David Mahlobo, Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation
President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent address to the nation on measures to address illegal immigration was both necessary and timely.
As South Africans, we must support interventions to strengthen border management, enforce our immigration laws, and address criminality wherever it occurs. Every sovereign nation has a responsibility to regulate migration, protect its borders, and ensure that those who live and work within its territory do so in accordance with the law.
Supporting these interventions, however, should never be confused with hostility towards foreign nationals. The enforcement of immigration laws is not xenophobia; it is governance. Equally, opposing xenophobia does not mean turning a blind eye to illegality. South Africa can and must do both: uphold human dignity while enforcing the rule of law. This distinction is important because South Africa is not a xenophobic nation.
Like every country, we have faced isolated incidents of violence linked to migration, unemployment, and socio-economic pressures. These are unacceptable but do not define our nation. Most South Africans live, work, trade, worship, and build communities with people from across Africa and beyond.
