South Africa is pressing fellow members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to sign and ratify a long‑stalled protocol on the free movement of people, officials said, as the regional leaders’ summit is due to begin in Durban tomorrow.
The government has framed the push as central to its SADC chairmanship for 2026/27 and is seeking to elevate migration beyond ministerial discussion to the leaders’ agenda. International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola raised the matter with counterparts during a council of ministers meeting in Durban this week, according to people familiar with the discussions.
South Africa argues that without a formal regional framework, the burden of absorbing people displaced by economic and political crises in neighbouring states falls disproportionately on frontline states. The government says the SADC protocol on the free movement of people would enable more regular and orderly migration.
Resistance from member states
Not all SADC members support elevating migration to the heads‑of‑state agenda. According to people close to the negotiations, Zimbabwe and Mozambique have resisted including migration as a stand‑alone item for discussion in the main summit proceedings. That resistance complicates Pretoria’s effort to secure a leaders’ mandate to fast‑track signature and ratification.
The disagreement illustrates how migration is both a domestic and regional test for South Africa’s chairmanship. Pretoria is also prioritising trade and industrialisation — with a headline target to lift intra‑SADC trade to 50% and to secure greater beneficiation of the region’s critical minerals at source — commitments it set out at a May retreat in Skukuza, Mpumalanga.
Context: xenophobia and domestic policy
Publicly, Mr Lamola has outlined steps Pretoria has taken to protect migrants amid rising xenophobia and discrimination in South Africa, while also detailing plans to address irregular migration domestically. The minister has argued the protocol would help build a region in which rights are respected.
“If we are serious about building an integrated region, we must build a Southern Africa in which the equal rights of all people are respected, where all people are treated decently. We cannot submit to intimidation and harassment of people seen as coming from elsewhere,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said, according to the source report.
South Africa’s approach treats migration as intertwined with its economic agenda. Officials say regularised mobility could support labour mobility for regional industries and allow countries to manage cross‑border flows more effectively, but that view is contested by some member states wary of potential short‑term social and labour market impacts.
- Priority 1: Secure signatures and ratifications for the SADC protocol on free movement of people.
- Priority 2: Raise intra‑SADC trade to 50% and promote beneficiation of critical minerals.
- Priority 3: Balance regional integration goals with member states’ domestic concerns over migration.
What is at stake
If South Africa succeeds in getting leaders to endorse the protocol, it would mark a step towards institutionalising labour mobility and clearer migration channels across the region. Failure to do so would leave migration management to existing national systems and ministerial‑level arrangements, potentially perpetuating irregular flows and placing disproportionate pressure on gateway countries.
The push is an early litmus test of how far Pretoria can steer SADC priorities during its year in the chair. Officials in Durban will need to bridge divergent views on migration while advancing the government’s parallel commitments on trade and industrialisation made at the Skukuza retreat.
| Issue | Pretoria's position | Opposition |
|---|---|---|
| Free movement protocol | Sign and ratify; place before leaders | Zimbabwe, Mozambique resistant to leaders' discussion |
| Intra‑SADC trade | Increase to 50% | No explicit opposition reported |
Details remain subject to development as the summit opens. WE NEWS will monitor outcomes and any leaders’ declarations from Durban.
