'SA is a soft target for foreign criminals': Herman Mashaba

“We have become like a soft target for foreign criminals fleeing their countries.”

These were the words of The People's Dialogue founder Herman Mashaba, who spoke out about illegal immigration into SA.

On Monday, the former Johannesburg mayor, who was going through the submissions sent by citizens to his party, said the country was “facing a crisis with illegal immigration” and it was time it was acknowledged.

“South Africans can feel it in their communities,” he said.

“We have become a soft target for foreign criminals fleeing their countries because of our deadly combination of zero border control and a criminal justice system that cannot tie its own shoelaces.

''Yes, many coming into our country are not criminals. They are simply trying to find opportunities in SA.

“But as a country, we cannot solve the problems of the continent, or the world, before we have started to solve our own.

“We must never be silenced from discussing important issues in our country that are central to its turnaround. Despite the names I will be called, I will never stop raising the issue of illegal immigration,” Mashaba said.