African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula says the party wants the government to reintroduce immigration quotas amid rising anti-migrant sentiment in South Africa.
An immigration quota is a government-mandated limit on the number of people from a specific country, region or category who are allowed to immigrate during a given period, usually a year.
Briefing the media on the outcomes of the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at the weekend, Mbalula said South Africa’s capacity to absorb foreign nationals was not limitless.
“The NEC urges the Department of Home Affairs to consider, with appropriate urgency, the reintroduction of quota limits on immigration intake,” said Mbalula.
“Our country must decide transparently and in the public interest how many additional persons, that means at its disposal, can lawfully and humanely accommodate.
“The instrument exists in our law; Section 19 of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 provides the framework.”
Mbalula also said the “first safe country” principle, a concept in international refugee law, would soon become operational in South Africa.
The principle requires asylum seekers to apply for protection in the first safe country they reach after fleeing danger, rather than travelling through several safe nations to choose a preferred destination.
Under the principle, if a person passes through a country where they could have safely sought asylum but did not, a subsequent country may reject their application and return them to that first safe nation.
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