{"id":39913,"date":"2026-07-18T08:34:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T06:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=39913"},"modified":"2026-07-18T08:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T06:36:11","slug":"sa-cannot-be-labelled-xenophobic-for-enforcing-migration-laws","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-cannot-be-labelled-xenophobic-for-enforcing-migration-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018SA cannot be labelled xenophobic for enforcing migration laws\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"auto\"><span style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">Brand South Africa (SA) Chief Executive Officer Neville Matjie says SA cannot be labelled as xenophobic for enforcing immigration laws.<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">However, the distinction between enforcing immigration laws and xenophobia has divided public and political debate.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Matjie also says the ease of travel between SA and Namibia will support greater economic co-operation and trade relations between the two countries.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He was speaking on the sidelines of the SA-Namibia Business Forum in Midrand, Johannesburg, on Friday.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cBetween us and Namibia, there isn\u2019t much of an issue because we form part of the customs union, you can cross easily without applying for a visa, so that in itself improves how we can do business with each other. What is always a challenge is when it becomes illegal, and when you get to the illegalities, then it creates a problem, not only for SA but for our neighbours,\u201d adds Matjie.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u201cUnfortunately, we\u2019ve had to respond and deal with issues around illegal immigration, and some countries and individuals are now starting to label SA as xenophobic, which is not the case. You can\u2019t label 65 million people as xenophobic; South Africans are not xenophobic,\u201d says Matjie.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">&#8211;SABC&#8211;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33325,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-39913","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Matjie also says the ease of travel between SA and Namibia will support greater economic co-operation","published_date":"","news_description":"Matjie also says the ease of travel between SA and Namibia will support greater economic co-operation","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39917,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39913\/revisions\/39917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=39913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}