Minister Motsoaledi attempting to pass the buck on Cape Town refugee situation
11 March 2020
Recent comments by the Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, claiming that the refugee issue in Cape Town is purely a by-law enforcement issue - is disingenuous and evidently an attempt to pass the buck for a situation created by the department’ inability to handle its responsibilities.
Matters pertaining to refugees and immigration falls under the purview of National government, not local governments. The Minister is trying to conflate the responsibilities of two very different spheres of government because he does not want to take responsibility for his government’s inaction on the refugee matter. In fact, Home Affairs admitted in their answering affidavit in the Tshwane Refugee matter that they do not have the capacity or resources to enforce immigration laws.
The DA would also like to remind the Minister of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which places a responsibility on National Government to protect legitimate refugees and asylum seekers.
The refugee group initially approached the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is a United Nations (UNHCR) and Home Affairs, not any Metropolitan Municipality. Had Home Affairs and SAPS at that stage investigated the claims made by the refugees against some of their leaders, the entities would have now been in a position to expose, isolate and deal with members of the group acting in bad faith.
The refugee situation started soon after Cabinet adopted the ‘National Action Plan to combat xenophobia, racism, and discrimination’ in March 2019. This National Action Plan has a 5-year implementation timeframe and states that “to effectively combat xenophobia, the government and police need to publicly acknowledge attacks on foreign nationals and their property as xenophobic and take decisive action. This should include ensuring proper police investigations of xenophobic crimes and holding those responsible to account.”
Instead of implementing its own policy, Home Affairs has dragged its heels. The department’s inaction saw a situation develop where residents and businesses were severely affected and in leadership vacuum left by the department, Metros were called on to take full responsibility for the handling of the situation.
The City of Cape Town has managed to re-integrate willing refugees into the city’s communities. However, many still refuse to be re-integrated, and SAPS and Home Affairs need to deal with this situation. The Western Cape High Court ruling is based on a specific by-law in Cape Town, and the Minister cannot go on expecting Metros to continue to move refugee groups from one place to another based on court orders as this will not solve the underlying problem.
Issued by Adrian Roos, DA Member on the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, 11 March 2020
