ANC identifies migration as issue that threatens SA's peace & stability

The African National Congress (ANC) has identified migration as one of the issues that threaten peace and stability in the country.

In its briefing on the subject on Thursday as the ANC unpacks its discussion documents ahead of the national policy conference in July, the party said while persistent economic hardships and conflicts among others force millions to leave their homes in search of a better future, it had become a threat to social cohesion.

With migration policies under the spotlight in South Africa amid rising tensions between locals and foreign nationals, the ANC has made several proposals on how the issue could be handled.

In the peace and security discussion document, the party suggests that state-owned arms manufacturing companies, Armscor and Denel, should be tasked to develop appropriate systems for peacekeeping, counter-terrorism, and border control.

The poor state of the country's borders is often blamed for the rise in the numbers of undocumented immigrants from neighbouring countries.

The ANC's peace and stability sub-committee chairperson, David Mahlobo: "We need to be able to apply our migration laws. We are of the view that any criminality that is being made, irrespective of whether someone is a national or a non-national, criminality must not have eyes. It must be treated as such without actually causing any problems."

Cyber-insecurity and the unregulated cyberspace are also issues that are tackled in the document.

The party says the threats are already contributing to poor cooperation and mutual trust among states and the country should devise strategies to protect itself against cyber-attacks.