SA First Forum demand urgent action on undocumented South Africans

Xolani Zuma, CEO of the South African First Forum, is urging the government to prioritize undocumented South Africans, not just refugees. It is estimated that 4.4 million citizens lack identity documents, and the forum has written to the Home Affairs Minister demanding urgent action. They have given the department 14 days to devise a plan to document citizens within 90 days.

Zuma argues that focusing solely on refugees is problematic because the lack of identity documents leads to various social issues such as crime, drug abuse, and other social ills among young people. Furthermore, a Constitutional Court ruling supports this call for action. Home Affairs is allocating resources to assist refugees and asylum seekers, but the forum contends that South Africans without documents have not received social grants, despite the department spending 1.2 billion on foreign nationals. The forum emphasizes that these millions of South Africans should be given priority.