By Bahle Gama
“The country does not have enough funds to deport illegal immigrants.”
This submission was made by senior attorney Sabelo ‘Chicken’ Dlamini on Monday, December 30, 2024, in a matter in which he represented a Tanzanian national before Magistrate Sifiso Vilakati.
Dlamini’s client, Aziz Jumanne Mohammed (48), was arrested and charged with contravening Section 14 (2) (c) as read with Section 8 (8) of the Immigration Act 17 of 1982 after he was discovered to have been residing in the country illegally for about 10 years.
In court, the crown moved an application to have the Tanzanian suspect remanded into custody pending deportation as per Section 8 (8) of the Immigration Act.
However, in his submissions, the attorney brought it to the court’s attention that if the country ‘deports’ Mohammed, how will that be possible when the Tanzanian embassy is in Pretoria, South Africa?
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“Keeping him at Sidvwashini is of no use, particularly because his sickness which cannot be mentioned in court, can’t be catered for at the facility because of the diet,” he said.
Dlamini submitted that for purposes of invoking Section 8 (8) of the Immigration Act, there is a provision that says the Minister of Home Affairs by order in writing, can direct that any person of any character whose presence in Eswatini is illegal shall be removed from the country.
This can either be indefinite or for a specified period as per the order.
The attorney argued that the crown would agree that such an order had not been forwarded from the Ministry.
“However, what remains a challenge is that he entered the country from SA through the Oshoek border post. His passport is no longer valid. He has been in the country for about 10 years, and has a wife and child,” he said.
He further disclosed that there are many nationals residing illegally in the country but did not delve much into the matter as he proceeded to make his submissions.
Magistrate Vilakati questioned how the Tanzanian suspect would be removed from the country without documentation and the response was unclear as it was submitted documents would have to be created at the embassy in Tanzania.
The matter returned on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, after it was stood down due to a delay in submitting the suspect’s expired passport as evidence that he entered through a border post.
It was submitted before the court that relatives had obtained an emergency travel document for Mohammed from the Tanzanian Embassy in Pretoria.
The accused was further fined E500 or spend five months in prison for contravening the Immigration Act.
In October 2020, ActionSA expressed its outrage at the escalating crisis of illegal immigration, with an astonishing E200 million spent on deporting undocumented foreigners since 2022.
ActionSA further disclosed that in the first five months of the year, the neighbouring country had deported 19,000 illegal immigrants despite taxpayers being burdened with the skyrocketing cost of deportation, an average of E2,700 per individual.
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This was described as a slap in the face to law-abiding citizens as it reveals the devastating consequences of porous borders and a government unable to enforce its laws.
“South Africans are not just footing the bill for deportations. The taxpayer is forced to absorb the cost of clothing, feeding, and housing illegal immigrants, even providing free healthcare to those who have brazenly violated our laws.
To add insult to injury, South Africans are paying for foreign language interpreters in court when these immigrants stand trial for their crimes.
This is a disgrace—these costs should be borne by the foreign missions of their home countries, not hard-working South Africans,” said ActionSA.
Meanwhile, in 2023, BBC reported that an economic impact assessment of the Illegal Bill in the UK found a gross cost of E3.9 million (about £169,000) to relocate an individual.
