South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has been talking tough, saying inspections will be carried out at workplaces to see whether companies are employing illegal immigrants.
But the sense in some circles is that there will be little action simply because there are not enough people to carry out inspections. South Africa, the minister said in parliament, has 700 inspectors compared with 3,000 in London alone.
South Africa is amongst the top 10 picks of in the world for migrants looking for safety or a fresh start, according to the office of President Jacob Zuma.
In the spirit of “ubuntu” (a Zulu word for humanity), millions of migrants have settled in the country since apartheid ended in 1994.
Businesses have been accused of taking advantage of the situation by hiring illegal immigrants as cheap labour, rather than adhering to immigration and labour laws.
This is one of the main reasons why the “foreigners are taking our jobs” sentiment has emerged.
And with the economy struggling and the official unemployment rate standing at around 25%, the government is under pressure to act.
Mr Gigaba has warned that companies which employ undocumented foreigners will be penalised, but many people feel that border controls have to be tightened, with a distinction made between genuine asylum seekers and economic migrants.
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