DA demands proof of govt plan on Zim refugees

admitted that there was a refugee problem, and referred to a plan put together by Home Affairs to deal with the crisis. However, she refused to reveal any details of the plan.
“This indicates that the department does not have a plan, but that it is hurriedly trying to put together something due to overwhelming public response to the recent news reports of a massive influx of Zimbabweans fleeing into South Africa,” said a DA spokesman.
Home Affairs director of communications, Jacky Mashapu has released a press statement, claiming that only one Zimbabwean has applied for asylum status in the country since the beginning of the year. This statement is easily refuted.
“We recently visited the Cape Town, Pretoria and KwaZulu-Natal refugee centres, where we saw hundreds of people queuing to be processed, and spoke with an official who confirmed that there has been a huge increase in Zimbabweans applying for refugee status since the beginning of the year.
“The humanitarian crisis grows day by day, and government is still trying to pretend that there are no desperate, hungry Zimbabweans coming into the country to search for safety. It is time for Minister Mapisa-Nqakula, who has thus far been invisible, to show herself and release the plan. Playing games with people’s lives in inexcusable,” he said.