June 30 deadline: The pressure is on

Decisive leadership and security preparedness questioned

THE government is facing increasing pressure to demonstrate both decisive political leadership and strong security preparedness ahead of the planned June 30 demonstrations over undocumented immigrants.

This comes as the large-scale repatriation and deportation of thousands of Malawian nationals in Durban places the Department of Home Affairs, the South African Police Service (SAPS), and the Government of National Unity (GNU) under renewed scrutiny.

The upcoming protests come amid growing public frustration over undocumented foreign nationals, with authorities warning that unresolved tensions could escalate into vigilantism or xenophobic violence if not managed firmly by national leadership and law enforcement agencies.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber’s spokesperson, Carli van Wyk, said the department continues to support broader government efforts through the Inter-ministerial Committee on Migration and remains engaged with stakeholders in Durban.

Van Wyk said Schreiber would be in Sherwood, tomorrow, as a follow-up to a previous visit by the Inter-ministerial Committee on Migration.

‘‘The Department of Home Affairs continues to support all government efforts through the Inter-ministerial Committee on Migration and has been actively engaging with relevant stakeholders in Durban throughout this process,’’ Van Wyk said.

‘‘As part of this ongoing work, Minister Leon Schreiber will be in Sherwood, Durban, on Monday as a follow-up to the previous visit by the Inter-ministerial Committee on Migration.’’

Van Wyk said the minister remained focused on driving reforms to South Africa’s immigration system, which she said were recently endorsed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his address to the nation.

She said further announcements on ‘‘major progress towards systemic solutions to immigration challenges’’ would be made in the coming weeks.

Van Wyk said the Durban operation remained live, and final figures were not yet available.

However, she said thousands of people had already been systematically verified by Home Affairs officials.

ethekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba said the South African government, working with the Malawian High Commission, was making progress in ensuring that Malawian nationals who had remained at the Sherwood site for extended periods were repatriated and deported in an orderly and humane manner.

Xaba said a second site, the Driveinn, had been secured as a temporary staging area to help fast-track the process, while the Sherwood site would remain operational.

He said vulnerable groups, including women, children, and people with health challenges, had already started being relocated to the Drive-inn site.

According to Xaba, two 5 000-capacity marquees, meals, and other necessities had been donated by non-governmental organisations, while the municipality had provided water, electricity, waste skips, ablution facilities, a medical facility staffed by healthcare workers, and buses to transport people from Sherwood to the site.

Xaba said officials from Home Affairs and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development had assisted in processing people in recent days.

‘‘To date, close to 4 000 people have been deported or repatriated.’’

Xaba said the government had shifted from deportation to repatriation to speed up the process, as repatriation was less bureaucratic and implemented through cooperation with the Malawian government.

‘‘The South African government provided 20 buses to expedite repatriation.’’

The Durban situation has also raised questions about the readiness of the security cluster and intelligence structures ahead of the June 30 demonstrations.

Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia yesterday met SAPS management, led by Acting National Commissioner Lieutenant-general Puleng Dimpane, at the Tshwane Academy College in Pretoria to receive a briefing on the SAPS’ operational readiness.

The police ministry said the meeting included detailed presentations on national and provincial operational plans aimed at ensuring that all demonstrations take place in a safe, secure, and peaceful manner.

Deputy national commissioners, provincial commissioners, and divisional commissioners in operational and intelligence environments also attended the meeting.

Political analyst Siseko Maposa, director of Surgetower Associates Management Consultancy, said the mounting public frustration over illegal immigration had exposed a failure of political leadership across the GNU.

Maposa said Ramaphosa’s response had been limited to ‘‘recycled pledges of tighter enforcement and labour protection’’, which he said rang hollow after years of broken promises and bureaucratic paralysis.

He said opposition parties such as the MK Party and Actionsa had been quick to ‘‘weaponise the issue for electoral gain’’, while their rhetoric remained subdued when confronted with the threat of vigilantism and xenophobic violence.

‘‘Any measure perceived as favouring foreigners over disgruntled locals carries electoral risk,’’ Maposa said.