By Buziwe Nocuze
- Enoch Lucas, a Mozambican father of six in Cape Town, has a valid permit but cannot afford the R6,000 fare to return home with his son.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa has rejected the June 30 deadline set by protest groups, saying immigration enforcement belongs to the state alone, not civilians.
Enoch Lucas has done everything right. The 48-year-old Mozambican national has a valid permit, runs a stall at the Killarney taxi rank, pays rent, and sends money home every month to feed his wife, his mother, and five of his six children back in Mozambique.
He cannot go home because he has no money to leave.
“A taxi from Cape Town to Mozambique costs R3,000, so I will have to pay R6,000 because it is my son and me. I don’t even have savings because all the money I make here, I send home, buy food, and pay rent here in South Africa,” Lucas said.
He arrived in Cape Town in 2009. He started with a packet of sweets at a taxi rank. Over the years he added chips, fruit, peanuts and other items. What he earns, he sends home. There is nothing left over for a crisis.
That crisis is now four days away.
The June 30 deadline that has pushed Lucas and thousands of others into panic was not issued by the South African government. It was set by a coalition of more than 20 activist organisations, including a group called March and March, who declared the date a deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country.
The ultimatum has no legal standing. President Cyril Ramaphosa has publicly rejected it, saying it is an attempt to “foster instability” and that immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the state, not civilians. SAPS has placed extra security forces on high alert across the country ahead of Monday.
None of that has made Lucas feel safer.
“Since the deadline is approaching, I am stressed and fearing for our lives because some people don’t care, even if you tell them that you have a permit to be here. They want all foreigners gone,” he said.
More than 800 Mozambicans in Mossel Bay alone were caught up in xenophobic attacks on 29 May, according to the Mozambican government. Seven citizens died, though SAPS has confirmed only two of those deaths. The Mozambican government has since repatriated 738 of its nationals from South Africa.
Lucas said he hoped the Mozambican government would send free transport. It has not reached him.
“I am praying that on the 30th we will be safe,” he said.
Western Cape Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis acknowledged that South Africans have real frustrations, but said violence and chaos are not the answer.
“While some stoke hatred around illegal immigration, we must uphold the rule of law, protect the lives of civilians, and live out the values that make our country great,” Hill-Lewis said.
Pictured above: Enoch Lucas from Mozambique sells snacks at the Killarney taxi rank in Cape Town. He has a valid permit but cannot afford the R6,000 fare home.
Image source: Buziwe Nocuze
