This panel discussion was originally aired on Newzroom Afrika, on 4 April 2026.

South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber, has welcomed the cabinet’s approval of the Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection.

Cabinet’s approval followed an extensive programme of public consultation undertaken by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), which covered all nine provinces, and generated thousands of inputs from stakeholders and members of the general public.

Briefing the media on the outcomes of the cabinet meeting, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the document is aimed at strengthening the country’s immigration systems, especially refugee status.

What does this mean for South Africa’s migration and citizenship system?

Chairperson of South Africans for Constitutional Reform (SACR) Princess Mthombeni and Professor Loren Landau, a senior researcher at Wits University’s African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), weigh in.

Watch this riveting panel discussion below: