South Africa’s robust border security measures at OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, have resulted in the seizure of illicit cocaine worth more than R200 million. According to national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, a multidisciplinary team comprising members of the South African Police Service (SAPS), SARS Customs and the Border Management Authority (BMA) intercepted five luggage bags containing 216 blocks of cocaine, weighing approximately 250 kilograms. SAPS National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola commended the joint team for…
A lack of coordination within Cabinet may have contributed to the latest immigration chaos, which saw foreign nationals arriving in large numbers at refugee offices, believing they would be granted automatic asylum or citizenship. Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni revealed that, after incorrectly interpreting a Constitutional Court judgment, the Department of Home Affairs issued directives to its staff without consulting the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration (IMC). She believes this created a national security threat. The IMC briefed the media…
Foreign nationals who arm themselves and fire shots at citizens or police pose a threat to the country’s security and will face a strong response from law enforcement agencies. This is the warning from South Africa’s Acting Police Minister, Firoz Cachalia, who was responding to several incidents in which groups of foreign nationals allegedly fired shots at anti-migrant protesters. Cachalia was part of the South African Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration’s media briefing in Pretoria on Sunday. He warned both migrants…
The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) has condemned recent demonstrations targeting illegal immigrants in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, describing incidents of violence and destruction as criminal acts rather than genuine expressions of grievance. Briefing the media on Saturday night, NATJOINTS Co-Chairperson and Deputy National Commissioner for Policing, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, confirmed that 30 people had been arrested in connection with the demonstrations. Of those arrested, 25 were apprehended in KwaZulu-Natal and five in Gauteng following incidents linked to…