Lesufi urges Parliament intervention, says Gauteng has too many undocumented foreign nationals

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi on Thursday called for a high-level parliamentary delegation intervention to look at the challenges facing the province’s eleven municipalities, including the sudden surge of undocumented foreigner nationals.

Lesufi told the joint oversight meeting by Parliament’s portfolio committee on cooperative governance, standing committees on public accounts and the Auditor-General as well as the provincial legislature that he was not being negative in raising the issue of undocumented foreigners.

"We are not raising it not in a manner that is negative but to either manage it so that it does not affect the finances of our municipalities and services that we are rendering in our province," he said at the meeting held at the Ferndale Recreation Centre in Randburg, Johannesburg. 

Lesufi added: "The sudden surge of undocumented foreign citizens and across all levels, not only those that are coming from our continent but those that are coming even from Europe, these numbers are too much and we don’t have a mechanism and a format of how to give them services".

He said the provincial and local government was at a loss on how to recoup resources that are needed to function.

"In these numbers, we are seeing an unprecedented number of informal settlements, hijacking of buildings and non-payment of services, including illegal connections of some of our key services – energy and water," said Lesufi.

He added that this has a direct bearing on the resources of Gauteng municipalities.

Earlier this week, it was reported that City of Johannesburg human settlements MMC Mlungisi Mabaso said that his department would not use ratepayers’ money to service informal settlements predominantly occupied by foreign nationals.

Lesufi also expressed his administration’s strong view that the current funding models of local government are not only outdated but superseded by many activities that make things difficult.

According to the Premier, the majority of paying customers are migrating to solar systems including factories and shopping malls, in order to ensure that they have stable energy.

"This affects the funding patterns of all local authorities," said Lesufi.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za