Deteriorating border infrastructure has left the country vulnerable to illegal crossings, smuggling, and transnational crime, the justice minister said
South Africa has processed 86,596 foreign nationals for deportation or repatriation in just over two months, the government announced amid heightened tensions over undocumented migration.
Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration, said the cases were handled June 14 to August 20 through coordinated law-enforcement operations.
Kubayi told reporters on Tuesday that Malawian nationals formed the largest group processed during the two-month period, followed by Zimbabweans and Mozambicans. Government data indicated that 90% of those repatriated entered South Africa illegally, with 95% classified as crossing the border outside official entry points.
The minister blamed deteriorating infrastructure along South Africa’s 4,471 km land border for creating vulnerabilities “exploited by illegal crossings, smuggling and transnational crime.”
The mass returns follow anti-immigration protests and attacks that began in March and escalated ahead of a June 30 deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country, prompting accusations of xenophobia against South Africa.
Mozambique initially said seven citizens died following the unrest, including five in what it described as xenophobic attacks and two in a road accident while fleeing the alleged violence. The South African authorities disputed the account, linking only two deaths to the unrest.
Several African governments, including Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, have since evacuated nationals fleeing the violence.
In response to mounting tensions, President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled a five-point plan in June to deport undocumented migrants, tighten border controls, overhaul immigration laws, and expand cooperation with other African countries.
Ramaphosa warned against vigilantism, saying immigration enforcement is the sole responsibility of authorized state officials. He said “xenophobia, Afrophobia, or any other form of intolerance” has “no place” in South Africa.
Pretoria has denied targeting foreigners indiscriminately and pledged to prosecute those responsible for violence. The government also opened a temporary processing center in Musina, near the Zimbabwean border, to handle a surge in returnees. Justice Minister Kubayi said the center processed more than 4,000 people on its busiest day in July, but only 58 in August, prompting its closure.
