Johannesburg-Gauteng Housing MEC, Humphrey Mmemezi, says government will not allow residents of Alexandra and people from other countries staying at the township to be subjected to any forms of threat or violence.
"We will not allow residents of Alexandra and foreign nationals staying at the township to be subjected to any form of threats and violence. Most importantly, we don't support any move with an aim of singling out foreign national especially black African from other African countries," he said.
The MEC was briefing reporters after a meeting with leaders of various organisations including the Alexandra Bonafides on Friday, following simmering tensions between residents and foreigners throughout the week.
Following their general meeting on October 15, the Alexandra Bonafides gave foreign nationals a week's notice to vacate the RDP houses in extensions seven and 10.
According to the MEC, all structures present in the meeting including the African National Congress (ANC) and the Congress of the South African Trade Unions (COSATU) condemned the distribution of pamphlets warning foreigners to vacate the RDP houses.
Mmemezi said attacks on people from other countries create an opportunity for criminals to steal and loot other people's houses and businesses.
The Bonafides leader Dumezweni Kulashe said: "We went extension 10 to do an evaluation of the new occupants of RDP houses to establish whether the occupants had relevant documentation or not. Some of those who were at their respective houses showed us their documentation, while several others did not have."
He said the houses in question were allocated by the Alexandra Renewal Project.
"After our meeting on October 15, we gave foreign nationals occupying the RDP houses in extension seven and 10 seven days' notice only on their own free will. We handed out pamphlets whereby we gave them notice to vacate the houses as they are not entitled to won those RDP houses," said Kulashe.
Mmemezi added: "As government, we won't give a platform to anarchy. We are also going to investigate the circumstances of how foreign nationals found themselves occupying RDP houses."
