The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has rejected what it calls a narrow framing of Africa’s immigration challenges, pushing instead for a coordinated continental policy response to population movement across the region.
At a media briefing in Pretoria on Wednesday, International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola welcomed the African Union Council’s decision to reject a proposal from Ghana that would have placed South Africa’s xenophobia on the AU agenda. That rejection, DIRCO said, reflects recognition that immigration cannot be reduced to a single nation’s internal dynamics.
Lamola argued that the AU should convene a continent-wide summit dedicated to immigration policy and governance. His position rests on a concrete demographic reality: approximately five percent of Africa’s population currently resides outside their countries of origin, driven primarily by economic necessity rather than voluntary choice. This scale of internal African migration, he contended, demands coordinated analysis and policy response across all member states, not targeted scrutiny of one nation.
The minister’s statement came as Ghana renewed calls for AU debate on South Africa’s anti-migrant unrest, and amid broader regional concern raised by the Economic Community of West African States regarding migration patterns and their effects. The National Assembly has also faced domestic pressure to probe immigration policy failures at home.
DIRCO’s position is, at its core, a governance argument: individual nations cannot be isolated and held accountable for phenomena that are continental in scope. While acknowledging South Africa’s status as a primary destination for African immigrants, Lamola framed the challenge as a shared responsibility requiring coordinated institutional response rather than bilateral or targeted criticism.
What changed, at least procedurally, is the AU Council’s rejection of Ghana’s proposal. It represents a diplomatic win for Pretoria. The underlying tensions, however, remain unresolved. Regional bodies continue to raise concerns about migration-related unrest, and domestic pressure within South Africa persists for clearer immigration governance and accountability for policy failures.
Rather than defend against specific allegations of xenophobic conduct, DIRCO is reframing the conversation around systemic governance questions: how African states collectively manage migration, what policy frameworks are needed, and how the AU should coordinate member-state responses. The department positions South Africa not as a defendant but as a participant in a broader institutional conversation.
The effectiveness of this approach will depend on whether other African states and the AU itself embrace the summit proposal, and what governance frameworks, if any, emerge from such a process.