The South African Local Government Association (Salga) has welcomed the gazetting of the final White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection, stating that it is reflective of duly considered local government submissions.

Salga applauded the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) for “collaborative efforts” and other stakeholders for demonstrating the “will to address the complexities of immigration”.

The local government association pointed out that the White Paper was underpinned by the realisation that South Africa had different pieces of legislation dealing with citizenship, immigration and refugee protection, namely the Citizenship Act, Immigration Act, and Refugees Act, as amended.

“In practice, these pieces of legislation are not in harmony with each other, and piecemeal amendments were made without any policy framework. The changing population dynamics imposed by unmanaged immigration have long sparked calls for more to be done to manage immigration. Local government, being the receiver of all immigrants, jumped to the fore to be part of the solution, inspired by the vision to see South Africa effectively manage immigration,” said Salga.

In recent months, the DHA conducted public hearings in all nine provinces, including several radio and television interviews on the White Paper which Salga said it had participated in across the country.

Salga led consultations with municipalities on the White Paper to mobilise and consolidate views and “deepen a common understanding at the local level”.

In March 2023, Salga hosted a National Migration Summit, where stakeholders across all spheres of government gathered to coordinate all partners to effectively address migration issues and the common agreement was a “whole-of-government approach” to managing migration.

Salga said it fully supported the White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection as an important step towards overhauling the migration system in South Africa.

It explained that the White Paper would ensure a coherent approach to managing immigration issues in South Africa without the contradictions with various legislative pieces.

Meanwhile, various civil society organisations are urging Parliament not to adopt the White Paper’s proposals into law.

The Helen Suzman Foundation argues that the White Paper is not sound government policy‑making because it provides an “inscrutable solution” without properly defining the challenges that migration poses to South Africa.