By Brian Kiprono - Political and current affairs journalist based in Kenya.
3 July 2026 - Every sovereign nation has the right to decide who crosses its borders, who lives within them and under what conditions.
South Africa is no exception. No country can sustain an orderly immigration system without enforcing its laws, and no government should apologise for removing people who remain in the country illegally. Yet what has unfolded across South Africa over the past several weeks is no longer simply an immigration debate. It is becoming a test of whether the rule of law can prevail over fear, anger and vigilantism.
The disturbing images coming out of Durban, Johannesburg and other cities should trouble every African. Families sleeping on pavements while waiting for buses home. Children clutching bags of belongings after fleeing violent neighbourhoods. Migrant-owned businesses abandoned overnight. People who had spent years building lives in South Africa leaving with little more than the clothes they could carry.
These scenes are not the inevitable consequence of immigration enforcement. They are the consequence of allowing public frustration to spill over into intimidation and violence.
The State Must Enforce the Law, Not the Mob
South Africa's frustrations are real. The country has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, with millions of young people unable to find work. Economic growth has remained sluggish for years, inequality remains among the highest globally, public services are under immense strain and corruption continues to erode confidence in government institutions. Against this backdrop, undocumented migration has become an easy target for public anger.
It is understandable that many South Africans expect their government to secure the country's borders and enforce immigration laws. President Cyril Ramaphosa himself acknowledged that illegal migration places pressure on public services and requires decisive government action. Announcing a raft of new immigration measures, he promised stronger border controls, specialised immigration courts, tougher penalties for employers who hire undocumented migrants and action against corruption within the immigration system.
But the President was equally clear that enforcing immigration laws does not give citizens permission to become immigration officers.
"Only the authorised government officials may act against violations of the law, including violation of our immigration laws. No other person is allowed, for example, to confront someone in the street to demand proof of nationality."
Those words deserve more than applause. They deserve enforcement.
Because once ordinary citizens begin deciding who belongs and who does not, the rule of law begins to disappear. The targets may be undocumented migrants today, but tomorrow they could be refugees, legal residents or even South Africans wrongly identified as foreigners. History has already shown how easily that can happen.
The Cost of Xenophobia
During the xenophobic violence of 2008, 62 people were killed. Tragically, 21 of them were South Africans who were mistaken for foreign nationals. According to Xenowatch, which monitors xenophobic violence, 570 of the 698 xenophobia-related deaths recorded since 1994 occurred after those attacks. South Africa knows where this road leads. It should not walk it again.
The irony is that migrants have increasingly become convenient scapegoats for problems that long predate them. According to South Africa's 2022 Census, migrants account for only about 4.1% of the country's population. While undocumented migration undoubtedly creates challenges, there is little credible evidence that migrants are responsible for the country's unemployment crisis, collapsing municipalities or failing public services.
Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema captured this point bluntly when he condemned what he described as "Afrophobia."
"Poor Africans from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, or elsewhere on the continent are not responsible for unemployment, inequality, or collapsing public services."
Whether one agrees with Malema politically is beside the point. His observation reflects a wider reality: structural economic failures cannot be solved simply by removing migrants.
Deportation Must Be Lawful, Not Fear-Driven
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Yet neither should the legitimate concerns of South Africans be dismissed. Governments exist to protect their borders. Undocumented migration cannot simply be ignored in the name of continental solidarity. Effective border management, faster asylum processing, stronger immigration enforcement and deportation of those found to be in the country unlawfully are all legitimate functions of a sovereign state.
The question is not whether South Africa should deport undocumented migrants but how.
A lawful deportation process carried out by immigration authorities protects both national sovereignty and human dignity. A campaign driven by threats, racial profiling and mob intimidation protects neither.
Many of those caught up in the recent violence were not undocumented migrants at all. Lawyers for Human Rights has warned that documented refugees and legally resident foreign nationals have also been targeted through racial profiling. As Sharon Ekambaram from the organisation observed, "What is of concern is the rise of vigilante and anti-rights groups."
That warning should not be ignored.
An African Challenge Requires an African Response
South Africa remains Africa's largest economy. According to the International Monetary Fund, its economy is expected to produce nearly US$480 billion in goods and services this year. The strength of the rand relative to many neighbouring currencies continues to attract migrants seeking opportunities unavailable in their home countries. They come because South Africa offers hope that many of their own economies cannot yet provide.
Migration, therefore, is not merely a South African issue. It is also an African development issue.
Until conflict, poverty, weak governance and unemployment are addressed across the continent, people will continue crossing borders in search of dignity and opportunity. Walls alone cannot solve what economics creates.
Ubuntu Must Remain South Africa's Moral Compass
South Africa therefore faces two responsibilities at the same time. It must protect the integrity of its immigration system through firm and lawful enforcement. Equally, it must protect every person within its borders from violence, intimidation and discrimination regardless of nationality. These responsibilities are not contradictory, they are complementary.
A democratic state demonstrates its strength not by how harshly it treats the vulnerable, but by how faithfully it upholds the law even when emotions run high.
South Africa fought one of history's greatest struggles against discrimination and injustice. It became a global symbol of reconciliation, constitutionalism and human dignity. Those values should not become casualties of today's immigration debate.
The country has every right to defend its borders, not to surrender its humanity in the process.
The writer is a Kenyan-based political and current affairs journalist reporting on stories across Kenya and beyond.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dawan Africa.