PRETORIA – In a major enforcement sweep across South Africa, authorities have announced that over 40,000 undocumented foreign nationals have been arrested since the beginning of the year. The sweeping migration crackdown is accompanied by a comprehensive visa cleanup initiative aimed at annulling fraudulent permits and restoring strict border compliance across the nation.
The enforcement updates were delivered by Mmamoloko Kubayi, who serves as both the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Chairperson of the Inter-ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration. She was joined by Home Affairs Minister Dr. Leon Schreiber and Deputy Police Minister Dr. Polly Boshielo to outline the state’s multi-pronged strategy. Kubayi emphasized that the government will not tolerate the circumvention of the Immigration Act. Authorities are currently coordinating with various foreign governments to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of their citizens. Consequently, all undocumented individuals within the country are urged to immediately present themselves to law enforcement or formally request repatriation.
Addressing the broader public, the Justice Minister cautioned employers against violating both labor and immigration statutes. She also issued a strong appeal to citizens to reject vigilantism and ignore misinformation. Instead, the public is encouraged to collaborate with the state to stabilize neighborhoods, with Kubayi clarifying that not all foreign nationals residing in the country are there illegally. The overarching objective of this unified effort is to protect national sovereignty, fortify public institutions, and foster a secure, inclusive, and prosperous society.
Shifting focus to administrative enforcement, officials detailed the massive strides made by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in rooting out visa corruption. The SIU has successfully analyzed over a billion data points to identify compromised documentation. This extensive dataset is now being used to cancel fraudulent visas, an exercise that will initially target 2,000 study visas as a primary affected category. Officials stressed that this data cleansing is a continuous, rolling process rather than a single audit, echoing the President’s recent national address which heavily prioritized data integrity.
On the topic of border infrastructure, the IMC confirmed its ongoing support for the Border Management Authority (BMA). While the agency has seen a funding increase for the current fiscal year, the committee is actively exploring avenues to secure additional financial resources and operational capacity to further optimize border control.
Providing a law enforcement perspective, Deputy Police Minister Dr. Polly Boshielo highlighted recent tactical operations targeting illegal mining and general crime. She detailed the intervention at the Fontaine One mine in the North West, where 1,924 illegal miners were extracted with the assistance of the Minerals Council. Remarkably, only 21 of those apprehended were South African citizens. Furthermore, approximately 80 percent of the bodies recovered from the mine remain unclaimed, strongly suggesting the deceased were also foreign nationals.
Dr. Boshielo also provided granular data on weekly policing outcomes, noting that police arrest an average of 17,528 suspects every week. Of that weekly figure, 2,399 are identified as illegal foreigners and are subsequently transferred to the Department of Home Affairs for status verification. She further referenced the deployment of security forces under Operation Shanela and Operation Shanela Two, which incorporated the SDF during recent operations executed on June 8, 2026.