Simon Majadibodu|Published
Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration chairperson Mmamoloko Kubayi has called for improperly registered SIM cards of foreign nationals to be deactivated, saying they are being used to facilitate criminal activity in South Africa.
Kubayi, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, was briefing the media in Pretoria on Monday night alongside community leaders and organisers of anti-illegal immigration protests when she made the comments.
The delegation included Zulu royal chancellor iNkosi Malusi Zondi, representatives of the Black Business Forum, Binca Nation president Ngizwe Mchunu and leaders of Hlangana Mzansi, among others.
The engagement follows violent protests in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, during which several cars and houses were torched and shops looted, and foreign nationals assaulted and killed.
Government plans to modernise border systems
Kubayi said the government was working to modernise systems at the country’s ports of entry, including airports, seaports and land borders, to improve the registration and tracking of people entering South Africa.
She said the planned system would allow authorities to register travellers electronically, record their visa details and telephone numbers, and send reminders before their visas expired.
“Let's say two days, 24 hours or 48 hours before your departure date, an SMS will be sent to you to say your visa dates are ending, please leave the country. You are required to leave,” she said.
Kubayi said the system would also be linked to mobile network operators to address the use of improperly registered SIM cards in criminal activities.
“When we've met with the mobile network operators, your people who are providing the SIM cards and our airtime and our phone capabilities, we are asking that we should be able to terminate the SIM cards that are not registered properly in the country, because they're committing crimes,” she said.
She raised concerns about SIM cards registered under one person's name in large numbers and then sold to other people, making it difficult for authorities to trace those using them.
“You don't have to have SIM cards that are just registered by one person, 10,000 of them, and they're sold in Marabastad, and anyone can buy,” she said.
She added that the planned measures would help authorities trace people using small, difficult-to-track mobile phones.
Biometric registration to improve tracking
Kubayi said foreign nationals applying for SIM cards would be required to use their passports for registration, enabling authorities to trace their details if they changed telephone numbers.
The proposed system would also link asylum seekers' registration details, locations and fingerprints to strengthen identification and tracking.
Kubayi described these measures as long-term interventions that would complement the government's immediate response to concerns raised by communities.
Concern over hijacked buildings
Kubayi said the delegation had expressed an interest in working with the government to reclaim state-owned buildings that had allegedly been hijacked by illegal occupiers and landlords.
“These hijacked buildings are currently being used for criminal activities such as drug dealing, human trafficking and other illicit activities,” she said.
The groups wanted to participate in ongoing court proceedings involving asylum seekers and immigration enforcement.
“These will include the Scalabrini matter in which the Constitutional Court handed down a judgement on the rights of asylum seekers and the panel that has been put together by the Gauteng judge president to resolve the matter of contradictory judgments on whether people who are in the country illegally and have applied for asylum should be detained or not,” Kubayi said.
ConCourt ruling on asylum seekers
The engagement comes after the Constitutional Court in July upheld an earlier Western Cape High Court ruling declaring parts of the Refugees Act unconstitutional and invalid.
The judgment strengthened procedural protections for asylum seekers, making clear that administrative requirements could not automatically prevent people from accessing the asylum system.
The case was brought by the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town and Lawyers for Human Rights, which challenged practices that prevented some new asylum seekers from accessing the system and resulted in some being arrested, detained and deported without refugee status determination interviews.
The organisations argued that the practices undermined access to asylum procedures and the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to countries where they could face persecution or serious harm.
The committee said the move was intended to address concerns about the implementation of the judgment, while the government continues to manage asylum applications and immigration enforcement.
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