Affairs were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
Seeking comment from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) regarding Kunene’s assertions, the organisation declined to comment.
“Unfortunately, UNHCR cannot, at this stage, make a statement or comment to the media on candidates' electoral messages,“ the organisation said in an email.
The South African Human Rights Commission had not yet responded after The Star waited 24 hours for its response.
The organisation promised to respond by 4pm yesterday afternoon.
Its spokesperson, Wisani Baloyi, told The Star late yesterday afternoon: “I sent the query to commissioners and also spoke to the manager with a proposal on how to handle these matters.”
The Star