Pretoria – President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed South Africa’s commitment to combating xenophobia while enforcing immigration laws, saying the country will uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of everyone within its borders.
Addressing the First Ordinary Session of the Seventh Pan-African Parliament in Midrand on Monday, Ramaphosa said South Africa had “taken a firm stand against hatred for people from other countries, xenophobia or Afrophobia” and had strengthened its laws “to defuse tension” while ensuring that “the rights of people from outside South Africa are respected and upheld.”
Watch below (courtesy of SABC News)
The president also urged African nations to work together to address the root causes of migration, including conflict, instability, governance failures, poverty and social inequality.
“We need to work together to address issues like conflict, instability, governance failures, poverty and social discord,” Ramaphosa said, adding that Africa must “create equal economic opportunities” and “silence the guns” so that “Africans are able to migrate out of choice and not necessity.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa has responded to growing concerns around immigration challenges affecting South Africa and the wider African continent pic.twitter.com/GuxEqtnmYF
— News Live SA (@newslivesa) July 27, 2026
“We must work for a future where Africans are able to migrate out of choice and not necessity, and we call on this Pan-African Parliament to take up the mantle of leadership, to be at the forefront of finding sustainable solutions to this issue.” – President Cyril Ramaphosa… pic.twitter.com/XibImRh7Yu
— News Live SA (@newslivesa) July 27, 2026
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
