ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has called for urgent government action to tackle illegal immigration while rejecting calls for citizens to take the law into their own hands.
Image: ANC / X
ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula says the party will not support what he described as an illegal shutdown planned for June 30, aimed at forcing undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country.
His remarks come ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa's address to the nation at 6pm on Sunday.
Ramaphosa is expected to outline the government's response to growing tensions over illegal immigration.
Speaking on the sidelines of an ANC volunteers' programme in KwaZulu-Natal, Mbalula said that while some South Africans' concerns are legitimate, the government cannot allow groups to take the law into their own hands by organising unlawful shutdowns.
He acknowledged that South Africa faces a significant challenge with illegal immigration.
"In this particular instance, the government must formulate a comprehensive legal response to undermine illegal mobilisation, which could lead to vigilantism and result in our country being labelled xenophobic," he said.
"South Africa is not xenophobic, and we will contest that narrative.
"We are a country at peace with itself and its neighbours. The biggest challenge we face is illegal immigration and people who are not registered in our country."
He called on the government to take decisive action on immigration.
"As the ANC, we have deferred to the government. What we are against is when citizens organise themselves into groups, take the law into their own hands and call for shutdowns. That is illegal.
"We will not support that. What we will support is addressing the issue, not just in words but through action."
Mbalula said the government must tackle illegal immigration and strengthen border security.
"The Border Management Authority is doing a marvellous job, but our borders remain porous.
"We need to address that. We must do what is humanely possible because South Africa is a signatory to many international treaties."
He warned against perceptions that South Africa is hostile to foreign nationals.
"It is not a good image when countries mobilise and gang up against us as though we hate other Africans. We do not. We understand the pain our people are experiencing.
"Their children are being exposed to drugs brought into communities by people of different nationalities. We need to deal with that. The state must exert its authority to defend its citizens. That is what is important."
Mbalula said he expects the president's address to be followed by concrete action.
"We will hear what the president has to say, and we believe his words will be accompanied by swift action on the ground.
"The image globally now, from the United Nations and others, is that we are killing and chasing people, while the state simply looks on."
The former police minister said illegal immigration is a global challenge rather than one unique to South Africa.
"Immigration and illegal immigration are not South African problems alone. They are African problems and global problems. The question is how we deal with them.
"We must address the root causes that drive people to leave their countries in large numbers. There are many foreign nationals in South Africa, not only Africans.
"There are Europeans who arrived in this country before we were liberated. Some have since been naturalised. We also have people from Asian countries, including Bangladesh, who come to South Africa."
Mbalula said the government must develop stronger measures to address migration challenges.
"When I was minister, people were even entering through OR Tambo International Airport. You ask yourself how individuals travel from their countries of departure, through places such as Dubai, and ultimately arrive in South Africa.
"That is a question for us. We have people from as far away as Pakistan living in South Africa. It is a global crisis that requires governments to formulate a response."
Ramaphosa's address on the government's approach to managing illegal migration comes amid a recent surge in protests targeting foreign nationals.
Anti-immigrant tensions have persisted in parts of the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Some demonstrations have been led by the controversial anti-migrant group March and March, which has called on undocumented migrants to leave South Africa by June 30, despite government appeals for calm.
Some foreign nationals have already left the country amid growing fears of violence and a planned nationwide shutdown at the end of June.
Meanwhile, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni indicated on Friday that there will be no "shutdown" as anti-illegal immigration protests continue ahead of the June 30 deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country.
"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 during a post-Cabinet briefing on Friday.
Ntshavheni insisted that no shutdown would be allowed.
"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."
She said disclosing details about those behind the marches could compromise ongoing law enforcement operations.
"What we are communicating, and what the president will detail, is that work is being coordinated, as we have indicated in previous briefings, parliamentary debates and statements issued by colleagues within the criminal justice cluster," she said.
According to Ntshavheni, the government has been working on migration issues for an extended period.
"We have been consolidating that work, but we will leave the details of this comprehensive approach to be explained and outlined by the president. Historically, even the Department of Employment and Labour has been involved in these efforts. Let us allow the president to address the nation,” she added.
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