Mchunu criticised for his comments on locals dating foreign nationals in Stilfontein

JOHANNESBURG - Criticism about locals dating foreign nationals in Stilfontein has landed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu in hot water.

This after Mchunu blamed undocumented migrants for the crisis of illegal mining in the area.

Mchunu made the comments during his visit to Stilfontein on Friday, where he gave an update on plans to retrieve illegal miners from an abandoned gold mine.

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He said that the majority of the illegal miners that had resurfaced and been arrested in the North West were from Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

He added that women in the community who were in romantic relationships with the undocumented foreign nationals underground had only made matters worse.

But deputy general secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), Nontembeko Luziko, hit back at Mchunu for failing to take accountability for government’s part in the crisis.

"Elements of xenophobia are there, we can see them. That’s why we are saying, as SAFTU, you are going to have a lot of Operation Vala this, Vala that but as long as you don’t know that your first operation must be to know that everyone that comes into the country is a documented citizen in the country," said Luziko.