South Africa govment to prosecute citizens wey cause kasala during anti-migrant protests

Di South African govment say dem dey work hard to improve di international perception of di kontri by making sure say dia citizens wey engage for unlawful anti-immigration activities face justice.

Dis dey come as tori full ground say di kontri don dey suffer labour shortage afta many of di immigrants wey dey work for dia formal and informal sectors don return to dia kontris sake of di anti-migrants wahala wey dem face.

Chrispin Phiri, wey be di tok-tok pesin for di South Africa Department of International Relations and Cooperation, tell BBC say law enforcement don arrest many of dia citizens wey engage for anti-immigration raids and dem go face prosecution.

Phiri na part of di South African delegation wey bin hold face-to-face meeting wit di Nigeria Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye, for Abuja on Monday, wia di Nigeria govment make am clear say di attacks on dia citizens gatz to stop.

E tok say for Limpopo wia some Nigeria bin dey confronted by some individuals wey demand immigration documents from dem, "dose individuals don dey arrested and dem dey now face di court system".

"We don demonstrate to our Nigerian counterparts say di system dey work, we dey make sure say pipo no dey take di laws into dia own hands. We go really like to see environment wia we dey able to engage on dis issues diplomatically," Phiri tok.

"Di (South African) State dey willing and able to prosecute any form of vigilantism or elements wey dey take di laws into dia own hands.

"In fact we don highlight 69 cases for di Western Cape alone, wia we don bring pipo bifor di court of law and dem dey face prosecution."

About how dis situation fit impact di South African economy, Phiri insist say dem dey work hard to address the issues bilaterally while also making sure say di kontri justice system dey prosecute pipo wey dey act illegally.

"We believe say we go dey able to address dis concerns. Thus far, we don see say we dey able to have dialogue about dis issues, and di sentiments go improve once we start to dey see law enforcement taking di necessary actions wia we can," Phiri tok.

Shortage of workforce

Thousands of immigrants from several African kontris don run for dia lif comot from South Africa since di latest wave of xenophobic violence break out for di kontri.

Nigeria alone don evacuate almost 1,500 of dia citizens from South Africa dis year, while on Sunday, 26 July 2026, Ghana evacuate anoda 1000 of dia citizens to make am almost 2000 pipo wey dem don bring bak from South Africa since June dis year.

Plenty media tori dey tok say some sectors of di South African economy don already start to dey feel di impact of labour shortages as di workforce don reduce wella sake of say many of di immigrants don go.

One farmer for di north coast tell Nigeria Channels TV say e don lose about 80 percent of im workforce wey dey cut sugercane for im farm.

"Production and supply don go down well-well to di point wia e go dey difficult for di mills to stay open," di man tok, as e plead anonymity bicos e dey fear retaliation.

Di South Africa govment don respond to dis situation by expanding dia 'Trusted Employer Scheme' to fast-track work visas for companies wey meet di requirement.

Some of dis requirements be say di company must to dey operate for priority sectors, dem must employ predominantly South Africans and also invest for skills development.

However, labour stakeholders dey beg di govment to create legal process wey foerign workers fit use come to some sectors like agriculture wey depend heavily on migrant workers

Siyabonga Madlala, chief executive of di South African Farmers Development Association, tok dis one during TV interview, suggesting say di govment fit give priority to citizens of di Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states.

Official figures show say ova 60% of immigrants for South Africa come from SADC kontris like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, etc.

Mpho Lenoke, lecturer for di North-West University, tell Reuters tori pipo say true-true restrictions for migrant labour dey usually get "unintended consequences" for di South Africa economy, bicos na migrants dey normally ​find work for sectors wia vacancies dey difficult to fill, like construction, farming, hospitality, retail, and transport.