17 June 2026
Organised Labour at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), comprising COSATU, FEDUSA, SAFTU and NACTU, has convened this media briefing to respond to the growing tensions around migration and illegal immigration in South Africa.
We recognise the deep frustration of millions of South Africans facing unemployment, poverty, inequality, crime and deteriorating public services. These are real and legitimate grievances. However, South Africa’s economic crisis was not created by migrants. It is rooted in economic stagnation, deindustrialisation, mass unemployment, corruption, austerity, weak governance and the failure to build an economy that serves the majority.
Migrants must not be made scapegoats for failures they did not create. Removing foreign nationals from workplaces, communities or public spaces will not reopen factories, repair municipalities, strengthen public healthcare or create sustainable jobs. The frustrations of local communities must be addressed by fixing the economy, creating decent work and rebuilding the state.
We are deeply concerned that the current surge in anti-migrant sentiment and mobilisation appears increasingly coordinated and politically orchestrated. Its purpose seems not only to divide the working class and redirect legitimate anger away from the real causes of poverty, unemployment, inequality and collapsing public services, but also to portray South Africa as a nation consumed by xenophobia and prone to barbaric acts of black-on-black violence in order to portray us in the most negative light in eyes of the international community.
Even more dangerously, they sow the seeds of tribalism, chauvinism and conflict among African people, threatening the unity that workers need in order to confront exploitation and fight collectively for jobs, decent living conditions and social justice. The working class must reject all attempts to divide it along national, ethnic or tribal lines and reaffirm the principle that an injury to one is an injury to all.
Organised Labour is unequivocally opposed to vigilantism. The enforcement of immigration, labour and criminal laws is the responsibility of the democratic state and its authorised institutions alone. No individual, organisation or self-appointed structure has the right to stop people in the streets, demand identity documents, raid workplaces, close businesses or prevent people from accessing public services.
While citizens have every right to march, petition government and demand effective immigration control, protest cannot become a licence for intimidation, unlawful detention, forced removals, ethnic profiling or violence.
South Africans have seen where this road leads, having lived through the deadly violence of 2008 and subsequent attacks on foreign nationals. We will not allow legitimate public anger to be manipulated into hatred and lawlessness. History has shown the devastating consequences of redirecting socioeconomic grievances against people based on their nationality or origin.
At the same time, Organised Labour is firmly opposed to the unlawful employment of undocumented migrants. Employers who knowingly hire vulnerable workers to pay lower wages, evade labour laws, avoid collective agreements and weaken collective bargaining are central to this crisis.
These employers exploit both South African and migrant workers and deliberately deepen divisions within the working class. They must be investigated, prosecuted and subjected to meaningful penalties. The law must focus not only on undocumented workers, but also on those who profit from their vulnerability.
Government must also accept responsibility for allowing the crisis to grow. Weak border management, inadequate labour inspection, failing Home Affairs systems, corruption and the underfunding of frontline institutions have contributed directly to public frustration.
Austerity has consequences. Government cannot weaken the Border Management Authority, the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Employment and Labour and other critical institutions, and then express surprise when systems fail, queues grow, enforcement collapses and communities lose confidence in the state.
We call for a capable, properly resourced and accountable state. This must include stronger labour inspection, effective border management, adequate staffing, reliable information technology systems and the digitisation and integration of migration and employment processes.
Technology must be used to reduce corruption, improve the processing of applications and strengthen enforcement. However, digital systems cannot replace the need for trained personnel and functional institutions.
Organised Labour also condemns all persons who solicit or accept bribes, facilitate illegal entry, issue fraudulent documentation or protect employers who violate the law. Such conduct fuels the crisis, undermines public trust and betrays the many honest public servants who continue to perform their duties under difficult conditions.
We support lawful and coordinated migration management, including the National Labour Migration Policy and stronger measures, including criminal prosecution, against employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers. The Employment Services legislation must provide a credible long-term framework for regulating the employment of foreign nationals and prosecuting employers who deliberately break the law. However, legislation will mean little without effective implementation and properly capacitated institutions.
Organised labour rejects all attempts to pit worker against worker. We therefore emphasise the urgent need for a coordinated regional and continental development programme to address the deep inequalities and uneven economic development that persist across Africa. Unless these structural disparities are tackled, migration from less developed countries to relatively more developed economies, such as South Africa, will continue. This pattern of migration, combined with high unemployment, poverty, inequality and inadequate public services, fuels the anti-migrant sentiments that have become increasingly prevalent in South Africa today.
The persistent failure of many African states to address unemployment, poverty and underdevelopment continues to drive large-scale migration in search of work and survival. In countries such as South Africa, employers often exploit these migratory patterns to access vulnerable labour, suppress wages, weaken collective bargaining and divide the workforce. The result is that workers are pitted against one another, worker solidarity is undermined, and the principles of internationalism that have historically strengthened the labour movement are weakened. The solution is not to blame migrant workers, who are themselves victims of economic hardship, but to address the structural conditions that force people to migrate and to build unity among workers across national borders in the common struggle against exploitation.
We therefore call on organised labour across Africa, Asia and beyond to hold their governments accountable for corruption, repression, unemployment, economic mismanagement and violations of human rights. Organised Labour must defend working-class solidarity while demanding that every government take responsibility for creating conditions in which its citizens can live, work and prosper safely in their own countries.
Workers everywhere share an interest in decent wages, safe workplaces, functioning public institutions, democratic governance and economies that serve the majority.
We also note calls for national action on 30 June. This action has not been called by the recognised labour federations and does not constitute a protected strike. Workers who stay away from work will not enjoy the protections afforded to participants in a protected strike.
We urge workers to report for duty and not place their employment at risk. Government must communicate this clearly and act decisively against intimidation, unlawful shutdowns, attacks on workers, violence and threats to critical infrastructure.
Organised Labour remains firmly committed to democracy, the rule of law, international solidarity and the unity of the working class. Migrants are not the cause of South Africa’s economic crisis. Exploitation, unemployment, corruption, economic failure and state incapacity are.
Issued by Organised Labour at NEDLAC
For interviews and enquiries:
Zanele Sabela
Cosatu Spokesperson
079 287 5788/077 600 6639
Betty Moleya
FEDUSA Media and Communications
063 736 5533
Newton Masuku
SAFTU National Spokesperson
066 168 2157
Lehlogonolo Digashu
NACTU
083 538 1270
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