Examining the role played by the Department of Home Affairs, the Law Enforcement Agencies, and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in response to undocumented immigrants in South Africa

The issue of undocumented immigrants has become one of the major challenges in South Africa (SA) since the transition of the government in 1994. The majority of South Africans have been complaining about the increased number of undocumented immigrants in the country, and the government is not paying much attention to undocumented immigrants. The government must develop amicable solutions to resolve it as soon as possible. This paper aims to examine the role played by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), the South African Police Service (SAPS), and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in response to undocumented immigrants in SA. This paper was done qualitatively using a desktop study. The authors reviewed the existing literature to conduct this paper. A key finding of this paper is that the DHA is not paying much attention to all immigrants whose visas are expired to deport them to their countries of origin. Soldiers who are deployed along the territorial borderlines are involved in corruption and receive bribes from illegal foreigners to give them access to enter SA. The study also finds that the fences that were built on the border are not strong enough to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border to South Africa. This paper recommends that the DHA and the SAPS should intensively work hand in hand to conduct a raid, arrest all undocumented and illegal immigrants whose visas expired, and deport them to their countries of origin. The paper also recommends that the DPWL build an electric fence that will prevent illegal immigrants from attempting to cross the border to SA. The SANDF must deploy many soldiers to the territorial borderlines that will be guarded for 24 hours. The South African government must introduce a biometric system.