South Africans divided as ActionSA calls for strict refugee caps and immigration reform

ActionSA has called for a sweeping overhaul ofSouth Africa’s immigration system, proposing a strict annual cap of 10,000 new asylum grants and refugee recognitions as part of its submission on the Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection. The party said the limit should be linked to the national budget and absorption capacity to ensure fair access for citizens while still protecting genuine refugees. ActionSA Parliamentary Chief Whip Lerato Ngobeni said their submission confronts what she described as the consequences of weak enforcement and policy failures.

“Our system currently rewards non-compliance, undermines labour standards and national security, and leaves citizens competing for scarce resources in their own country.” Ngobeni said the proposed 10,000 annual ceiling would be allocated by country and processing priority, with migration targets tabled before Parliament each year to strengthen oversight, fiscal planning and service delivery. She reiterated the party’s support for enforcing the First Safe Country Principle, stating that “those who pass through safe third countries are ineligible to seek asylum in South Africa.” She added that rejected claimants “should be deported promptly under clear procedures, with the cost of deportation covered by the embassies of their countries of origin, ensuring returns are lawful, efficient and humane.”