President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that crime cannot be defeated through incitement, violence, intimidation and vigilantism aimed at foreign nationals, and specifically nationals from other African countries.  

South Africans and foreign nationals clashed last week after several people were reportedly killed. 

Zimbabwean Mbhodazwe Nyathi was also assaulted by a mob and set alight.

Ramaphosa said crime was a serious problem in the country that affected all communities. He said people were justifiably tired of living in fear of criminals.  

He said loss of life was deplorable, as was the killing of a fellow African from Zimbabwe.  

He added that contrary to what is claimed by some anti-immigration groupings and individuals, the perpetrators of crime are both black and white, male and female, foreigner and citizen.  

“Crime, not migrants, is the common enemy we must work together to defeat,” the President said.

He acknowledged that many communities were frustrated by the apparent inability of the police to deal with criminals, adding that government was capacitating the police with the recruitment of 12 000 additional police officers. 

Government is also re-establishing community policing forums across the country.

“Even as we intensify our fight against crime, there is no justification for people taking the law into their own hands. At the same time, we recognise that illegal migration poses a risk to South Africa’s security, stability and economic progress. Illegal migration affects service delivery and places additional burdens on essential services such as health care and education,” he said.

Like any sovereign nation, Ramaphosa explained that South Africa had the right to implement policies and measures that guarantee the integrity of its borders, protect the rights of South Africans and provide that all who reside in its borders had a legal right to be here.  

Controlling migration was the responsibility of government, he said and stressed that no private citizen may assume the role of immigration or law enforcement authorities by demanding that foreign nationals produce identification.

He said enforcement of migration legislation was a priority for government and that government was working to ensure that syndicates perpetrating immigration fraud in collusion with corrupt officials were brought to book.