Durban's Mayor Cyril Xaba has urgently appealed to the Minister of Home Affairs to relocate foreign nationals camping outside government offices, amid rising tensions and humanitarian concerns.
The mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Cyril Xaba, has made an urgent appeal to the Minister of Home Affairs to intervene and relocate a group of foreign nationals currently camping outside the department’s Durban offices.
The group has been sleeping on the streets after they were moved from the Diakonia Centre in the Durban CBD last week. The group of about 300 people had camped at the centre seeking refuge allegedly because they fear for their lives, which they claimed has been threatened by anti-illegal immigrant groups in their various areas of abode.
The group was taken by the authorities to a Home Affairs facility in Moore Road, Durban for official processing last Thursday. According to the municipality, approximately 300 foreign nationals were processed, with municipal officials reporting that only one individual was found without valid documentation and was subsequently detained.
According to Xaba, some of the foreigners are currently still outside the office and the municipality does not have the infrastructure or facilities to house them, noting that leaving them on the pavements without basic necessities is a direct violation of the country's human rights culture.
