South Africa steps up deportations as unemployment soars

South Africa is stepping up deportations of undocumented migrants as economic pressures intensify and public frustration grows over high unemployment.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the country has deported 51,000 people in the past year, more than France and Germany combined, and would scale up removals if it had more resources, according to a Bloomberg report.

The nation “is a neglected part of the global migration story,” with the contestation between foreigners and locals for positions becoming “a real tinderbox,” he said.

With the continent’s most industrialised economy, South Africa continues to attract job seekers from across the region, particularly from Zimbabwe and Mozambique. But unemployment remains among the highest globally — 33.2% — with more than 8.4 million people actively looking for work.

Tensions have periodically erupted into xenophobic attacks. In 2008, violence left more than 60 people dead and displaced about 50,000 others, with foreign nationals blamed for limited opportunities and stretched public services.

Similar episodes occurred in 2015 and 2019, forcing President Cyril Ramaphosa to apologise to neighbouring governments angered by the treatment of their citizens.

Local media recently reported foreigners being chased from public health clinics by residents.

South Africa is governed by a national unity coalition after the African National Congress failed to secure a majority in 2024, the first time since the end of apartheid.

The ANC and the Democratic Alliance, Schreiber’s party, have clashed repeatedly on policy, raising questions about the coalition’s durability.

Even so, Schreiber expressed optimism that the alliance can hold.

He noted that the government successfully navigated a contentious budget impasse and said there is a growing effort to resolve disagreements “in a less public and destructive way.”