08/06/2026
Foreign nationals did not create immigration backlogs.
Foreign nationals did not create administrative delays.
Foreign nationals did not create systemic inefficiencies.
Yet increasingly, frustration with failures of administration is being redirected towards migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Blaming foreign nationals for government inefficiency may be politically convenient, but it does nothing to solve the problem. It merely distracts attention from the reforms that are actually required.
At the same time, we should be deeply concerned by the growing normalisation of threats, intimidation and rhetoric that appears to encourage hostility towards foreign nationals.
In a constitutional democracy, no individual, organisation or civic group should dictate who may remain in South Africa, who must leave or when government must remove people from the country. Those decisions are governed by the Constitution, the Immigration Act, the Refugees Act and the courts.
Equally, public threats, intimidation, incitement or attempts to mobilise communities against people based on their nationality have no place in a society founded on dignity, equality and the rule of law. We should not wait for violence to occur before taking such conduct seriously.
South Africa’s constitutional project demands better.
We should expect compliance with immigration laws.
We should expect efficient and accountable administration.
We should expect court orders to be respected.
We should expect decisions to be made within reasonable timeframes.
And we should expect all those who participate in public discourse to do so responsibly and lawfully.
The answer is not lawlessness from government.
Nor is it lawlessness from those who seek to take immigration enforcement into their own hands.
The answer is the rule of law.
Our latest Business Day opinion piece explores why immigration delays have become a rule of law issue and why restoring lawful, efficient administration is essential for both citizens and foreign nationals alike.
The solution is not to blame migrants for failures they did not create.
The solution is to fix the system.
by Stefanie de Saude Darbandi Solutions require improved implementation and a renewed commitment to accountability and timely decision-making. Foreign nationals did not create immigration backlogs. Foreign nationals did not create administrative delays. Foreign nationals did not create systemic inef...
