South Africa unveils new measures for deportations

The South African government is intensifying its efforts to manage migration through increased labour inspections, the reopening of specialised immigration courts and upgrades to border infrastructure as implementation of President Cyril Ramaphosa's comprehensive migration strategy gathers momentum.

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni announced the measures on Thursday while briefing the media on the outcomes of Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, where ministers received an update on progress under government's five-pillar migration strategy.

Ntshavheni said Cabinet also commended South Africans who participated peacefully in demonstrations against undocumented migration and praised law enforcement agencies for maintaining public order during the protests.

"Cabinet extended its appreciation to South Africans who participated in peaceful protests against unregulated migration and commended the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure for enforcing peaceful protests," she said.

She added that Cabinet had also recognised the work of the inter-ministerial committee chaired by Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, which is overseeing implementation of the strategy announced by President Ramaphosa.

Under the law enforcement pillar, Ntshavheni said government had significantly increased labour inspections at businesses suspected of employing undocumented foreign nationals.

"Cabinet received an update on the implementation of the five pillars of the comprehensive approach, which progress includes, under the law enforcement pillar, increased labour inspections at companies suspected of employing undocumented foreign nationals," she said.

The inspections are being coordinated jointly by the deputy ministers of Employment and Labour, Home Affairs and Police.

To accelerate immigration processes, government has also re-established specialised immigration courts in Durban, at OR Tambo International Airport and at the Lindela Repatriation Centre.

Ntshavheni said the courts would facilitate orderly immigration proceedings and speed up deportations while ensuring cooperation with countries of origin to enable "orderly and lawful deportations" and "dignified repatriation".

She added that the inter-ministerial committee had established a temporary repatriation centre to improve the processing of undocumented migrants and thanked non-profit organisations that had assisted government by providing food and humanitarian support during the process.

On border management, Ntshavheni said the Border Management Authority continued to intercept people attempting to enter South Africa illegally.

"Cabinet appreciated that the Border Management Authority continues to intercept irregular immigrants attempting to enter the country unlawfully," she said, noting that those intercepted included undocumented migrants, undesirable persons and travellers with non-compliant travel documents.

She said members of the inter-ministerial committee had recently visited the South Africa-Zimbabwe border near Beitbridge to assess planned infrastructure improvements aimed at strengthening border security.

"As we continue with the law enforcement operations for labour inspections and other related matters, we are now also focusing on the work of the second stream, which is the border infrastructure improvement," Ntshavheni said.

She added that work was also progressing on the remaining pillars of the migration strategy, including policy reforms and legislative amendments intended to strengthen the country's migration management framework.

Addressing incidents of violence linked to recent demonstrations, Ntshavheni said the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure had opened criminal cases and arrests had already been made.

She expressed confidence that investigations would be concluded and those responsible brought to justice.

"There is no one who has a right to murder and kill anyone in South Africa, whether they are South African or not South African, whether they are documented or undocumented. Their life is a universal right and is guaranteed," she said.

Ntshavheni also conveyed Cabinet's condolences to the families of two Mozambican nationals and one Malawian national who were killed during the build-up to the demonstrations.

Cabinet said implementation of the migration strategy would continue across all five pillars, including law enforcement, border infrastructure, policy reform and legislative changes, as government seeks to strengthen the management of migration into South Africa while maintaining public order and upholding the rule of law.