JOHANNESBURG - Over 90,000 foreign nationals have been processed for deportation and repatriation to date, says the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration (IMC).
To deal with the mammoth task, over 2,300 labour inspectors and 4,000 interns have been deployed in joint operations across the country.
The Committee continues to warn against people taking matters into their own hands. This is despite anti-immigration groups vowing to continue to force those they deem illegal immigrants to leave the country.
While protests have since halted in some parts of the country, they continue in Durban, where chaos erupted when protesters confronted asylum seekers camping on the pavement outside the Durban Refugee Reception Centre.
Many foreign nationals, including those from the DRC, have been sleeping here since May. Marchers confronted authorities over what they said is a failure to deal with crime, filth and illegal activity in their community.
Anti-illegal immigration group March on March claims they were called in by residents to clean the streets, but tensions boiled over when police moved to disperse them.
At least four people have been injured and several others arrested during the protest.
“We’ve moved from just protesting to more operations that are community centred,” says Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma.
READ: One arrested after chaos erupted during Durban protest action
“We are now zooming more into problems instead of just marching,” she added.
Dr Vusimuzi Sibanda from the African Diaspora Global Network says this is not a good look for the country.
“The migrant community and surrounding countries see South Africa as a hostile country,” he says.
“Particularly to the migrant community and people in the country from other countries,” he adds.
Sibanda says most people chased from their homes are properly documented and are unfairly targeted.
Prof Jo Vearey from Wits Africa Centre for Migration and Society says the IMC needs to address the violence and misinformation.
“Their messaging is not firm enough,” says Vearey.
“It is a very important issue that they have a responsibility to lay out,” she adds.
Vearey says while President Cyril Ramaphosa and the IMC have highlighted government’s five-point plan, there is minimal evidence to suggest that they are making the kind of progress they want to make.
An important department the government needs to zero in on is the Department of Home Affairs. Vearey says the dysfunction at the department is the reason most people wait years before they can get legal documentation.
READ: Over 80,000 foreign nationals processed for deportation since June
“South Africa has the right to manage its border and regulate the movement of people,” says Vearey. She says it is fine that the government recognises those shortcomings.
IMC Chairperson Mmamoloko Kubayi says that there are efforts to modernise the country’s immigration system to help combat illegal immigration.
Cabinet has approved a plan to rebuild and improve border fencing and security structures between 2026 and 2030.
The Border Management Authority is already operating a fleet of five drones across critical hotspots, with nine more on the way to help secure the country’s borderlines.