Proposed immigration clampdown laws in South Africa cause friction within the GNU

Member of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Al Jama-ah, has rejected the Department of Home Affairs draft laws on immigration, calling them “white supremacist” and “racist.”

Al Jama-ah leader and Deputy Minister of Social Development, Ganief Hendricks, said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika that the policy is “counterrevolutionary and promotes white supremacism.”

“We cannot accept such a policy, and I’ve already asked the party leadership to lodge a complaint in the leaders’ forum of the Government of National Unity as per the dispute mechanisms provided,” he said. 

“Al Jama-ah is opposing the position of the cabinet, which has approved the racist, white supremacist policy.”

The cabinet approved the white paper in December 2025. Hendricks is a Deputy Minister and is thus not part of the cabinet.

The party leader, whose party has two seats in the 400-seat parliament, said he believes the policies are largely directed at preventing Africans from taking asylum in South Africa, while opening access to Europeans. 

The leader added that the party will be asking for the white paper to be recalled and for the South African Law Commission to lead the process, and not GNU partner, the Democratic Alliance (DA), whose member Leon Schreiber is currently minister of Home Affairs. 

The party takes issue with the white paper’s policy that asylum seekers would be forced to remain in the first safe country where they find themselves, and cannot travel further on to South Africa, and will be turned away if they do.

Hendricks called this refoulment, the act of forcibly returning refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution.

“The leadership of the Department of Home Affairs, which is a part of the GNU, is going to undo the gains that we have achieved over the last 30 years in having a progressive approach to immigration,” Hendricks said. 

“If someone applies for refugee status, we should be honoured that they’ve chosen our country,” he said. 

Hendricks argues that the DA have frequently pushed counterrevolutionary policies into the GNU. 

‘DA pushing anti-immigration policy down the throat of the GNU’

“First, we had the Black Economic Empowerment Act (BEE), which the DA have quarrels with, and now they’re pushing this narrative down the throat of the GNU, which I, as a member of the leaders forum, will oppose vigorously.”

The draft Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection was drawn up by the department as part of a drive tracing back to 2024 to close gaps in immigration legislation. 

The Department explains that previous legislation is mechanical, fragmented and prone to abuse.

In addition to laws on immigration, the draft paper allows for universal digital registration, a single identity population register that would collect the biometric information of all residents in South Africa. 

The white paper directly links economic growth and tourism to waiving visa requirements for European countries, proposing visa-free access for most European and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The “first safe country” principle requires asylum seekers to claim protection in the first safe country they reach, aiming to prevent refugees from picking and choosing their destination. 

African migrants would also be classified as economic migrants, who are overwhelming the system, according to the Department of Home Affairs, asserting that most of these individuals are seeking employment rather than protection from prosecution. 

The white paper also removes the process of awarding citizenship based on years of residence, calling for a points-based system that prioritises skilled professionals.

Following approval by cabinet, the paper has been published for public comment, which will continue until February 15.

Following this, the document will then be the subject of a national stakeholder consultation session to engage other government departments.