Mashatile signals tougher action against companies hiring undocumented foreigners

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has told the National Council of Provinces that government will step up enforcement against companies that employ undocumented foreign nationals and is considering tougher consequences for offending employers.

What Mashatile told MPs

Mashatile made the remarks during oral replies in the NCOP on Thursday, where MPs pressed him on illegal immigration enforcement, employer compliance and vigilantism. He said enforcement efforts were being intensified and that workplace inspections would increase.

He confirmed that inspectors had, in some cases, found workers hiding during compliance raids and that National Treasury had been asked to fund additional labour inspectors to strengthen enforcement of labour laws.

Possible penalties for employers

Responding to a question from ANC MP Edwin Noe about publicly exposing companies hiring undocumented migrants, Mashatile said stronger consequences were under consideration and that government was weighing the effectiveness of naming and shaming.

“I think there should be, but I think we should find them a heavy fight because maybe naming and shaming won’t be a good deterrent,”

He said the issue of illegal employment in the private sector remained a serious concern that required stricter compliance monitoring.

Broader migration strategy and coordination

Mashatile outlined a comprehensive migration management approach structured around five pillars: strengthening border security, enforcing immigration and labour laws, addressing corruption within the system, closing legislative loopholes and improving cooperation with regional partners.

He said an inter-ministerial committee on migration, established by President Cyril Ramaphosa and led by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi, was coordinating government’s response.

Mashatile also pointed to the Employment Services Amendment Bill, saying it would empower the Minister of Employment and Labour Nomakhosazana Meth to introduce quotas for foreign nationals in specific sectors.

Vigilantism, policing and community guidance

MPs raised concerns about vigilante actions targeting foreign nationals. Mashatile rejected suggestions that the state was tolerating unlawful conduct, saying government had acted to strengthen coordination and enforcement against such incidents.

“We were also concerned as a Cabinet when we saw that there are these acts of vigilantism, violence being used, and police not acting decisively,”

He stressed that law enforcement agencies must act impartially:

“The police are there to enforce the law, not to march with people who are breaking the law. When people are breaking the law, they must stop them and they must arrest,”

Mashatile said guidelines on the lawful exercise of powers under Section 42 of the Criminal Procedure Act had been developed in consultation with traditional and religious leaders to discourage vigilantism and encourage communities to act within the law.

Regional cooperation and political will

On the drivers of migration, Mashatile said South Africa was working with regional partners through SADC and continental structures to address unemployment and poverty, which he described as key drivers of migration, and that migration management required coordinated economic development across African countries.

Asked whether South Africa could be described as xenophobic in light of violent incidents, Mashatile said:

“I stand by that statement that South Africa is not a xenophobic country,”

and reiterated that the government’s position was to address illegal migration and related tensions through legal and constitutional means, warning against violence and unlawful enforcement by citizens.