Government insists Operation Fiela will not target foreign nationals

Government spokesperson Phumla Williams addressed the media ahead of the launch of Operation Fiela 2 on Tuesday.

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"It is not about foreign nationals. It's about crime, it is about drugs, it is about some unscrupulous employers that take advantage of some of the foreign nationals employing them without following the prescribed labour relations conditions of employment," said Williams. "It was a question of some foreign nationals who reside in South Africa without getting their papers correct, so there was a lot of what we were able to uncover."

Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula will officially launch Operation Fiela two next week. 

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The first Operation Fiela was launched in 2015, following the eruption of xenophobic violence in KwaZulu-Natal.