Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has assured South Africans that the government is engaging its counterparts on the African continent about the factors driving citizens to leave their home countries.
Kubayi led a media briefing by South Africa’s Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Immigration in Pretoria, where she said that while the government does not engage its counterparts through the media, “difficult conversations” are being held behind closed doors.
“So that’s why you can see the outcome of the summit speaks to that summit (the upcoming summit on immigration), to say that there’s a need for cooperation. There’s a need for collaboration. But not for one country to carry the burden while others don’t. And we have seen it in our operation. We collaborated with our counterparts,” she said.
“It was not an issue that we were not, I mean, when they went out of, when we called them to order, similarly. So it’s not head to scalp, if you want to put it, with our sister scalp, sisterhood. We are able to talk, but diplomatic channels are available to preserve the integrities and the structures of office.
“That’s what it’s meant [for]. So the fact that you come, take pictures for Tata Tech, and then when we, that’s why there’s closed doors for engagement, is to be able to allow for difficult things to be discussed. And trust your state, or your head of state, to be able to speak on your behalf,” said the minister.
Kubayi confirmed that the government has closed repatriation centres that had been set up in both KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, but said work continues to manage immigration.
Among other measures, she said efforts were being made to secure the borders, apprehend individuals who are in the country unlawfully and deport them.
The minister reiterated the government’s warning to those leading anti-immigration protests to keep their demonstrations peaceful or face arrest.