{"id":861421,"date":"2026-06-07T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=861421"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:00:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T12:00:57","slug":"south-africa-shows-58000-people-the-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/861421\/south-africa-shows-58000-people-the-door\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa shows 58,000 people the door"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the past five years, the number of people deported from South Africa has increased significantly, reaching 57,784 in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said that South Africa is often overlooked in the global migration narrative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He emphasised the tensions between South Africans and immigrants in the country, noting that deporting undocumented individuals is essential for maintaining social cohesion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These tensions have been particularly evident in recent weeks, with the anti-immigration movement \u201cMarch and March\u201d staging protests in several cities, where there have been reports of immigrants being assaulted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among their demands are stricter immigration controls and the deportation of undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Schreiber took office in the 2024\/25 financial year, the rise in deportation numbers began before his tenure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Home Affairs initiated Operation Siyasebenta (we are working) in 2022 to combat the presence of undocumented workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the department started collaborating with the police and the Department of Labour on a joint initiative called Operation Shanela (sweep clean), which targets various crimes, including immigration-related offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to GroundUp<\/a> reports, in the 2025\/26 financial year, 57,784 individuals were deported from South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This marked a significant increase compared to the 14,589 deportations in the 2020\/21 period, which was likely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic limiting the state’s deportation capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deportations from South Africa have surged dramatically over a five-year period, nearly quadrupling from 14,859 in the 2020\/21 financial year to 57,784 in the 2025\/26 financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the growth was gradual between 2020 and 2023, there was a significant spike between the 2022\/23 and 2023\/24 financial years, where the number of cases increased by over 17,000 in just one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This upward trend continued throughout the 2024\/25 financial year and peaked in the most recent 2025\/26 cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the increase in numbers since 2020, they still fall short of the average of 67,000 deportations annually between 2010 and 2019. It is worth noting that in 2007, over 300,000 people were deported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R12.5 billion invested in border post upgrades<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Source: The Outlier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In April 2026, the Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber announced the R12.5 billion investment into upgrading six of South Africa’s land border posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The upgrades are also said to include Beitbridge, Lebombo and Maseru Bridge, to make them safer and more secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Home Affairs Department said that these upgrades are essential for reducing congestion and enabling faster, more efficient movement of goods and people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes these developments represent significant progress in securing the nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Africa\u2019s border had previously been weakened by failing infrastructure and corruption, but that is being turned around now,\u201d said the DA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DA said that it has noticed clear progress across the Home Affairs ecosystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBank Branches offering SmartID applications, biometric verification, drones monitoring borders, and digital travel systems are all part of the Digital Transformation of Home Affairs being led by a DA Minister,\u201d said the DA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DA highlighted the importance of finalising the transfer of SAPS border policing functions promptly to ensure a unified and effective enforcement framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe DA supports reforms that secure South Africa\u2019s borders while facilitating trade and economic growth,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe current trajectory is positive, and we know the minister will ensure that these reforms deliver real, lasting impact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DA said that it was proud of the progress made by the Department of Home Affairs, under DA Minister Leon Schreiber, in strengthening border security, modernising ports of entry, and deporting illegal immigrants.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past five years, the number of people deported from South Africa has increased significantly, reaching 57,784 in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":861451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[20392,21990],"class_list":["post-861421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-democratic-aliance-da","tag-home-affairs-minister-leon-schreiber"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861421"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861454,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861421\/revisions\/861454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}