'Northern Cape not a dumping ground for illegal immigrants'

WHILE local communities have already warned illegal immigrants to leave Kimberley by June 30, some foreign nationals have apparently laughed off the threats, indicating that they will not be going anywhere.

- SANDI KWON HOO

Organisers of a mass march scheduled to take place next Tuesday have dismissed suggestions that the action is motivated by xenophobia or Afrophobia.

Civic groups Women Waging War against GBVF, Poverty and Inequality, Justice4All, Abahambe National Civic Movement, Operation Fiela and Operation Wanya Tsotsi said there would be no violence or looting on the day.

A march certificate was issued this week despite concerns raised by local authorities over the potential for unrest, looting and violence.

‘THE MARCH MUST GO ON’

Northern Cape March and March provincial convener and Women Waging War Against GBVF, Poverty and Inequality chairperson Millicent Wolfe said the march would have gone ahead with or without permission from the authorities.

She claimed that foreign nationals were placing pressure on health-care facilities, contributing to overcrowding in prisons, occupying places in schools and taking jobs at the expense of local residents.

Wolfe said the Northern Cape Rural and Retail Association had been launched to support locally owned spaza shops and tuck shops.