The government is beginning to act on illegal migrants merely because of the upcoming local government election and international concerns about the situation – otherwise, it had been ignorant for so long until people rose up from the grassroots to act.
Political analyst Prof Dirk Kotze said the most immediate reasons for President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government to start acting are two-fold: the negative reaction the matter received from several quarters, including the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, the Ghanaian President and others and the fact that migration has become a political issue among populist parties like the Patriotic Alliance that exploit it.
“It is likely to become an election issue in the local government elections, and the ANC will be the main target of it. Given the fact that the government’s capacity was very limited to address it in the form of border control,” Kotze said.
The analyst cited the government’s use of the military for some time with poor results; the use of the SA Revenue Service’s customs without sufficient capacity; corruption in Home Affairs regarding refugees; the Zimbabwean Visa crisis; and fraud involving passports and IDs. However, he mentioned that now there is much more capacity and technology available.
Government playing ignorant
Independent political analyst Goodenough Mashego said the government and the ANC knew all along that illegal immigrants were a huge problem in the country, but opted to play ignorance instead of acting.
The people’s uprising and upcoming local government elections caused the government to realise its mistake. It also feared losing votes to the other black parties that had prioritised the question of undocumented immigrants as part of their policies.
He said many migrants who arrived in South Africa immediately after 1994 from the SADC countries benefited from the ANC liberation relationships with the former frontline states.
The ANC at the time did not want to be harsh toward them to nurture liberation relationships with parties in countries such as Mozambique and Zimbabwe, as well as with other countries that offered them refuge during the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.
But that came back to haunt the ANC government and now the government of national unity, which had been overwhelmed by illegal migrants.
“This has more to do with the local election than anything else. All along, the government had been ignoring illegal immigrants. It happened in 2008, but they did not act.
“The problem is joblessness, and they know they have not been able to create the jobs that the people want. Ramaphosa needs to be very hard on people from other countries who overstay their visas, and tell the leaders of those countries to play their part to ensure this does not happen.
“They must also urge fellow leaders in Africa to practise democracy so their citizens can vote freely for leaders of their choice,” Mashego said.
