Questions posed by parliamentarians in both the National Assembly (NA) and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) brought to light the cost of deporting illegal immigrants as well as the numbers of people coming into South Africa sans the necessary documentation.
Among those asking questions of Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber was Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) National Assembly (NA) member Thapelo Mogale. He was told the South African government, by way of the taxpayer, spent R52 817 656 deporting illegal immigrants back to their countries of origin in the five months between 1 April and 31 August this year. That money paid for 19 750 illegals to return to their countries of origin, which works out at over R2 670 per person.
Going further back on the same topic, ActionSA NA member Lerato Ngobeni was told by Schreiber deportations since 1 January 2022, with no end date given, were 83 731. It cost R193 million – just over R2 305 per person.
Read the full story on ProtectionWeb here.
