Cape Town - Hermanus residents with the assistance of Operation Dudula Movement, handed a memorandum to mayor Annelie Rabie demanding the removal of foreigners from Zwelihle township.
This came after the body of an unidentified teenager was discovered in a field on June 28.
A foreign national was taken in for questioning but released on the day he was expected to appear in court.
The Zwelihle residents started to attack foreigners, and some moved out of the area.
Operation Dudula’s regional secretary, Zodwa Tukulula, said: “The people don’t want foreigners in the area, as this was the third incident involving foreign nationals. More than 120 signatures were handed to the mayor and she told us they will go to the area and hear the grievances.”
Tukulula said they also marched to the police station and the bakery where the man taken in for questioning worked. “We were told they hadn’t seen him since he was taken by the police. He has fled the area. We asked him to fire the illegal immigrants or we are going to involve the Home Affairs department. We told the police to not harass people when they are marching or protesting, as it is their right to do so,” she said.
Tukulula said they advised the mayor to build a site for the foreigners and gave him 14 days to respond.
Rabie told the residents: “I am going to have a meeting with the councillor of Zwelihle to understand why there is so much unhappiness in Zwelihle. We are committed to getting back to you in 14 days.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za