INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION WORKSHOP WITH SOUTH AFRICAN LEADERSMAKES COLLABORATIVE PROGRESS

South Africa hosts the largest number of immigrants on the African continent due to its middle-income status, stable democratic institutions, and comparatively industrialized economy.

According to official estimates, the country is home to about 2.9 million immigrants, which would account for slightly less than 5 percent of the overall population of 60 million people. However, this number is thought to be an underestimate because of the presence of large numbers of unauthorized migrants, particularly from neighbouring countries.

The influx of illegal immigrants and poor management of migrants that are in the country already, puts pressure on municipalities which have to provide infrastructure for all residents – local and migrant. Managing this process individually is a challenge for municipalities as various non-local factors affect migration. The national government held a workshop to find ways of effectively addressing this challenge.

The two-day workshop held on the 16th to the 17th October at Ekurhuleni in Gauteng East was attended by National Ministers of Home Affairs, Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements, Small Business Development, Trade-Industry & Competition; Chairpersons of the Public Service Commission, National House of Traditional & Khoi & San Leaders, CONTRALESA and ROLESA; President of SALGA as well as Mayors and Speakers from Metropolitan, District and Local Municipalities.

The purpose of the workshop was to provide a platform for stakeholders to share practical experiences on how migration impacts on communities and to identify areas of cooperation.

National government and local government involved

National Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs Minister, Mrs Thembi Nkadimeng co-hosted the workshop. Ministries that it was felt were directly impacted or could affect migration were part of the workshop.

The workshop also reviewed the impact of illegal immigration in communities in borderline and inland municipalities from presentations that were done by the Metropolitan and District Mayors.

Global phenomenon with local impact

As a pre-cursor to this workshop, SALGA had hosted a summit on international migration on the 7th and 8th March 2023 in Polokwane. The objectives of that summit were to first create a common understanding of the challenges imposed on municipalities by the poor management of immigration and lay a basis for better coordination of all relevant partners for the effective management of migration, and to identify key multi-sectoral programmes that should be implemented.

The role of municipalities in dealing with migration is critical because the migrants end up living in municipal areas and operating within municipal jurisdictions.

“SALGA acknowledges that migration is a global phenomenon. If well managed, it can be beneficial to a country and cannot be stopped by any country. However, there are legal parameters within which any country functions, and those should be implemented by all sectors of government. It is important that the laws of the country are respected and upheld by every person that is within the South African borders” said SALGA President Cllr Bheke Stofile.

Key areas to be addressed

The workshop agreed on key areas of cooperation to achieve effective management of migration, and these include the following:

• Review of International agreements (Conventions and Protocols) with a view to accede to them with reservations where necessary, taking our national interest into consideration.

• Policy and legislative reforms, including the following legislation: Citizenship Act (Act 88 of 1995); Identification Act (Act 68 of 1997); Refugee Act (Act 130 of 1998); and Immigration Act (Act 13 of 2002).

• Introduction of Omnibus bylaws to promote standardised and effective enforcement by all municipalities. This will address the challenges relating to trading and enforcement of business by-laws by municipalities and traditional authorities.

In support of this intervention, there will be immediate joint inspections of businesses by labour, health, trade, industry and competition and immigration inspectorate teams, to enforce compliance with applicable laws.

• Improve co-ordination and access to data required to effectively plan socio-economic development based on migration patterns. Government will assist in strengthening the planning units in municipalities so that they are able to interpret the data and prepare development plans that are aligned to current trends.

• Audit of spaza shops in villages and townships and mechanisms to register them by both traditional leaders and municipalities.

• Review of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (Act 19 of 1998), to facilitate effective implementation in instances of illegal occupation of land.

• Strengthening Local Economic Development (LED), through among others, supporting citizens who wish to trade in the informal sector, ensuring that business licensing legislation is amended, and promoting the assignment of LED Officers who would also interface with traditional authorities.

• Supporting the Department of Human Settlements’ process of reviewing the 1994 White Paper to respond to current needs and challenges related to informal settlements and illegal occupation of buildings in inner cities.

• Co-ordination and collaboration of border law enforcement between government, traditional and Khoi-San leaders and the Border Management Authority (BMA).

• Supporting traditional authorities to keep a record of foreign nationals in their communities

• Review resource allocation for municipalities to address the unique resources pressures of municipalities and also capacitation of municipalities on data analysis.

• Establishment of a working group that will meet regularly to track progress on the work done by various entities and government departments to ensure a whole of government and civil society approach towards managing international migration and its effects.

The workshop resolved to establish a team of senior officials from different government entities, who are charged with implementing and providing updates to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on these thematic areas that have been identified.

One of the critical areas highlighted in the management of migration is the collection, collation and application of data. Sharing of this

data was also critical to ensure proper management. As stated by the UNHCR-supported Forced Migration Review in its report, “The magnitude, severity and diversity of internal displacement situations (which lead to international migration) cannot be understood – and much less be adequately responded to – without comprehensive and accurate data.

Supporting municipalities to address the challenge

The national government will aid in reinforcing planning units in municipalities for better alignment with current migration trends, ensuring efficient socio-economic development planning based on migration patterns.

To address challenges related to trading and enforcement of business by-laws by municipalities and traditional authorities, the workshop recommended implementing Omnibus by-laws to encourage standardized and effective enforcement by all municipalities.

SALGA President Stofile said: “The collaborative environment fostered during the workshop signifies a positive step towards addressing national migration challenges and highlights the importance of joint efforts by all involved parties. As more participants join the effort, the joint approach to addressing international migration issues is sure to become increasingly effective and far-reaching.” 