South Africa pushes Sadc on stalled migration protocol

South Africa is pressing fellow Southern African Development Community (Sadc) members to sign and ratify a long-stalled protocol on the free movement of people, arguing that the region’s failure to formalise migration channels has left it to absorb the brunt of economic and political displacement from neighbouring states.

Despite Pretoria’s emphasis, migration is not formally listed as a stand-alone agenda item for the Sadc summit in Durban tomorrow, according to people familiar with the matter.

Zimbabwe and Mozambique have pushed back against including it as a stand-alone item for discussion during the main summit proceedings, they say, complicating South Africa’s effort to elevate the issue beyond the ministerial track.

South Africa’s chairmanship of Sadc is also centred on trade and industrialisation. The government wants to lift intra-Sadc trade to 50% and secure greater beneficiation of the region’s critical minerals at source, building on commitments made at a May retreat in Skukuza, Mpumalanga.

But migration and the resistance to putting it before leaders directly is shaping up as an early test of how far South Africa can push its agenda during its year at the helm of the regional body.

International relations minister Ronald Lamola raised the issue with counterparts this week during a council of ministers meeting in Durban.

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

Lamola outlined the steps South Africa has taken to protect migrants amid rising xenophobia and discrimination in the country, while also detailing the government’s plans to address irregular migration domestically

Publicly, Lamola framed the push as central to South Africa’s chairmanship of Sadc for 2026/27. He called on Sadc countries to sign the bloc’s protocol on the free movement of people, saying the agreement will help enable regular and orderly migration. He also argued that migration should not be treated solely as a security issue, since movement across the region is closely tied to economic opportunity and employment.

Only 10 of Sadc’s member states, including South Africa, have signed the protocol, and just seven have ratified it. Eleven ratifications are required before it takes effect. Sad executive secretary Elias Magosi has also pressed the holdouts, urging the remaining countries to accelerate ratification and saying the movement of people and skills should be supported by tolerance, social cohesion and respect for the rule of law.

The friction reflects broader unease within the bloc over how directly to confront a subject that has grown politically sensitive at home. President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed it head-on on Friday, telling a Sadc public lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal that the discrimination directed at African migrants in South Africa in recent months was shameful.

“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,” Ramaphosa said.

“As South Africans, we are deeply concerned and ashamed that nationals from other countries have in recent months been subjected to discrimination and ill-treatment. The criminal actions of a few within our communities are a repudiation of the solidarity upon which this community was founded.”

Nine of Sadc’s 16 heads of state are set to attend the summit, where regional leaders will take up peace and security alongside trade

Dirco spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said South Africa had placed the matter on the agenda to be discussed within the context of migration protocols.

Nine of Sadc’s 16 heads of state are set to attend the summit, where regional leaders will take up peace and security alongside trade. The other members will be represented by government officials, except Comoros, which has been suspended because of nonpayment of membership fees.

Ahead of that meeting, Sadc executive secretary Elias Magosi used a briefing to the Ministerial Committee of the Organ in Durban yesterday to flag Madagascar and Mozambique as the bloc’s most pressing security concerns, even as he described the region as broadly peaceful and stable.

Magosi said political upheaval in Madagascar — including a leadership change and the formation of a transitional authority in September last year — had tested regional stability

On Mozambique, Magosi credited authorities with maintaining peace and political stability since the 2024 general election, pointing to an inclusive national dialogue process aimed at building public trust and social cohesion.

He acknowledged sporadic attacks continuing in Cabo Delgado and surrounding areas but said the broader security picture there was improving, citing the return of displaced communities as a sign of momentum towards recovery and reconstruction.