The South African government’s strategy to address migration has not reduced pressures on services. Instead, it has further burned regional relationships, all at a cost of R292 million.

Dr. Rebecca Walker (Research Associate, African Centre for Migration & Society, Wits University) questions the effectiveness of the costly repatriation drive:

“The removal of foreign nationals through deportation did not translate to jobs or improvements to the supply chain”

Nearly 90,000 people have been removed, but unemployment has worsened, and the underlying drivers of migration remain unaddressed. Enforcement without addressing root causes is not a solution, it is a performance of action.

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[Audio Credit: The National Pulse]