Aaron Motsoaledi, the Home Office Minister, has announced plans to toughen asylum and immigration laws in South Africa.
This move will have significant implications for foreign nationals seeking refuge in the country, particularly given the widespread xenophobic sentiment in South Africa.
Dr Motsoaledi said the government had made a “serious mistake” when it signed international agreements without seeking exemptions from specific clauses.
South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) government opened the country to immigrants and asylum-seekers after white-minority rule ended in 1990, but now it believes it went too far.
Dr Motsoaledi wants people to seek asylum in the first safe country they enter, including South Africa.
Paddy Harper, a journalist with South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper, says South Africa’s hostility towards foreigners has grown deeper over the last three decades, with attacks on migrants and the emergence of anti-migrant groups like Operation Dudula.
Operation Dudula will contest the elections as a newly formed political party in South Africa’s 2024 elections.
Harper also stated, “Some of the opposition parties are likely to make migration a major campaign issue. The ANC fears losing support and wants to be seen to be doing something about it.”
South Africa’s latest census recorded more than 2.4 million migrants last year, with the highest percentage coming from neighbouring Zimbabwe at 45.5%.
Dr Mosoaledi says the government is already trying to deal with undocumented migrants, and that new legislation must be introduced to strengthen the powers of immigration officers and inspectorate and make continuing training compulsory.
Dr Mosoaledi also stated that it was hard to track irregular migrants because they came from neighbouring states like Zimbabwe and Botswana.
The government is unlikely to drop its plans for tougher immigration policies, especially as some opinion polls suggest that the ANC risks losing its outright majority in parliament.
Source: BBC
