Snl24 | Mzansi, ASKIES! Mayor apologises

Joburg Mayor Dada Morero retracts his proposal to hire foreigners as Metro police officers.

JOBURG Mayor Dada Morero has withdrawn his proposal.

The mayor’s proposal was to have foreign nationals serve in the Joburg Metro Police Department (JMPD).

He told the media briefing on Monday, 26 August, at the Mount Grace Hotel and Spa in Magaliesburg, west of Joburg, that the ANC regional Lekgotla, which is underway, rejected his proposal.

Morero, who is also the ANC Joburg regional chairman, had proposed to the party’s regional executive committee (REC) that the city needs to recruit foreign national with proper documents to the JMPD to help fight crime.

“The comments I made were to the effect that the City of Johannesburg might have to consider recruiting qualified and properly documented foreign nationals into the JMPD to assist with breaching the language barrier, which frustrates the work of our officers when investigating crimes involving foreigners,” he said.

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He said he shared these views to inspire the debate in Lekgotla.

“Having debated my proposal, the Lekgotla came to the conclusion that the recruitment of foreign nationals in the JMPD or any of the security cluster for that matter is both undesirable and unattainable in the wake of the high levels of unemployment crisis in South Africa, including the challenges on migration and immigration,” said Morero.

He mentioned that the Lekgotla resolved that the city should instead train its officers to be proficient in foreign languages that are dominant in areas with the highest concentration of specific groups of foreign nationals.

He said the Lekgotla, however, accepted that his concern that the language barrier frustrates police is valid and legitimate. Morero said upon further reflection he realised that his proposal was not consistent with ANC policies and government policy.

Morero added: “I, therefore, unconditionally withdraw my proposal and apologise for the anxiety it might have caused to the residents of Joburg and the people of South Africa as a whole.”

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