President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to unveil government’s long-awaited response to South Africa’s escalating migration crisis on Sunday evening, amid growing tensions over undocumented migrants and warnings that no group will be allowed to take immigration enforcement into its own hands.
The address comes at a critical moment, with anti-illegal immigration protests gaining momentum across parts of the country and activists pushing towards a self-imposed June 30 deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa.
While government insists it has developed a comprehensive strategy to manage migration, Ramaphosa now faces mounting pressure to reassure South Africans that immigration laws will be enforced while also preventing the country from descending into lawlessness and vigilante action.
The Presidency confirmed on Sunday morning that Ramaphosa would address the nation from the Union Buildings in Pretoria at 6pm.
“Cyril Ramaphosa will this evening address the nation on the government’s management approach to illegal migration and the recent surge in protests against foreign nationals,” the Presidency said.
The speech is expected to provide the first detailed public outline of a migration strategy that Cabinet recently approved following recommendations from the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni signalled the significance of the announcement during a post-Cabinet briefing on Friday.
“Cabinet received and approved a comprehensive approach to managing migration in South Africa, developed by the IMC Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration, and approved the National Action Plan (NAP), a country report on migration in South Africa,” she said.
“The president will address the nation on this matter, and the details will be provided by the president.”
The address comes against the backdrop of increasing anti-immigration sentiment in several provinces, including KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape, where protests targeting undocumented migrants have intensified.
Some of the demonstrations have been organised by the controversial anti-migrant group March and March, which has publicly called on undocumented migrants to leave South Africa by June 30.
The group’s campaign has heightened anxiety among some foreign nationals, with reports that migrants have already started leaving the country out of fear of possible violence and a threatened nationwide shutdown at the end of June.
Government, however, has sought to draw a clear line between lawful protest and unlawful action.
Ntshavheni warned that while South Africans have a constitutional right to demonstrate, they do not have the authority to enforce immigration laws themselves.
“South Africans have the right to protest and to march, as provided for in the Constitution,” she said.
“But South Africans have no right to take the law into their own hands. As we have indicated before, nobody is going to shut down this country. We must be very clear about that.”
Her remarks echo warnings issued earlier this week by Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane and the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints), which stressed that only authorised state institutions are empowered to deal with immigration enforcement.
The warnings come as authorities remain concerned about the potential for tensions to escalate.
Last month, Ghana launched a voluntary repatriation programme that saw about 295 of its nationals return home amid growing concerns about safety and rising anti-immigration sentiment in South Africa.
Government has repeatedly insisted that work on migration reform has been underway for some time, but Sunday’s address is expected to provide the clearest indication yet of how the state intends to respond to increasing public frustration over illegal immigration while maintaining law and order.
DAILY NEWS