PRETORIA, Gauteng — Security forces are bracing for a volatile season as South Africa political killings and a sweeping immigration crackdown dominate the national discourse just months before the November 4 local government elections. The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) recently outlined a massive security apparatus to protect the upcoming polls, but the dual focus on political assassinations and border enforcement has sparked intense debate over the government’s true priorities and policy strategies.
A Lethal Election Season
Addressing the media, NatJoints co-chair Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili expressed grave concern over the fatal targeting of politicians and community leaders. Since the start of the year, at least six individuals affiliated with four different political parties have been murdered.
The victims span multiple provinces and political affiliations, including an uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) member in Gauteng, a Democratic Alliance (DA) councilor in the Western Cape, two African National Congress (ANC) councilors in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and two Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members.
Despite the surge in violence, law enforcement has secured seven recent arrests related to these cases. Lieutenant General Mosikili praised the specialized Political Killings Task Team (PKTT), noting that the multidisciplinary unit has arrested more than 400 suspects—including over 180 alleged hitmen—since its establishment.
“We are issuing a stern warning to everyone who is planning attacks, assassinations, or acts of violence for political gain,” Mosikili stated, emphasizing that intra-party disputes and political contestations offer “absolutely no justification” for murder. Those convicted, she warned, will face lengthy prison sentences.
Securing the November 4 Polls
To ensure the November 4 elections proceed without disruption, NatJoints has activated an extensive electoral operational plan. The strategy encompasses visible policing, intelligence gathering, infrastructure protection, crowd management, and rapid response capabilities. Furthermore, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be deployed to assist the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) with the critical transportation of voting equipment.
The Immigration Crackdown: Security or Spectacle?
Alongside election prep, authorities are heavily targeting undocumented foreign nationals. Officials anticipate that anti-immigration protests—driven by populist movements like “March on March”—will intensify as the elections approach.
To counter illegal migration, the state has launched highly visible, coordinated enforcement operations alongside the Departments of Home Affairs, Labor, and the Border Management Authority (BMA). The metrics of this crackdown are substantial:
- Border Patrols: 93 patrols were conducted in June, followed by 81 in July. Authorities are also utilizing new technology to detect vehicles before they cross the border.
- Arrests and Deportations: In July alone, 16,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested. In total, 77,000 foreign nationals have been repatriated.
- Workplace Raids: Over 6,000 labor inspectors have been deployed nationwide. The Western Cape has seen 14,000 workplace inspections, with more than 2,000 conducted in Gauteng.
Expert Pushback: “Political Theater”
While the government frames these aggressive enforcement operations as a necessary security measure, independent analysts argue the strategy is driven more by election-year optics than by sustainable development.
Professor Loren Landau, a professor of development and migration at the University of Oxford, heavily criticized the state’s approach, arguing that the government is “naturalizing the association between immigration and social ills.”
According to Landau, the weekly announcements of mass arrests and workplace raids are essentially “political theater” designed to steal the thunder from anti-immigration groups. He argued that the current immigration crisis is largely “invented” and that foreign nationals are not the root cause of South Africa’s severe systemic challenges, such as political violence, water shortages, or unemployment.
“There’s no way in which the state can actually solve its problems through immigration control,” Landau explained. “What it’s doing is demonstrating to people that the state has heard them… but it’s also naturalizing this idea even further that immigrants are the problem.”
Landau warned that the current fear-driven policy is causing severe collateral damage, including diplomatic friction with neighboring countries, agricultural employers struggling to find fruit pickers, and children being unlawfully removed from schools.
Instead of scapegoating migrants to appease populist movements, Landau advocated for a “realistic, pragmatic, humane, and developmental” approach. He urged the state to universally enforce existing labor and criminal laws—targeting bad actors and corrupt officials regardless of their nationality—rather than diverting vital resources and attention away from the country’s genuine domestic crises.
