‘Enforcing law against undocumented immigrants remains a challenge’

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says enforcing the law against undocumented immigrants continues to be a challenge for police in South Africa.

Mkhwanazi was speaking in an exclusive interview with SABC News.

He says it is hard to prosecute undocumented foreigners as they always claim to have applied for asylum at the Home Affairs department and are awaiting approval.

He acknowledged that there is a huge public outcry regarding criminal activities linked to illegal immigrants.

“The main problem we have as police with these people who are residing in South Africa illegally is that they apply for asylum and then wait for Home Affairs to approve their application. When the police arrest them, they go to court, but cannot be prosecuted because their lawyers will say they are still waiting for the home affairs process. We arrest them again, and the same process gets repeated once again,” adds Mkhwanazi.

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