In a firm and carefully worded briefing on Sunday, the South African government drew a clear line in the sand regarding its approach to migration management. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration, announced unequivocally that South Africa will not establish refugee camps—whether temporary or permanent—as part of its response to the challenges of migration and recent community tensions simmering across several provinces.
The statement comes amid growing calls from certain community groups and political formations for the government to create dedicated camps to house foreign nationals, particularly those who are undocumented or who have been displaced by anti-immigration protests. Proponents of the idea have argued that camps would provide order, security, and a centralized system for processing asylum applications. But Kubayi rejected the notion outright, citing South Africa’s constitutional values, historical trauma, and practical considerations.
“We are not a camp society,” Kubayi told reporters. “South Africa fought too long and too hard against the spatial violence of apartheid—the bantustans, the pass laws, the enclosed settlements designed to control movement. We will not recreate those horrors under a different name. Refugee camps are not the South African solution.”
The Minister emphasized that the government’s migration strategy remains rooted in integration within existing communities, backed by improved border management, better documentation systems, and enhanced enforcement against criminal networks that exploit migrants. She acknowledged the legitimate concerns of citizens in pressured communities—over jobs, housing, and services—but insisted that camps would only exacerbate tensions rather than resolve them.
“Putting people behind fences does not solve service delivery problems. It creates parallel systems of neglect and feeds xenophobic narratives that foreign nationals are somehow not human like the rest of us,” Kubayi said. “The answer is functioning municipalities, accessible asylum processing, and the rule of law—not enclosures.”
The Inter-Ministerial Committee has instead committed to improving conditions in existing urban and peri-urban areas where migrants already live, including better access to health care, education, and dispute resolution mechanisms. The message was clear: South Africa will manage migration with dignity, not detention. Camps are off the table. Period.
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