Professor Firoz Cachalia, South Africa's Acting Police Minister, is drawing a firm line between enforcing immigration law and tolerating the kind of street-level violence that has flared up against foreign nationals across the country.
Cachalia is clear: the government is committed to addressing illegal immigration, but that fight belongs in the hands of the law, not in the hands of mobs. Vigilantism directed at foreign nationals, he says, has no place in South Africa.
The statement lands at a time when tensions around migration remain high in many communities. For Cachalia, the message to both citizens and law enforcement is the same: process and accountability matter, even when the issues are urgent.
How the government moves from strong words to consistent action on the ground is the question South Africans, and the foreign nationals living among them, will be watching closely.
Originally published by AllAfrica.