• Schreiber says Home Affairs has deported 109,344 illegal immigrants since he took office — 46% more than under the previous minister.

• A new immigration white paper proposes tighter asylum rules, tougher anti-fraud measures and wider use of drones, biometrics and AI.

• The overhaul also introduces new visa categories, merit-based citizenship and mandatory birth and death registration.

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By John Matisonn

DA Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber has deported 46% more illegal immigrants than his ANC predecessor -- 109 344 since taking office nearly two years ago.

Schreiber announced this when he unveiled a white paper approved by cabinet to overhaul and streamline immigration policy, which will now be drafted into law.

“The deployment of drone and body camera technology has already made a difference, while the impending scale-up of the Electronic Travel Authorisation system will record biometrics for every foreigner who enters our country, dramatically enhancing our ability to detect and arrest anyone who is in South Africa illegally,” the minister said.

“These numbers show that we are now reaping the fruits of reforms focused on greater efficiency and intensified enforcement against immigration violators … Our message remains clear: If you are in South Africa illegally, self-deport now before we find you and ban you from ever entering our country legally in future.”

Home Affairs’ higher number of deportations was released on social media, indicating that Schreiber understands the importance of showing the DA is not soft on foreigners, to counter ActionSouth Africa’s Herman Mashaba, who is fighting the DA to run Johannesburg and has made his hostility to foreigners a key campaign focus.

Deportations increased by 30%, from 39 672 in the 2023/24 financial year to 51 560 in 2024/25, followed by another increase of 12%, to 57 784, in 2025/26.

The new methods and policies are designed to clamp down on fraud and abuse, enhance national security, improve service delivery through digital transformation and promote economic development, the statement from the department said.

The new policy adds a “First Safe Country Principle”, meaning that asylum seekers who have been granted refugee status or lawful protection in another country, or who pass through safe third countries to reach South Africa, are ineligible for asylum in South Africa. 

This is intended to stop refugees choosing South Africa as their preferred destination while passing through other safe countries on the way. 

The Minister will designate safe third countries that have ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and to withdraw such designation, and review the list annually. 

The new policy mandates government to enter into bilateral agreements with safe third countries to share the burden of migration in sub-Saharan Africa more fairly. 

Citizenship will be granted on merit, no longer solely on the number of years a foreigner has lived here. 

The policy that a child with at least one parent who is a South African citizen at the time of birth automatically becomes a citizen, while a child born to non-South African parents has to apply for naturalisation.

New visa categories will be established for remote work, start-ups, skilled workers (which combines the existing critical skills and general work visas into one category), sports and culture. Corporate visas will be replaced with sectoral work visas for specific industries. 

In future birth and death registrations will be mandatory, and advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, biometrics, interoperability and real-time data integration will be introduced to improve governance, integrate service delivery and for national planning.

Regional tensions persist as Israeli strikes hit Lebanon, while Anthropic’s “Mythos” model raises fresh cyber risk concerns.

At home, the Rand rallied after talks between Cyril Ramaphosa and US Ambassador Brent Bozell - though deeper diplomatic strains remain.

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