Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

17 February 2026

2-minute read

On the revised ‘White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection’ published last year, Actions SA has proposed for only 10 thousand applications for asylum seekers to be considered by government annually.

ActionSA’s National Spokesperson and a Councillor in the City of Johannesburg Lerato Ngobeni says it is about what “our government can responsibly administer.” Following on from what happened last year with budget cuts on resources, service delivery pressures, the housing backlog, and the water crisis due to deteriorating infrastructure, the party is calling for the administering and adjustment on this act by parliament.

“In reality we can’t run unlimited refugee status without collapsing the system,” emphasises Lerato. Despite no adequate numbers or reliable data on immigrants entering the country being available at present, the party believes that 10 thousand asylum seekers per year is the capacity that the state can absorb. ActionSA is advocating for “some kind of biometrics” to keep checks on immigrants coming through the borders.

Furthermore, they are suggesting replacing refugee centres with integration and repatriation centres and only allowing a 12-month stay for immigrants, to achieve a responsible system that “takes into account the lived realities of the people” of South Africa. ActionSA does not want local citizens “to be at loggerheads” with immigrants who enter the country to live, work or seek asylum here.

Underprivileged and needy citizens of the country suffer the brunt of having unknown people unleashed in their communities. This proposal is “merely a measure” to assist government in managing who is coming in and out of the country, whether they can be traced or not, and to give them the resources they need.

Lerato concludes that this is not an issue of “race, colour or creed,” and has nothing to do with xenophobia, but rather it is “the cries of the people of South Africa” that must be heard and managed by its government.

Listen to the full interview with Ml Sulaimaan Ravat and Lerato Ngobeni here.