KwaZulu-Natal police arrested more than 30 undocumented immigrants and a person in possession of an illegal gun, and confiscated illicit cigarettes in Durban as the crackdown on criminal activities continued ahead of the festive season.
This followed a raid on Tuesday by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Durban metro police on Victoria Street aimed at ridding the inner city of illegal immigrants and expired food.
During the raid at least one foreign national was found to have fake documents, while some cigarettes were found to be having bar codes that did not match the items.
The raid was joined by premier Thami Ntuli, who commended the work of KZN law enforcement.
“The work that was done today shows that it was necessary for this operation to take place and we will continue working with the metro police, SAPS and all crime fighters ... We’ve started to do something and people are aware that KZN is not a place for criminals because the police are equal to the task,” he said.
“I can assure the people of KZN that the province will be safe. It’s only a matter of time and I’m warning the criminals that the police are on their doorstep wherever they are when they think of committing crime.”
The raid is one of a series of operations conducted in the city over the last few weeks as the provincial government assists crime-fighting efforts ahead of the December holidays.
“We want to present a safer KZN and eThekwini for the festive season and beyond.”
It follows Monday’s police raid that uncovered a fake home affairs office in a block of flats in Greyville that is allegedly used to marry South Africans to undocumented foreign nationals.
Three suspects were arrested, including a home affairs official who was allegedly working with the criminals.
“What is good is that now we know there are officials who collaborate with the criminals and that is down to the good work done by the police,” Ntuli said.
He also made reference to the recent Operation Clean-Up, which resulted in the arrest of 14 undocumented immigrants in Albert Park, an area in the CBD known for illicit drug operations. More than a hundred people sleeping in the streets were removed and taken to shelters.
Ntuli said he was aware that some people had returned to the area to feed their drug addictions and confirmed they are working on finding a permanent solution with eThekwini municipality to prevent that from recurring.
“Removing a person from the streets to a shelter is not a confirmation that they will not return, they will want to go back for drugs and such ... There are a lot of engagements we will have to advance until we find a permanent solution.”
“We’ve already started the engagements with the mayor, but it’s not a decision you can just take haphazardly and think it will present a permanent solution, hence it’s important that we engage (while) understanding the dynamics at play.”
“The process of verifying whether foreign nationals are here legally requires human capital. After these operations we need to take a discussion to the national ministers to say we need more human capital that will assist in processing these investigations to determine the legality of foreign nationals in the province and the issue of our borders being strict in ensuring that whatever comes in is what is supposed to come in.”
Ntuli said a permanent solution was needed to arrest the importing of illegal goods, one of which is for government to enforce stricter measures at borders and ports as the entry and exit points of the country.
He conceded some illegal goods were manufactured in the country, which is why they will continue with the unannounced raids.
“We need a permanent plan to ensure that people in business don’t bring illegal items into the province. We will sustain these operations, they are not a one off, we will keep doing them unannounced, but we need to have a proper plan.”
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