The South African government has refuted that it is going to start mass deportations of foreign nationals. The Department of Home Affairs distanced itself and dismissed the messages currently circulating on social media about the removal of foreign nationals. Zimbabwe has a large South African diaspora and some of the people were concerned about this.
Excerpts of the statement from the Department of Home Affairs reads:
The Department of Home Affairs distances itself from messages circulating on social media networks and Short Message Services (SMS) alleging that it has ordered the immediate deportation of undocumented migrants from Monday 23 January 2017.
We wish to inform the public that such information is false. No such statement was made or issued by the department or any official.
Home Affairs acts consistently within the confines of the Constitution of the Republic and seeks at all times to uphold the rule of law. This would run contrary to the laws of our country to instruct citizens, as purported in the malicious messages, to take the law into their hands and to close companies down without due process
…We want to urge Zimbabweans not to panic and to report any genuine incidents to authorities for further management and to stop speculation caused by false reports on social media
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