'Classifying criminals according to their nationalities is irresponsible': Gwen Ngwenya to Herman Mashaba

The DA's former head of policy, Gwen Ngwenya, lambasted outgoing Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba and the city for classifying criminals according to their nationalities.

Ngwenya was responding to a tweet by Mashaba, in which he shared a list of crimes committed by foreigners and arrests carried out between 2016 to 2019.

Mozambicans dominated the list, with 1,382 arrests, while at least 104 Congolese were arrested. Ethiopians and Cameroonians also made the list. Mashaba said he shared it to give a sense of the types of criminal acts immigrants of particular nationalities were likely to be involved in.

Ngwenya questioned why the list classified people according to nationality rather than immigration status. 

A week ago, Mashaba asked the department of home affairs to ensure that foreigners came to the country legally and were documented “so that, as the city of Johannesburg, we know who is in our city”.