The African National Congress is not going to amend the Constitution in order to tackle illegal migration.
This was confirmed as the party unveiled the resolutions from its 55th national conference, which took place in December.
The party adopted the Migration Policy Framework which seeks to address illegal migration – a prominent feature of the conference, as the rise of anti-immigrant groups have forced government to face the issue head on.
The ANC has ruled out the amendment of the Constitution in order to address the challenges of illegal migration in the country.
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula says the Constitution will not amended.
”Do we look at amending the constitution? No, not at all. We are going to formulate a programme of action on how some of these resolutions are going to be implemented , in the short term and long term and the legislative implications for the implementation of some of the resolutions”
Mbalula was engaging the media on the party’s resolutions following the conference.
One of which is the resolution on migration which will see the complete overhaul of the Citizenship Act, Refugees Act and Immigration Act to meet the new challenges facing South Africa.
The resolution states that the ANC-led government must introduce a single piece of legislation to deal with citizenship, immigration and refugee protection.
The resolution was subjected to criticism by interested social justice and human rights organisations in the country, who argued that the ANC’s plan to tackle illegal migration would never hold up against the Constitution of South Africa, which prioritises fundamental human rights.
This is evident in the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi’s court challenges in matters dealing with migration – the most recent being the 12 Afghan nationals who took Home Affairs to court for refusing them entry into the country and won.
”In June, last year , when the ruling party had its policy conference , we drew a new document from the peace and stability of the ruling party having been initiated by Home Affairs to say we need to review our immigration laws in this country , there is something that makes us very vulnerable to the immigration laws” says Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.
The ANC-led government has resolved to review the country’s accession into the 1951 Convention on Refugees and 1967 Protocol. This procedure involves depositing the reservations with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
