South Africa: Pretoria asks countries of origin to reimburse the repatriation costs of foreigners.

The South African Department of Home Affairs presented this estimate before a parliamentary committee. The bill includes the establishment of a temporary center in the north of the country, as well as repatriation and removal operations.

According to the authorities, some embassies and governments organized the transport of their nationals themselves. However, others allegedly lacked the means, forcing South Africa to cover part of the transportation. The chartering of buses constitutes the main expense.

Interior Minister Leon Schreiber described the scale of the operations as “unprecedented.” However, a representative from his ministry clarified that these expenses, deemed necessary by the authorities, were not included in public budgets.

Pretoria Requests Compensation from Several Countries

South Africa claims to have written to the government of Malawi as well as to the embassies of Nigeria and Ethiopia to demand financial compensation. However, the exact number of nationals involved is subject to differing assessments: several African governments provide figures higher than the approximately 90,000 departures recorded by Pretoria.

The issue of compensation is also at the heart of a dispute between South Africa and several countries on the continent. Ghana and Nigeria have indicated their intent to seek redress for the harm suffered by their nationals during the protests. Pretoria rejects this perspective and refuses to compensate the concerned states.

These protests have revitalized tensions surrounding migration in South Africa, where foreigners are regularly accused, particularly by certain political groups and citizens, of competing with local labor or occupying informal business activities. However, the authorities must distinguish between irregular migrants and foreign nationals residing legally in the country.

The subject is also being discussed at the regional level. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) council of ministers is currently meeting in Durban, ahead of a summit of heads of state scheduled for August 17.

Discussions are expected to focus, in particular, on the management of migration and cooperation among countries in the region. The timeline and terms of any potential coverage of the costs demanded by Pretoria have not been specified.