TO ALL MEDIA HOUSES
PRESS RELEASE
NO EMBARGO
28 July 2026
AL JAMA-AH CONDEMNS THE ARREST AND HARASSMENT OF A MUSLIM BUSINESS OWNER AND MIGRANTS IN POSSESSION OF VALID DOCUMENTS:
Al Jama-ah Party condemns in the strongest terms the unjustified arrests of a Muslim business owner and six Lesotho nationals who have valid passports and visa documents, employed at the Korteks Textiles Africa/Zaydtex in Pretoria.
The businessman lodged a complaint at the Al Jama-ah’s Constituency office in Gauteng after Deputy Ministers of Employment and Labour, officials of the Department of Home Affairs, officers from SAPS (South African Police Service) arrived at the business premises on Friday, 24 July 2026 and arrested him along with his six employees – all Lesotho nationals – despite them being in possession of valid documents issued by the department of Home Affairs.
The six Lesotho nationals all have pending applications which are still in the department’s system waiting to be processed. It clearly states that the applicants are allowed to take up employment and work in the Republic of South Africa or to study according to The Immigration Act of 2014.
In March 2026 the Department of Home Affairs issued a Directive signed by the Minister giving arrested migrants, immigration amnesty until June 2026. Al Jama-ah’s leader Hon Ganief Hendricks also wrote to President Ramaphosa asking that undocumented foreigners must be regularised. Hendricks further provided the President with a new model directive that will address the fallout South Africa is expecting from all over Africa.
Al Jama-ah rejects any unlawful actions such as the recent acts of vigilantism or collective punishment by intimidation, extortion and forced closures of shops owned by South African Muslims for employing foreign nationals. It appears that mainly Muslim businesses are being targeted by the Department of Home Affairs.
“Whilst law enforcement belongs to the state, we question the behaviour of the lawmakers involved in the unjustified arrests of the owner of Korteks Textiles and his employees. The fact that members of the media were allowed to roam freely through the premises is highly questionable,” says Al Jama-ah’s leader, Hon Ganief Hendricks.
Al Jama-ah calls on Home Affairs to stop the deportation of the six Lesotho nationals and allow their applications to be processed first.
Issued by Asghar Khan on behalf of Al Jama-ah
For media enquiries contact:
Nisa Hendricks (Media and Marketing Manager)
Cell: 082 613 1917