South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted that weaknesses in immigration management, corruption and administrative loopholes have undermined public confidence, as the government prepares a broad package of reforms aimed at tackling undocumented migration and strengthening border security.
In a national address on Sunday evening, Ramaphosa outlined a series of measures that he said would address longstanding shortcomings in the country’s immigration system while reaffirming South Africa’s constitutional and international commitments to refugees and asylum seekers.
The president acknowledged growing public frustration over how migration has been managed and said government needed to improve enforcement and accountability.
“There have been weaknesses in the way migration has been managed. There have been instances of corruption and gaps in our systems,” Ramaphosa said.
At the same time, he cautioned against blaming foreign nationals for all of South Africa’s economic difficulties, noting that unemployment, poverty, slow economic growth and service delivery failures have multiple underlying causes.
Government announces tougher enforcement measures
A key component of the government’s strategy will be a stronger crackdown on violations of immigration, labour and related laws.
Ramaphosa revealed that more than 450,000 attempted illegal border crossings had been intercepted by the Border Management Authority during the past year alone, highlighting the scale of migration pressures facing the country.
To improve enforcement, government plans to establish dedicated immigration courts that will help accelerate deportation proceedings involving undocumented migrants.
Authorities will also introduce harsher penalties for employers who knowingly violate immigration regulations. According to the president, businesses that hire undocumented workers in contravention of the law could face increased fines and possible imprisonment.
The government is also working with stakeholders in the logistics and freight sectors to strengthen compliance with immigration and labour laws within the transport industry.
Ramaphosa stressed that immigration enforcement remains the responsibility of the state and warned that private individuals have no authority to demand proof of nationality or immigration status from others.
His comments come amid growing anti-illegal immigration protests in several parts of the country.
Digital identity reforms and border security plans
Another major pillar of the reform programme involves strengthening border security and modernising South Africa’s identity management systems.
Ramaphosa said secure borders should not be interpreted as hostility toward neighbouring countries but rather as a basic requirement of effective governance and national sovereignty.
As part of this effort, refugee reception centres will gradually be relocated closer to border entry points. The first phase is expected to begin with the Tshwane refugee reception centre later this year.
The government believes that processing asylum applications closer to the border will improve efficiency, enhance security and ensure that people genuinely requiring protection receive assistance more quickly.
The president also announced plans to phase out South Africa’s green barcoded identity book, which authorities believe has become vulnerable to fraud, identity theft and abuse by criminal syndicates.
Government will replace outdated systems with an Intelligent Population Register containing biometric information for every person in the country, creating the foundation for a future Digital ID system.
In addition, the Department of Transport is expected to introduce new regulations within three months to prevent misuse of Traffic Registration Numbers, which were designed for vehicle registration purposes but have increasingly been used as alternative forms of identification.
Ramaphosa said immigration laws would also be reviewed to eliminate legal inconsistencies and loopholes that have allowed abuses within the system.
He concluded by emphasising that migration is a regional and global challenge that cannot be solved through enforcement alone. Addressing conflict, poverty and economic stagnation across the continent, he said, remains essential to reducing migration pressures in the long term.
Source: Presidency of South Africa