Government rejects ‘Trump wall’ approach to immigration pressures

As the government tries to contain rising anti-migrant tensions in SA, defence minister Angie Motshekga says it will not take a “Trump wall” approach to border security.

She says South Africa intends to use its current leadership role in regional structures to press neighbouring countries to take greater responsibility for border management and not leave Pretoria to shoulder the burden alone.

In recent weeks, a wave of anti-immigrant protests, partly led by civil organisation March and March, has erupted in major cities such as Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban, KuGompo City and Cape Town.

The marches, which have turned violent at times, have placed South Africa in the crosshairs of its fellow African countries. The Sunday Times reported that African ambassadors had chosen to opt out of Monday’s Africa Day celebrations in the North West over the alleged treatment of their nationals.

On Monday, cabinet members of the security cluster — the departments of justice, home affairs, labour, police and defence — held an emergency meeting with leaders of the anti-immigration protests to establish the rules of engagement for the protests.

“We have an elaborate plan about how we protect our border points ... so that we don’t build a Trump wall,” Motskhega said.

Building a “big, beautiful wall” between the US and Mexico was the signature promise of President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign. A concrete barrier, Trump said then, would serve to stop what he described as a flow of illegal immigrants and drugs over the Mexico border to the US.

Motshekga told a media briefing that the state has a border protection plan in place, including physical obstacles and expanded human deployment, but that its implementation remains contingent on resources. She noted that surveillance shows police from neighbouring states watching people cross into South Africa illegally without intervening.

Deputy home affairs minister Njabulo Nzunza warned march organisers that their organisations risk being infiltrated by criminal elements and called for protests to remain peaceful.

“We do have an illegal immigration problem with the movement of people coming into our country,” he said, adding that illicit goods, trafficking and criminal networks often accompany unlawful migration flows.

“There is consensus that migration must not be forced to people, it must be voluntary. A person must not leave their country because they say, ‘I am hungry’, I need to get a job as well. People must not leave their country because they are being persecuted, and if the countries which are sending illegal immigrants and migrants are not dealing with the issues in their own countries, that results to people moving away in the country.”

The government formally identified illegal migration as a frontline national security threat in its 2024-2028 National Security Strategy, warning that uncontrolled movement of foreign nationals creates “no-go areas” that undermine state authority, strains public resources and provides cover for organised crime networks.

The strategy, released in July 2025, says border failure is not merely an administrative problem but a direct threat to sovereignty, and links porous borders to terrorism financing, smuggling and the erosion of community stability.

The rise of anti-immigrant activism has coincided with deteriorating socioeconomic conditions, including an unemployment rate of more than 43%. Groups scapegoat foreign nationals as the cause of South Africa’s economic woes, poor service delivery and high crime rates, despite studies that disprove these claims.

Business Day