East London – Buffalo City Metro (BCM) Mayor Princess Faku has urged Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber to present a comprehensive plan to address the challenges posed by undocumented foreign nationals in the metro.
Speaking during a People’s Imbizo held this week, Mayor Faku highlighted growing community concerns in areas such as KuGompo regarding criminal elements linked to neighbourhoods where foreign nationals, particularly Nigerians, reside. The event also drew attention to the recent unlawful coronation of Nigerian Igbo King Solomon Ogbonna Eziko.
The mayor subsequently led a march to Carlifornia, an area residents allege has become a drug den operated by foreign nationals.
“The Imbizo is meant to call on government to act against gender-based violence, child abuse, drug dens and unregistered businesses owned by foreign nationals operating in the city,” the mayor’s office stated.
While acknowledging that the metro has no direct jurisdiction over who enters the city, officials emphasised that they cannot allow the area to descend into lawlessness.
“Following the unlawful coronation of King Eziko, the metro says it will not allow foreign nationals to undermine the authority of traditional leadership recognised in the Eastern Cape,” the statement added.
Residents and local business owners at the Imbizo criticised law enforcement agencies, alleging that some officials are working with foreign nationals for personal gain. Mayor Faku did not dismiss these claims outright.
“It can be possible that officials… So there’s no way we can defend anyone at this stage,” she said. “I have requested a report from the city manager because if you look at this building, some of them are not even in a good condition for people to operate businesses.”
The mayor further instructed the department of spatial planning, particularly the properties and leases unit, to investigate who authorised individuals to trade or reside in buildings that are not fit for purpose.
Stakeholders raised additional concerns about the negative impact on tourism, business confidence, and the perceived inefficiency of police in addressing crimes allegedly linked to foreign nationals.
“It appears as though there are syndicates and there are some within SAPS and maybe internally within the metro who work with these foreign nationals,” one participant noted. “We don’t have the veracity of those claims yet. However, that’s the perception considering that there’s been perpetuating chaos within the metro in terms of businesses mushrooming up but operating in contravention of the law.”
The mayor stressed the broader economic implications.
“Cities compete. We compete for investors. We compete for tourists. Safer cities always attract more tourists and attract more investment as well. So it’s imperative for us… to deal with anything that causes disruption [or] that is detrimental to our city.”
The provincial police (SAPS) strongly refuted allegations of bribery and collusion with illegal operators.
“Allegations that SAPS officials are accepting bribes and that they are colluding with the people that are selling drugs in California… those allegations are untrue because up until we receive a formal complaint that we will follow up and conduct an investigation on, we at this point we cannot confirm such allegations,” a SAPS spokesperson said.
Mayor Princess Faku committed to discussing the issues raised at the Imbizo with council and to revert to the BCM community with concrete solutions within a month’s time.