Analysts: Ramaphosa must crack down on visa overstayers as migration becomes an election issue

Political analysts have called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to take a tough stance on people who overstay their visas, saying recent domestic pressure and international criticism have pushed the government to act on illegal migration. The comments were reported on 9 June 2026.

Why analysts say action is overdue

Professor Dirk Kotze, a political analyst, told reporters the government’s decision to move on migrants follows negative reactions from several quarters including the UN secretary-general António Guterres and the president of Ghana, and because migration has become a political issue for populist parties that are likely to use it in the upcoming local government elections.

Kotze said the government previously had limited capacity to address migration challenges at the border and cited earlier measures that yielded poor results, including the use of the military and the involvement of the SA Revenue Service’s customs without sufficient capacity.

Longstanding problems and new capacity

Kotze pointed to a range of issues that have challenged the state’s response: corruption in Home Affairs regarding refugees, the Zimbabwean visa crisis, and fraud involving passports and IDs. He added that there is now more capacity and technology available to tackle some of these problems.

Politics, elections and accusations of prior inaction

Independent analyst Goodenough Mashego said the ANC and government knew illegal immigration was a significant problem but had opted to play ignorance instead of acting. He told reporters that the people’s uprising and the upcoming local government elections prompted the government to realise its mistake, and that the state feared losing votes to other black parties that prioritised undocumented immigrants.

Mashego also argued that earlier after 1994 many migrants from SADC countries benefited from the ANC’s liberation-era relationships with frontline states, and said that approach later contributed to the current situation.

Calls for harder measures and regional responsibility

“Ramaphosa needs to be very hard on people from other countries who overstay their visas, and tell the leaders of those countries to play their part to ensure this does not happen,”

Mashego said. He added that leaders should urge fellow African leaders to practise democracy so their citizens can vote freely for leaders of their choice.

The analysts’ remarks connect rising public concern, international criticism and electoral politics as the immediate drivers behind renewed government action on migration.