CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa's president promised Sunday to act on concerns over a surge in illegal migration. anti-immigrant protests And sentiment in Africa's most advanced economy, other nations are claiming their citizens Targeted in xenophobic attacks.
President Cyril Ramaphosa The comments in a speech on national television devoted to the issue were an acknowledgment of the tensions. Anti-immigrant protest groups have said they have set a June 30 deadline for foreign nationals living in South Africa illegally to leave and urged talks with the government.
South Africa has a history of violence fueled by anger over the presence of migrants, including in 2008 when more than 60 people were killed in what international rights groups described as xenophobic attacks on foreigners.
Groups demanding renewed action on immigration have drawn attention with a series of protests in recent months. He says that foreign citizens living illegally in South Africa are further increasing this extremely high unemployment putting more pressure Public health is already stressed and education services.
“Many South Africans are raising difficult but legitimate questions,” Ramaphosa said. “These concerns are real. They deserve to be heard, and they deserve to be addressed.”
But Ramaphosa also said authorities would not tolerate anyone taking the law into their own hands.
“Only authorized government officials can take action against violations of our law,” Ramaphosa said. He warned that some groups were engaged in “inflaming” tensions.
There are no official figures for how many immigrants there are in South Africa illegally, although various estimates put the number at between 2 million and 5 million out of a population of 62 million.
As the richest country in the region, South Africa has traditionally attracted immigrants from neighboring countries Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho, as well as other countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi and Ethiopia. This has been a trend for decades.
Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Mozambique recently said their citizens faced threats and violence in South Africa because they are foreigners. repatriated to ghana about 300 of its citizens More from South Africa last month said more people would be given a chance to return home because of what it said were threats against them.
Mozambique's government said this week that five of its citizens were killed in xenophobic attacks in the city of Mossel Bay on South Africa's southern coast.
South Africa's coalition government has placed new focus on the issue of immigration after forming in 2024 and said it has deported more than 100,000 people who were in the country illegally in the past two years. Ramaphosa said on Sunday that about 450,000 people trying to enter South Africa without documents last year were stopped at the border.
Ramaphosa said there were “weaknesses” in the way South Africa had previously managed migration and that the government would now take “decisive” action, but he also appealed that people not “attack each other” over the issue.
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