Inter Ministerial Committee: Update on the comprehensive approach on migration

Good day members of the Media

Thank you once again for honoring our invitation to the IMC media briefing and for your consistent balanced coverage of the current migration developments and the associated events that are unfolding in this regard. It is important that South Africans and the citizens of our continent and the world over, get the true picture of what is going on in South Africa today, including the concerted efforts that government is making to deal with irregular migration in our country.

We have called this media briefing to give feedback and progress report on the work that the IMC is doing in implementing the five-point plan on managing migration as announced by the President on 07 June 2026. As a reminder, the five-point plan includes cracking down on violations of our immigration laws, securing our borders, strengthening our immigration system, closing gaps in laws and policies on migration and working closely with our continental counterparts in managing migration.

In implementing this plan, we are striving to achieve an orderly and regular migration which is mindful and sensitive to the concerns raised by our people while observing human rights and dignity of all people in our country, irrespective of their citizenship and immigration status. In this regard, we have noted ongoing public concern and heightened tensions linked to migration related matters in parts of the country. Media reports both domestically and internationally indicate that there are still groups of protesters who conduct searches around homes and businesses that are suspected to house undocumented immigrants. This is illegal and members of the community who are part of these activities are warned to refrain from such conduct.

Government reiterates that the management of immigration, border management, deportation and facilitated repatriation is the exclusive responsibility of the State, and no individual or group has the authority to take the law into their own hands or to intimidate, threaten or unlawfully remove any person from any community. Our law enforcement authorities will not hesitate to act against those who continue to conduct these unlawful searches and identity checks.

The work of the IMC is coordinated through the following workstreams which provide regular progress reports to the IMC through the NATJOINTS: law enforcement, border management, legal and regulatory, economic sectors, humanitarian welfare and social sectors, international relations, systems development and data integration and communication and stakeholder management.  

Progress update on law enforcement

Since the establishment of the IMC, we have undertaken various law enforcement, immigration and labour inspection activities that are aimed at removing all forms of irregular migration, including arresting of those who are aiding and abetting undocumented foreign nationals. I firstly wish to commend our SAPS and Interpol for the arrest of Mr. Mkanyisi Ndodana Tshuma a fugitive wanted for murder of his wife and two children in the United Kingdom. He arrived according to our movement control system at OR Tambo International Airport on 05 July 2026 from Britain, once we have received the alert from Interpol we acted swift from a multi-disciplinary team conducting tracing and the suspect was arrested in Kensington, Johannesburg. At the time he went through OR Tambo he had not been flagged by British authorities. He will be extradited to the UK, once I have signed-off on the extradition request.

The IMC welcomes the continued work of law enforcement agencies under the NATJOINTS framework. As of 8 July 2026, 205 cases had been registered, 350 persons arrested, 69 cases were pending investigation, and 112 cases were on the court roll in relation to incidents linked to unlawful conduct, intimidation, incitement and related offences. Government will continue to act firmly against criminality, vigilantism, public violence, intimidation, discrimination and any attempts to conduct informal enforcement of immigration-related concerns. 

We have continued to facilitate the return of foreign nationals to their countries either through deportation or assisted voluntary repatriation. I wish to differentiate between these two related but fundamentally different concepts – repatriation and deportation.

Repatriation refers to the act of returning a person to their country of origin (in terms of international law, repatriation must strictly be voluntary, 1951 UN Convention and its 1967 Protocol). The repatriation process is voluntary and requesting countries bear the primary responsibility for transportation cost and management of logistics in this regard.

Deportation is a formal, lawful process by which a government  expels a non-citizen from its country (Section 34 of the Immigration Act). Under normal circumstances, the responsibility of the host country only involves verification and issuance of orders to leave. However, in certain circumstances the need does arise for financial and humanitarian assistance which is handled on a case-by-case basis. Under the current arrangements, government, through various departments, municipality and entities, is funding most of the repatriation and deportation operations, including transport, security and accommodation related costs.

The government commenced with the assisted repatriation process following challenges with regards to the Malawi government not being able to discharge its responsibility to sufficiently fund buses for repatriation from 14 June 2026. On the 26 June 2026, we reported that 15 162 had beenrepatriated. We have seen a tremendous increase on the number of foreign nationals that have either been deported or repatriated To-date (close of business – 11/07/20206), a total of 53 449  foreign nationals have been processed for deportation and repatriation which is dominated by the Malawians (more than 80%) followed by the Zimbabweans and Mozambicans. Repatriations to countries beyond SADC amount to 2615 and include returns to Kenya with a total of 431; Nigeria – 1159; Republic of Congo 86 and Uganda – 939.

In addition to the repatriation, the normal immigration deportation processes continued. For the month of June 2026, a total 4898 (Malawi – 1929; Zimbabwe – 1384; Mozambique – 1200; Lesotho – 342) were deported, and lastly, for the period 14 June 2026 – 8 July 2026 a total of 2801 (Malawi – 910; Zimbabwe – 903; Mozambique – 755; Lesotho – 187) were deported.

• As announced during the last IMC media briefing, the Temporary Repatriation Processing Centre (TRPC) has been established in Musina and began its operations on 01 July 2026. More than 20 thousand foreign nationals (Malawians, Zimbabweans and Mozambicans) have been repatriated through the TRPC. The repatriation centres utilised in eThekwini and Umsunduzi officially closed on 30 June 2026 and all Malawian nationals who had assembled prior to 30 June were transferred to the TRPC, these include those that were at the Musina Refugee Reception Centre and Musina Showgrounds who were transferred by 03 July 2026. 
• Repatriation processes are undertaken at the TRPC; however, the process starts at a point where foreign nationals assemble prior to transportation to the TRPC. The DHA, working together with municipalities, various embassies, law enforcement and other NGOs, provide transport services for all nationalities nationwide to the TRPC.

The TRPC has the capacity for accommodating 20 thousand people and is  serviced by the following stakeholders:

• Limpopo Provincial Government: DPWI: site clearance from Sat – 27 June until 29 June 2026 and we would like to commend the them provincial government for acting swiftly.
• DPWI: Setting up of marquees (tents), generators, ablution facilities, fencing. Further DPWI is responsible for daily cleaning of the centre, facility management and maintenance, similarly public works was able to set up this facility at the instruction of the IMC and following their visit, at a period of four days. This demonstrate what cooperative government through proper coordination has the capacity to do.
• Musina Local Municipality: Co-ordination of food parcels to ensure compliance with health regulations, registration of vendors, fire department, sourcing of local service providers (buses, cleaning services, catering etc).
• Natjoints and Provjoints: Crackdown on law enforcement and co-ordination of foreign nationals under distress or displaced through municipalities.
• DHA: Project coordination for repatriation, documentation services, verification, including fingerprint capturing and issuing of body-ready receipts.
• Embassies: provision of Collective Passport (Malawi) list and Certificate of Repatriation (Zimbabwe) and temporary travel documents (Mozambique – mainly through Lebombo). This is because most of these national are not in possession of valid passports or have expired visas and permits.
• SAPS: Criminal records verifications, policing and escort services for buses. We also wish to report that two suspects that generated a hit during verification (biometrics) at Musina were rearrested, Mr. Sheriff Maulana from Malawi was arrested for murder case 275/12/2024 reported in Chatsworth and Mr. Ncube Marshall Vusimuzi from Zimbabwe wanted for armed robbery arrested at Point in Durban, case 210/04/2026. They are being processed through our court processes. Similarly, at the Drive-in centre in KwaZulu/Natal another suspect wanted for rape was nabbed during the verification process. Police have also opened a culpable homicide case after an driver of a bus known as Morris from Zimbabwe, died on the N1 road after the Petros truck stop. This bus was not commissioned by the SA government for the record. The case number is 11/07/2026 reported at Musina Police Station. This is reason why the IMC has insisted that verification must be done without fail. 
• Health: Provision of a 24-hour clinic, health inspectors and emergency services. The clinic has assisted 402 patients various ailments with others referred 9 referrals were made to Musina Hospital. The provincial department of health is still conducting an inquest the death of a Malawian national, Mr. Kassim Jaffati, born 05 May1979, who died on his way to Malawi just before the bus reached Beit Bridge port of entry and was forced to return to the Centre. The case number is 122/07/2026 reported at Musina Police station;
• NGOs, Al-Imdaad Foundation, Africa Muslim Agency, Musina Reform Church, Mahlasedi Foundation and Gift of the Givers: provision of meals, water, pampers, formula milk and sanitary ware through the established kitchen at the centre.
• Business: MTN and Vodacom provision of temporary towers for connectivity at site to ensure efficient processing through our systems and humanitarian aid provided.
• IOM, UNHCR, UNICEF: Observation on humane treatment of foreign nationals and welfare of children including advice and guidance on best practices for the repatriation process. Further, these organisations are providing valuable technican advice on the repatriation process.
• SANDF: Provision of water and water purification services.
• DSD: Social Development key with regards to socio-psychological services and interventions for unaccompanied minors.

While Government continues to facilitate lawful repatriation and deportations, we have noted that scores of people continue to arrive across various centers to take advantage of the repatriation process. These uncoordinated arrivals are putting a strain on our local communities who reside in the proximity of these centers, and they pose significant risks of health hazards and outbreaks. In this regard we have put emergency measures to respond to these spontaneous arrivals and have asked our local authorities to ensure an orderly management of this situation.

We will be deploying more resources in this regard, including accelerated transport arrangements to ensure that we clear the pavements and public spaces that are continuously occupied by these arrivals. We call on foreign missions and relevant authorities in the fraternity of repatriating countries to continue working with us in this regard and to plead with their respective nationals to follow established protocol in the repatriation process.

There’s a notable decline on the number of repatriations from a peak of 4850 on 05 July 2026 to 1139 on 11 July 2026. As such, we are in discussion with relevant authorities and stakeholders about the process of scaling down our efforts and deployment of resources for this process. We envisage a phased scaling down of the process which will not negatively impact or compromise both the deportation and repatriation processes we are undertaking. The reality is that these temporary measures, which are costly to our fiscus were never meant to be permanent. The State however remains with the legal obligation to continuously deport those who are found to have transgressed the Immigration Act. As such, a total of 15 398 foreign nationals have been deported between 1 April 2026 and 30 June 2026. During the same period, 2519 joint law enforcement operations were undertaken.

Dedicated (Immigration) Courts

We established dedicated courts for Immigration at Sherwood at the beginning to process deportations. This included 7 dedicated court in eThekwini, while one was virtual with a link to Sherwood to process deportations. In the period 01 June 2026 until 09 July 2027, courts in KwaZulu/Natal have finalized 2640 immigration cases for deportation, the majority were from the special courts in Ethekwini with a performance of 2173. I wish to commend the Chief Magistrate in that area and the prosecutors and all court officials who working long hours together with the Legal Aid Board. 

The re-establishment of a court at Lindela will ensure that deportations from Lindela Repatriation Centre will be expedited. The work to providing designing more offices for the court is at an advanced stage and will be completed within a month. Similarly, work to establish a court that handles, among others, immigration cases is advanced and the Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA) has provided space. The process of setting up the court is envisaged to take three months.

Progress update on border management

The Borderline workstream, under the leadership of the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, has developed an implementation plan that provides an authoritative reference for the execution of the Borderline Infrastructure. It integrates the programme timeline, task establishment, phased implementation schedule, provincial cost estimates and risk register into a single document. The plan establishes formal task assignments between the three implementing organisations, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), Defence Works Formation (DWF) and the SA Army Engineer Corps (SAEC) and provides a management framework for delivery across next three financial years. The IMC will be presenting a detailed business case to the Minister of Finance for the funding of the borderline infrastructure.

Progress update on legal and regulatory

The process of drafting a new unified and harmonised legal framework for regulating citizenship, immigration and regulations is underway. The DHA intends to gazette the Bill for public comments during the year.

The DOT has initiated the process of drafting regulations which are aimed at stopping the misuse of the Traffic Registration Number as a form of identification.

We are also attending to various litigation matters that have either been decided by the judiciary or are still on the court roll. They include:

• The Lawyers for Human Rights (LRH) in which they were demanding urgent intervention , protection measures and disclosures of plans to prevent xenophobic violence associated with the purported 30 June 2026 ultimatum in KwaZulu/Natal  and rest of the country. This legal action was launched despite the meeting that the IMC had with Lawyers for Human Rights prior to the said date above. The update is that the Court dismissed the urgency in Part A of the application and Part has been postponed sine die (postponement indefinitely in simple terms no set date when matter will be finalized).
• Constitutional Court decision in the matter of Director-General, Department of Home Affairs & Others // Irankunda & Another (CCT 214/24): This judgment gives the Department binding authority to—
• refuse to receive or process second applications dressed up as sur place or changed-circumstances claims; and
• proceed with deportation once internal review, appeal and subsequent judicial review of the first application have been exhausted.
• (Irankunda 2.0), This judgment of the Concourt is being challenged by UCT Refugee Clinic, with the same applicant, Amina Irankunda and others. The applicant failed in the constitutional court May 2026 and has now launched a new application on the same facts challenging the Refugee Act and insisting she is entitled to a Section 22 permit. On Friday, 10 July 2026, in an urgent court ,Judge Henney dismissed her Part A interim interdict application – she is not entitled to a Section 22 permit and has to go the route of good cause, Part B is still to be determined.
• Constitutional Court decision in the matter of Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town & Another // Minister of Home Affairs & Others (CCT 126/25): Constitutional Court declared—
• section 21(1B) of the Refugees Act, 1998 unconstitutional in that it was irrational and serves no legitimate government purpose;
• that sections 4(1)(f), (h), (i) and 21(1B) of the Refugees Act, 1998 confer discretionary power without setting out sufficient criteria or factors to guide their exercise; and that the operation of section 4 of the Refugees Act, 1998 excludes a merits-based assessment of the danger an asylum seeker faces in his/her country of origin, with the result that the impugned sections violate the principle of non-refoulment. In a nutshell, this judgement directs the DHA to adjudicate every asylum applications irrespective of illegal entry or stay in the country by the applicant.

 Progress update on economic sectors

 The Association of Communications and Technology (ACT) has advised that Mobile Network Operators (MNO’s) are ready to comply w.e.f. 1 July 2026 in respect to stricter regulation, enhanced customer registration measures and compliance regarding SIM-card registrations.  The MNOs have written to the myself as the Minister of DOJCD informing that they have started with the implementation of registration measures to ensure compliance pertaining SIM-card registrations.

Registration of Informal and micro businesses is continuing. To date, more than 400,00 businesses have been captured on the DSBD Connect System and the implementation of the plan will increase the number of registered businesses many times. DSBD, SALGA and COGTA are finalising the Project Implementation Plan. In the case of DSBD, the NATJOINTS instruction specifically requires the department to share the databases containing details of Spaza Shops, Informal and Micro Businesses. The DSBD is in the process of packaging the required data in the DSBDConnect and in the Innovation Portal data platforms and will share the data once cleansed and re-packaged for transmission. The data will be sourced from other data sources from DSBD Portfolio as well as the partners in the ecosystem i.e. CIPC, Municipalities, COGTA etc. 

Progress update on humanitarian welfare and social sectors

We have noted some concerns from various quarters regarding the humanitarian situation especially at the Musina Temporary Repatriation Centre. The IMC emphasizes that Government’s approach is both firm and humane. Emergency relief remains a civil mandate and the State has an obligation relating to the right to life, access to health care, food, water and social security, and the protection of children. We can confirm that this temporary transit arrangement does provide appropriate shelter, water, sanitation, food, dignity packs, security, child protection and coordinated transport support where required.

 Progress update on international relations

South Africa acknowledges that migration is a regional challenge that requires coordinated diplomatic engagement. For this reason, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) will continue engaging SADC and the foreign ministries of affected countries to coordinate repatriation protocols, share operational information, and ensure that actions taken are consistent with regional commitments and mutual assistance arrangements. DIRCO will provide regular, factual briefings to foreign missions to prevent and counter misinformation and disinformation.

Government appreciates the initiatives by several African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana and Malawi on repatriating their citizens from South Africa. Government is actively cooperating with them to facilitate the safe, orderly, and voluntary repatriation of its citizens.

Progress update on communication and stakeholder management

We have continued with our engagements with various stakeholders on our approach for managing migration. The following engagements were undertaken:

On 25 June 2026: IMC met with Siyafana Sonke Action Campaign

On 26 June 2026: IMC media briefing on the migration management approach.

On 27 June 2026: President hosted a meeting with Kings and Queens.

On 27 June 2026: IMC met with the Premier of Limpopo and Executive regarding the Temporary Repatriation Processing Centre (“TRPC”)

On 28 June 2026: President met with the King of the Zulu Nation, King Misizulu ka Zwelithini.

On 29 June 2026: IMC Ministers met with the South African Council of Churches. On 29 June and 2 July 2026: IMC Ministers conducted oversight visits to the TRPC, Similarly the provincial executive sent a delegation of three MEC led by the MEC for Social Development to visit the centre in their oversight work.

On 07-8 July 2026: The Home Affairs Portfolio Committee conducted oversight visits to the TRPC and Beitbridge. During these visits, the Portfolio Committee engaged with both government and non-government stakeholders, including the UN agencies and consular representatives of the Malawi and Zimbambwe 

Conclusion

The IMC notes that 29 planned gatherings linked to migration were recorded nationally on 09 July 2026 and were reported as peaceful, with no injuries, arrests, damage or unrest reported. These gatherings were monitored by the South African Police Service (SAPS). Government commends communities that exercised their constitutional rights peacefully, while reminding all members of the public that freedom of expression and assembly must always be exercised within the law and must never be used to promote violence, discrimination or hatred.

South Africa remains committed to enforcing its immigration laws, strengthening border management, protecting communities, combating crime, and upholding the dignity and rights of all people. The IMC urges the public to report criminal activity, threats, intimidation, extortion, incitement or attacks on the law enforcement authorities and to refrain from sharing unverified information that may fuel fear or tension.  Finally, the IMC wishes to express gratitude to the business sector in Musina. Most importantly to appreciate the support received from the following non-governmental organisations (NGOs):  the Al-Imdaad Foundation, Muslim Reform Church, Mahlasedi Foundation, Africa Muslim Agency and Gift of the Givers. Further, Corporates such MTN and Vodacom for their support.

Both the Cities of Ethekwini and Cape Town and Western Cape Provincial Government that have provided bus transportation for those in distress outside the embassies of Zimbabwe and Malawi. The City of Johannesburg made referrals to the Department of Home Affairs, while the SAPS in Gauteng in particular provided transport to Lindela Holding Facility for Malawian nationals to be transported to the repatriation centre . Our appreciations to leaders of various church denominations including the South African Council of Churches (SACC) that visited and offered support for the repatriation process.

Thank you

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