March and March members protested in Wynberg on Saturday as demonstrations against undocumented foreign nationals spread to several communities ahead of the planned June 30 action.
Image: Lilita Gcwabe
The government is under pressure to show both political leadership and security readiness ahead of the planned June 30 demonstrations over undocumented migrants, as the repatriation and deportation of thousands of Malawian nationals in Durban places Home Affairs, SAPS, and the Government of National Unity (GNU) under renewed scrutiny.
The planned demonstrations come amid rising public frustration over undocumented foreign nationals and growing fears that tensions could spill over into vigilantism or xenophobic violence if not handled firmly by national leaders and law enforcement agencies.
Carli van Wyk, spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, said the department continued to support government efforts through the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration and had been actively engaging relevant stakeholders in Durban throughout the process.
Van Wyk said Schreiber would be in Sherwood, Durban, on Monday as a follow-up to a previous visit by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration.
"The Department of Home Affairs continues to support all government efforts through the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration and has been actively engaging with relevant stakeholders in Durban throughout this process," Van Wyk said.
"As part of this ongoing work, Minister Leon Schreiber will be in Sherwood, Durban, on Monday as a follow-up to the previous visit by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration."
Van Wyk said the minister remained focused on driving reforms to South Africa’s immigration system, which she said were recently endorsed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his address to the nation.
She said further announcements on "major progress towards systemic solutions to immigration challenges" would be made in the coming weeks.
Van Wyk said the Durban operation remained live, and final figures were not yet available.
However, she said thousands of people had already been systematically verified by Home Affairs officials.
March and March members protested in Lenasia this week, as pressure mounts on the government to address concerns around undocumented foreign nationals and prevent tensions from escalating.
Image: File
In eThekwini, Mayor Cyril Xaba said the South African government, working with the Malawian High Commission, was making progress in ensuring that Malawian nationals who had remained at the Sherwood site for extended periods were repatriated and deported in an orderly and humane manner.
Xaba said a second site, the Drive-Inn, had been secured as a temporary staging area to help fast-track the process, while the Sherwood site would remain operational.
"One of the advantages of the Drive-Inn site is that access can be effectively controlled, which will help minimise the movement of people and enable us to conduct an accurate headcount of those requiring assistance," Xaba said.
He said vulnerable groups, including women, children, and people with health challenges, had already started being relocated to the Drive-Inn site.
According to Xaba, two 5,000-capacity marquees, meals, and other necessities had been donated by non-governmental organisations, while the municipality had provided water, electricity, waste skips, ablution facilities, a medical facility staffed by healthcare workers, and buses to transport people from Sherwood to the site.
Xaba said officials from Home Affairs and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development had assisted in processing people in recent days.
"To date, close to 4,000 people have been deported or repatriated."
Xaba said the government had shifted from deportation to repatriation to speed up the process, as repatriation was less bureaucratic and implemented through cooperation with the Malawian government.
"The South African government provided 20 buses to expedite repatriation."
He said government had no intention of establishing refugee camps and that the Drive-Inn site was not intended to be permanent.
The Durban situation has also raised questions about the readiness of the security cluster and intelligence structures ahead of the June 30 demonstrations.
On Saturday, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia met SAPS management, led by Acting National Commissioner Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane, at the Tshwane Academy College in Pretoria to receive a briefing on the SAPS’ operational readiness.
The police ministry said the meeting included detailed presentations on national and provincial operational plans aimed at ensuring that all demonstrations take place in a safe, secure, and peaceful manner.
Deputy national commissioners, provincial commissioners, and divisional commissioners in operational and intelligence environments also attended the meeting.
The ministry said Cachalia expressed satisfaction with the measures put in place by the SAPS.
"While the constitutional right to peaceful protest will be respected, no acts of lawlessness, violence, intimidation, or criminality will be tolerated," Cachalia said.
Malawian nationals at the Sherwood site in Durban, where government officials have been processing people for deportation and repatriation in cooperation with the Malawian High Commission.
Image: File
Malawian nationals remain at the Sherwood site in Durban as government continues efforts to process, repatriate and deport people in an orderly and humane manner.
Image: File
He said weekly enforcement operations remained ongoing to verify the legal status of foreign nationals in the country.
"These operations are aimed at ensuring that all foreign nationals residing in South Africa are in the country legally and have valid documentation. Where violations of the law are identified, appropriate action will be taken in accordance with the law," he said.
The police ministry said Cachalia and the deputy ministers of Police would meet Defence Minister Angie Motshekga and premiers from all nine provinces in the coming week to reinforce coordination and monitoring among security role players ahead of the planned demonstrations.
It said they would also meet representatives of the private security industry and visit identified areas that had experienced heightened levels of instability.
Political analyst Siseko Maposa, director of Surgetower Associates Management Consultancy, said the mounting public frustration over illegal immigration had exposed a failure of political leadership across the GNU.
Maposa said Ramaphosa’s response had been limited to "recycled pledges of tighter enforcement and labour protection", which he said rang hollow after years of broken promises and bureaucratic paralysis.
He said opposition parties such as the MK Party and ActionSA had been quick to "weaponise the issue for electoral gain", while their rhetoric remained subdued when confronted with the threat of vigilantism and xenophobic violence.
"What is most alarming, however, is what the state has not said. There has been no forceful condemnation of those who take the law into their own hands, nor any clear signal that perpetrators will face severe consequences.
"That silence is not neutral; it is permissive. It leaves a dangerous vacuum in which violence can escalate with impunity."
Maposa said the state appeared “woefully unprepared” to contain potential social unrest and protect vulnerable foreign nationals.
He said the GNU may, however, be wary of the political costs of such a response ahead of the local government elections.
"Any measure perceived as favouring foreigners over disgruntled locals carries electoral risk," Maposa said.