The department of home affairs has returned to the drawing board to overhaul SA’s immigration regime and is set to table a revised guide with the cabinet in the first quarter of 2026.
The review of the White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection delays a process initiated by former home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi in 2023.
Motsoaledi’s immigration blueprint was approved by the cabinet in April last year — just a month before the general elections that produced a hung parliament and the government of national unity (GNU).
Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber has started a review of the white paper and a new one is expected to be presented to the cabinet in March 2026.
In its 2025/26 annual performance plan the department said the white paper would be reviewed to ensure alignment with its digitisation and to deal with any possible gaps.
“SA has outdated and fragmented policies that regulate citizenship, immigration and refugee protection. As a result, this compromises SA’s national sovereignty, territorial integrity and the ability to contribute to strategic development goals of the country,” the plan reads.
“The current administration and management of citizenship, immigration and refugees protection is not in line with SA’s national interest nor the priorities of the new GNU.
“The new vision of a digitally transformed home affairs, constitutional imperatives and striking a balance between the economic growth agenda and security further necessitated the review of the white paper.”
Under the white paper issued by Motsoaledi, the department proposed that the government review the international treaty concerning refugee protection, saying it was a “mistake” not to have curtailed socioeconomic rights extended to asylum seekers.
Under Motsoaledi the department proposed the biggest overhaul of SA’s immigration in a generation, arguing the fiscus can no longer bear the cost of refugees.
Reservations
At the time the department said the government had erred by not having limitations on socioeconomic rights — known legally as reservations — for refugees when it signed up to the refugee convention.
It gave examples of several countries that have imposed reservations that do not drain their coffers. Angola and Uganda restrict the movement of refugees and limit their privileges.
Zambia has absolved itself of the convention’s requirement that refugees have the same access to elementary education as nationals, as have Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The department said the review of the approved white paper would provide additional information, technical data and results that are not initially included in the document.
The draft amended white paper will consider results of international benchmarking of the policy proposals contained in the white paper, along with legal research determining the constitutionality and overall legal implications of the various policy propositions in the approved white paper.
Other considerations will include the digital transformation vision for the department, which is operating at 40% of capacity and still has millions of civic records to digitise as part of a presidential project.
The review of the white paper comes as the fiscus and the department face serious financial constraints.
About 40-million civic records have been digitised since the inception of the presidential project and a further 25-million are expected to be completed in the 2025/26 financial year.
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