Immigration, GBV remain a concern at Cabinet Lekgotla
On the back of mixed reactions to the recent announcement by Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi that the validity of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits will be extended by a further six months, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele says work is being done to address the issue of undocumented foreign nationals in the country.
Gungubele outlined the planned discussions at the Cabinet Lekgotla, which started on Monday, that include analysing the public’s perception of government and its ability to tackle issues such as immigration, crime, corruption and gender-based violence (GBV).
He warned against South Africans using illegal means against undocumented foreign nationals, saying government has rolled out programmes that seek to address the problem.
“We know that a lot of economies have done very well with the inclusion of foreign skills of the foreign people, but in those countries where it happens it’s done legally. In our country we’ve allowed so many people to be here without those,” he said.
Gungubele says the recent launch of the Boarder Management Agency is one of many ways government addresses the country’s porous borders and resultant socio-economic effects.
“Minister Thulas [Nxesi] is dealing with the migration policy and at the same time in the Vulindlela we are issuing the list of critical skills that country doesn’t have so that all other skills that we have in South Africa, opportunity must be given to our people,” he said.
At the same time, Gungubele said gender-based violence continues to be a concern but the recent crime statistics released by police minister Bheki Cele suggest progress has been made, though minimal.
Last month Cele announced a decrease in the number of sexual offences such as rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual offences and contact sexual offences in the first quarter of 2022/23 – with a drop of over 800 cases of sexual offences [compared with the same period last year.
“If you go back to the Minister’s stats sexual offences are plateauing, in other words, something is happening there which is positive but is very minimal as compared to the state of GBV so intensification in as far as that programme is concerned,” Gungule said.
GBV efforts from government include the South African Presidential Summit against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide which is expected to take place in November this year.
Meanwhile, Gungubele says since the last Lekgotla in January there have been many significant developments in the country including the rise of the anti-migrant group Operation Dudula, the mass tavern shootings, and the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war which influenced adaptations to government’s plans and therefore warrant discussion at this week’s gathering.
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