President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the nation on the government's management approach to illegal migration and the recent surge in protests against foreign nationals. South Africa. (GCIS)
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national address on migration might well be remembered as one of the most consequential interventions on the issue since the advent of democracy.
Not because it introduced a radically new policy position. Not because it settled the highly emotional public debate around migration.
But because it acknowledged something many South Africans have been saying for years: migration is no longer merely a border management issue. It has become a labour market issue, a service delivery issue, a governance issue, a security issue and ultimately a development issue.
The president’s speech attempted to occupy the difficult middle ground between two increasingly polarised positions.
