Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga has taken a different stance on foreign nationals to that of his City of Johannesburg DA counterpart‚ Herman Mashaba.

Mashaba drew the ire of many when he blamed crime in Johannesburg on illegal foreign nationals. He said all illegal foreigners from African countries should leave the city because they were criminals.

 Addressing the media on Monday in his Centurion offices‚ Msimanga said he would not blame illegal foreign nationals for criminal activities in Tshwane. “Criminals are criminals‚” he said.

 “For me criminals are criminals irrespective of whether it’s a South African national or it’s a foreign national. Criminals are criminals.

 “We have arrested quite a number of people who were not properly documented during our raids.

 “Even when we arrested people in Waltloo some of them were Mozambican nationals who were involved in the cable syndicate

“But I wouldn’t then say it’s only foreign nationals [involved in crime] because they were operating with South Africans.

 “They were selling to South African scrapyard dealers. So I wouldn’t then say criminality is an act of foreigners. I think that is something that we need to be careful of.”