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ActionSA rejects the cheap labelling of our unambiguous declaration, made during yesterday's Home Affairs Budget Vote debate, that the crisis of illegal immigration demands urgent intervention, as xenophobia.

It is an undeniable fact that because of decades of government mismanagement and policy failure, our borders are porous, immigration controls are all but lax, the Department of Home Affairs is infested with corruption, and law enforcement agencies are ill-capacitated to enforce our immigration laws, all of which has rendered our immigration system broken and in need of urgent overhaul.

Consequently, South Africa is now embattled by an uncontrolled influx of illegal migrants, emboldened international drug syndicates, human traffickers, organised cross-border criminals, and the unfortunate domination of critical local sectors, such as spaza shops, by foreign nationals.

We have repeatedly expressed concern that the resulting impact of this is hardest felt by the poorest, who, among other issues, not only must confront the reality of competing in an already constrained labour market with cheap and exploitable foreign labour, but also live in communities turned into drug dens and warzones by often untraceable violent criminal gangs.

Day in and day out, we are inundated with reports ranging from the apprehension of drug dealers, discovery of drug labs, seizure of counterfeit goods, gun battles with illegal miners, illegal border crossings, and DHA officials arrested for corruption. 

Therefore, it is unthinkable that opposition to this illegality is somehow more of an affront than the fact that our sovereignty and laws are being undermined. 

It is both misguided and inflammatory to blanketly associate genuine advocacy for urgent intervention on this crisis with xenophobia, which has come to feature as a recurring tool employed to stifle debate on this issue. 

The very definition of xenophobia, which characterises the “fear or dislike of the customs, dress, and so on, of people who are culturally different from oneself”, not only undermines the sentiments endlessly expressed by the suffering majority of South Africans but is also grossly condescending, misleading, and juvenile. South Africans are not fearful, nor do they dislike others, especially when conflated with notions of Afrophobia, which are far from the truth.

We recognise that our current immigration regime makes it difficult for foreign nationals to enter South Africa legally and easy to do so illegally. Therefore, we want to strengthen the legal mechanisms for entry into South Africa for those genuinely wishing to contribute to our economy through tourism, scarce skills, entrepreneurship, and investment.

ActionSA is undeterred by the bullish mischaracterisation of our position and will continue with our resolve to advocate for the people of South Africa on this issue by applying maximum pressure, alongside like-minded parties, on the Department of Home Affairs to restore the integrity of South Africa’s immigration regime.

Issued by ActionSA Parliamentary Caucus Chief Whip Lerato Ngobeni