Former mayor of Johannesburg and ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba says individuals entering South Africa illegally are committing a crime and doing so with unlawful intentions.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
Former mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba has claimed that illegal immigrants engage in unlawful and criminal acts with South Africa.
He stated that anyone entering South Africa illegally is a criminal with illicit intentions.
Mashaba attributed this to a lack of effective governance and political oversight.
This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent speech during the Presidency Budget Vote, where he tied illegal migration to organised crime.
Ramaphosa said undocumented migration routes increasingly overlap with criminal syndicates involved in illegal mining, extortion, drug trafficking, and money laundering.
He also acknowledged community frustrations over the strain placed on public infrastructure, particularly healthcare and education, and cited economic concerns regarding foreign nationals operating spaza shops.
Mashaba, currently the ActionSA leader, served as the mayor of Johannesburg from August 2016 until his resignation in November 2019.
During his tenure, he prioritised taking a hard line against international criminal syndicates that hijack inner-city buildings, often alleging that undocumented immigrants occupy these structures and run illicit operations.
He has strongly advocated for the Department of Home Affairs to immediately deport all undocumented foreigners, famously proposing strict labour-based detention centres, where inmates would work to pay for their upkeep.
His campaigns have repeatedly pledged to reinstate specialised units like the canine narcotics unit, increase visible policing across communities, and aggressively target businesses that employ undocumented immigrants in contravention of labour laws.
“And I am sure everyone is aware that the problem of crime in this country starts with our government and the leadership. Right now, we are sitting with the president who is involved in money laundering,” he said.
The remarks also come as groups March and March and Operation Dudula have orchestrated mass marches across Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban, demanding immediate mass deportations and a state-enforced 30-day ultimatum.
Asked what percentage of arrests for extortion, illegal mining, and drug trafficking over the past months actually involved the undocumented foreign nationals, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said crime registry does not distinguish between a foreigner and a South African.
Home Affairs spokesperson Thulani Mavuso did not respond.
Retired Interpol crime ambassador and security strategist Andy Mashaile said the root of criminality can be traced back to border-area “guma gumas”, who are partners with drug dealers and illicit cigarette smugglers.
These organised criminal syndicates operate along the Zimbabwe-South Africa border, primarily around the Limpopo River and the Beitbridge.
Named after the Shona word for red ants, these bandits prey on undocumented migrants, “border jumpers”, and smugglers, frequently utilising violence, extortion, rape, and robbery against vulnerable travellers.
“For example, they would say we would take you up across the border, provided you carry some parcels for us into South Africa and deliver them. That is how illicit cigarettes and trafficking happen. And some are instructed to deliver guns,” said Mashaile.
Last week, two Zimbabwean truck drivers, Joel Mhenyu and Pfidzai Chipuriro, were arrested in Zambia for attempting to smuggle nine undocumented Ethiopians into South Africa.
The immigration officials apprehended the drivers at the Kazungula Border Post as they attempted to exit Zambia.
A 42-year-old Zimbabwean truck driver, Edgar Maroto, was arrested at the Beitbridge Border Post near Musina in April for allegedly attempting to smuggle explosives valued at nearly R1 million.
According to reports, undocumented foreign nationals comprise an estimated 80% of all illegal miners (locally known as “zama zamas”) operating in South Africa. These individuals, predominantly from neighbouring countries like Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Lesotho, navigate highly dangerous underground environments in decommissioned or active gold and platinum mines.
The involvement of illegal foreigners in South Africa's illicit mining sector is defined by organised crime networks, extreme physical hazards, and intensified state security crackdowns.
Transnational criminal networks and undocumented foreign nationals are also involved in South Africa’s escalating kidnapping and scam crises, according to recent reports from the SAPS and independent forensic investigators.
Porous borders and low conviction rates have allowed foreign-led syndicates, predominantly originating from Mozambique, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and parts of East Africa, to establish highly lucrative operations across the country, particularly in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga.
In 2024, the SAPS Special Task Force (STF) unit rescued 90 undocumented Ethiopian nationals who were allegedly being kept against their will and under inhumane conditions in Sunnydale Ridge, Johannesburg.
A multidisciplinary team, led by the STF, was tracing a victim of kidnapping for ransom when they also discovered undocumented nationals who were found locked up, confined, and packed into rooms.
Multi-agency raids by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) have shut down large-scale, illegal boiler-room call centres operating out of affluent suburbs like Bryanston and Umhlanga. These centres employ foreign nationals to defraud international victims from the US, UK, and Australia through fake investment schemes.
Mashaile said transnational crime syndicates often hire foreign nationals to do their dirty work, supplying them with goods, illegal drugs, and weapons.
He said this method was exposed on Wednesday when police intercepted a truck and a car actively exchanging mysterious white bags on the R24 road in Magaliesburg.
“The police in Magaliesburg went to inspect what was being transported from the truck into the car that was driven by a female. And they found eight AK-47 rifles, and the four suspects that were to collect those rifles had obviously operated with someone in Namibia because those guns were from Namibia,” he said.
A report from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) last year also revealed how criminal networks use commercial trucks carrying fresh produce, such as flowers and fruit, to smuggle illegal firearms and ammunition from Namibia to the Western Cape. Because these shipments are perishable, border and law enforcement checks are often expedited, creating a prime loophole for weapons traffickers.