South Africa News

Malusi Gigaba too busy with private affairs to attend immigration issues: Mashaba

Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba on Tuesday said that Home Affairs Minister, Malusi Gigaba, was too pre-occupied with his own private affairs to attend to documenting illegal immigrants in Zandspruit.

Last month, Mashaba wrote to Gigaba requesting that his department perform the auditing of immigrants in Zandspruit to ensure that those without documents are properly processed.

This was after a community protest erupted as residents demanded the City of Joburg to deal with illegal connections and alleged syndicates in the area after two young children were electrocuted. According to the City, about 19 000 people in Zandspruit are affected by illegal connections, and about half of the densely populated area was not electrified.

On Tuesday, Mashaba visited the township and met with some of the community leaders to provide them with an update on the City’s plans for the electrification and development of their township. He said the City will fast-track talks with Eskom towards achieving an agreement of electrification of Zandspruit informal settlement.

Malusi Gigaba

During today’s engagement, I also informed the residents of my letter to the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Malusi Gigaba, regarding their request to have an audit of the community be done so as to ensure that undocumented persons within the community are properly processed,” Mashaba said.

“To date, no response has been forth-coming. It would appear that the Minister is more pre-occupied with his own private affairs than addressing the needs of residents and the country. I will continue to attempt to engage the minister on this point.”

Gigaba has been on a trail to douse the fires after a video of him masturbating was leaked on social media allegedly by some unknown people who were blackmailing him after they allegedly had hacked into his phone and leaked a s-e-x tape meant for his wife.

He said that a Johannesburg Metro Police Department satellite station would be set up in Zandspruit to ensure and strengthen the safety of the residents and improve police visibility around the community.

Source: eNCA