8 June 2026
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) notes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address to the nation on migration and illegal immigration. FEDUSA acknowledges that migration management is a legitimate matter of public policy and that South Africans have a right to expect secure borders, effective state systems, fair labour markets, lawful business activity and protected public services.
FEDUSA emphasises that the enforcement of immigration, labour, business licensing and criminal laws is the responsibility of the state and its authorised institutions alone. No individual, grouping or vigilante formation has the right to demand proof of nationality, intimidate workers, attack traders, close businesses unlawfully or take the law into their own hands. FEDUSA denounces violence, xenophobia, Afrophobia, intimidation, vigilantism and any unlawful action directed at foreign nationals, documented or undocumented.
FEDUSA welcomes the President’s emphasis on employer accountability, including proposed stronger penalties and possible imprisonment for employers who knowingly employ undocumented workers, suppress wages, evade labour standards and exploit vulnerable people. FEDUSA believes government should have responded earlier and more visibly to rising tensions, as slow communication creates space for misinformation and harmful narratives that could damage South Africa’s standing on the continent and internationally. FEDUSA calls for lawful, humane and coordinated enforcement that protects workers, holds exploitative employers accountable and rejects violence and vigilantism without hesitation.
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