In a demonstration of government’s resolve to deal decisively with illegal migration, the Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration embarked on a visit to the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Gauteng.
The centre serves as a facility for undocumented migrants and foreign nationals awaiting either verification of their status or deportation from South Africa.
The IMC is led by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development (DJCOD) and constituted by various departments, including Home Affairs, the SA Police Service, Small Business Development, Department of Defence, International Relations (DIRCO), Employment and Labour, Basic Education and Higher Education and Training.
During the visit to the facility on Friday, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said the visit is part of work the IMC is doing to ensure that the reports received on illegal migration during IMC meetings correlate with the work on the ground.
“Visiting the facility was to check in terms of the facility and its status in terms of being able to cope with the capacity and to understand the demands, the needs and issues we needed to address.
“This facility is not meant to keep people for a long time. It’s… where you pass through. So ordinarily we would want to see not more than 48-hour stay here and if we could have cooperation with the embassies who are in the country where their nationals are here to come and confirm so that we are able to facilitate transportation,” the Minister said.
She added that government will be deepening collaboration between departments to ensure that the centre runs at a higher rate of efficiency.
“For example, Correctional Services and the Department of Home Affairs. Those who have been sentenced prisoners or released to come here, Correctional Services must make sure that they come with their full files of their medical records so that it doesn’t derail…access to their medication.
“Second is the issue of the functioning of the court that needs to be upgraded to meet the minimum standard requirements, support for the judiciary that is here. They currently operate on Fridays.
“We did receive a report that some of the countries [embassies] are not responding. We requested the Minister of International Relations [Ronald Lamola] to help us in particular with Ethiopian nationals and Nigerians,” she stated.
Kubayi added that government, through DIRCO, has requested that those who are at the centre be included in the lists of those who are embarking on voluntary repatriation to their home countries.
“This is part of the work that we are doing. Lindela is the only centre in the country. Everyone is brought here and it is important to look at the capacity of the facility.
“We are happy that now the facility belongs to Home Affairs and is no longer rented. But privately operated. So, it will give us an opportunity to be able to repurpose it properly to be able to meet the requirements,” she noted.
Turning to violent protests and intimidation of undocumented foreign nationals across the country, Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia was unequivocal about those taking the law into their own hands.
“The responsibility to enforce our immigration laws is the responsibility of the state. No-one has the legal right to take the law into their own hands to arrest or intimidate undocumented foreign nationals in the country.
“We have seen very ugly incidents in our country where people do take the law into their own hands, assault people and even worse. It’s not acceptable and the message from the Ministry to the police service has been that they have to take action under the law against those who effectively are breaking the law.
“What I can say is that we’re determined to deal with criminality and those who indulge in this kind of action are themselves behaving like criminals,” Cachalia stated.
Observing the rule of law
Meanwhile, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson has stressed that the law must take its course in matters of migration.
Macpherson was speaking at a Foreign Correspondence Association media engagement on Infrastructure Development in Sandton on Friday.
In his address to the nation on 7 June, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that South Africans are not xenophobic, while also adding that some groups are attempting to exploit concerns about illegal immigration to incite lawlessness and violence, while others are spreading misinformation and falsehoods through social media campaigns.
At a media briefing on Sunday, the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration said that over 40 000 illegal foreign nationals have been arrested since the beginning of 2026, with over 7 400 arrests made in the past month alone, as government intensifies efforts to tackle illegal immigration and strengthen border security.
READ | Over 40 000 illegal foreign nationals have been arrested - IMC on Migration
The IMC is led by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, and constituted by various departments, including Home Affairs, Small Business Development, Defence, International Relations and Cooperation, Employment and Labour, Basic Education, Higher Education and Training, as well as the South African Police Service (SAPS). – SAnews.gov.za
