# summary - Link: https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/immigration-paper/summary/ - Published: 2026-02-12T11:45:39+02:00 - Author: dearSA _Advert_ _Advert – scroll down_ Public participation report – with all public comments ⌊Loader⌉ Loading... ⌊EAD Logo⌉ Taking too long? ⌊Reload⌉ Reload document | [ ⌊Open⌉ Open in new tab ](https://cdn.dearsouthafrica.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/01182838/report-on-white-paper.pdf) [Download [2.04 MB] ](https://cdn.dearsouthafrica.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/01182838/report-on-white-paper.pdf) This report was delivered to the Director-General, Department of Home Affairs If you find value in what we do, please chip in – even a small amount helps tremendously. [ click here to chip in](https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/thankyou/) [ Have a say](https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/immigration-paper/#havasay) ### _Questions and answers_ [Will living in South Africa for 5 years still guarantee me Citizenship?](https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/immigration-paper/summary/#1763554389233-fdb8fee6-6da4d84f-6edd) **No.** The current “time-based” system is being replaced. The White Paper proposes a **“Merit-Based” system**, where your application is judged by a “Citizenship Advisory Panel.” You will be assessed on your skills, investment, and contribution to the economy, not just how long you have lived here. [What is the "First Safe Country" principle?](https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/immigration-paper/summary/#1763554389265-aa09206a-7766d84f-6edd) This is a new rule proposed to stop “asylum shopping.” It states that if an asylum seeker traveled through a “safe” country (e.g., a stable SADC neighbour) to reach South Africa, they must apply for asylum there, not here. If enacted, most asylum seekers crossing land borders could be rejected immediately. [What is the "Intelligent Population Register"?](https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/immigration-paper/summary/#1763554389298-fbc55a3c-817cd84f-6edd) This is a proposed mandatory digital database for **all** people in South Africa— citizens, residents, and visitors. It will collect biometric data (face, fingerprints, etc.) to create a “Golden Record” of your identity. [Why are people worried about the "Intelligent Population Register"?](https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/immigration-paper/summary/#1770889262020-79876f0f-29b2) Privacy advocates are concerned because the proposal allows the **SAPS and State Security Agency** to access this data. The White Paper does not explicitly state that a warrant is required for them to view your private biometric data, raising fears of mass surveillance without judicial oversight. [Does this policy change how Visas work?](https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/immigration-paper/summary/#1770889305416-70f29c3d-fdef) **Yes**. It introduces a** Points-Based System** for work visas (similar to Canada or Australia), where you score points for education, age, and skills. It also proposes new **Remote Work Visas** for digital nomads and **Start-Up Visas** for entrepreneurs. [Is this Constitutional?](https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/immigration-paper/summary/#1770889425572-95233eab-59f8) That is up for debate. The Department says yes, citing national security. However, legal experts argue that the **warrantless data access** (Privacy) and **the removal of acquired rights** (Citizenship) may violate the Bill of Rights. This is why your public comment is legally vital. The Draft White Paper ⌊Loader⌉ Loading... ⌊EAD Logo⌉ Taking too long? ⌊Reload⌉ Reload document | [ ⌊Open⌉ Open in new tab ](https://cdn.dearsouthafrica.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/12114726/251212Draft_Revised_White_Paper_on_Citizenship_Immigration.pdf) [Download [2.87 MB] ](https://cdn.dearsouthafrica.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/12114726/251212Draft_Revised_White_Paper_on_Citizenship_Immigration.pdf) The DA’s document ⌊Loader⌉ Loading... ⌊EAD Logo⌉ Taking too long? ⌊Reload⌉ Reload document | [ ⌊Open⌉ Open in new tab ](https://cdn.dearsouthafrica.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/12114848/The-DAs-position-on-migration.pdf) [Download [1.18 MB] ](https://cdn.dearsouthafrica.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/12114848/The-DAs-position-on-migration.pdf) ### _In the News_ - CDH — [Proposed amendments to South Africa’s immigration laws and policies](https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/en/news/publications/2026/South-Africa/Immigration-Law/immigration-law-alert-19-january-proposed-amendments-to-south-africas-immigration-laws-and-policies) - The Conversation — [South Africa’s new immigration policy takes a digital direction – will it succeed?](https://theconversation.com/south-africas-new-immigration-policy-takes-a-digital-direction-will-it-succeed-274038) - SA News — [Have your say on White Paper on Citizenship](https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/have-your-say-white-paper-citizenship) - EWN  — [White paper on immigration reforms sparks concern over gaps in protection](https://www.ewn.co.za/2025/12/17/white-paper-on-immigration-reforms-sparks-concern-over-gaps-in-protection) - Polity — [Inside South Africa’s Immigration Reset: Economic Merit, Retirement Visa Restrictions and Taxing All Immigrants on The Cards](https://www.polity.org.za/article/inside-south-africas-immigration-reset-economic-merit-retirement-visa-restrictions-and-taxing-all-immigrants-on-the-cards-2026-01-13) - BusinessDay — [Govt proposes merit-based system for South African citizenship](https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2025-12-12-govt-proposes-merit-based-system-for-south-african-citizenship/) - The Star — [Home Affairs extends deadline for public comments on immigration and refugee protection white paper](https://thestar.co.za/mercury/2026-01-15-home-affairs-extends-deadline-for-public-comments-on-immigration-and-refugee-protection-white-paper/) **South Africa’s Immigration White Paper: What’s Behind the Policy.** This video introduces the background to South Africa’s immigration system and explains why the Immigration White Paper was developed in the first place. Before engaging with current policies, reforms, or debates, it is essential to understand the historical, legal, and systemic context that led to the White Paper. In this video, I outline how South Africa’s immigration framework evolved, the challenges it was facing, and what the White Paper is intended to address and correct. This is a foundational introduction designed to help viewers understand the purpose of the White Paper and the problems it seeks to fix within the broader immigration system. **Better Explained** A breakdown of South Africa’s proposed immigration and refugee laws reform. **Why South Africa’s Immigration White Paper Needs More Work (Part 1)** The Immigration White Paper points the way but key economic gaps remain. Here’s what still needs fixing, and why it matters for South Africa. **South Africa Immigration White Paper: Asylum & Refugee Policy.** In this video, Andreas Krensel – Senior Director of Africa & Europe at IBN Immigration Solutions, provides a concise overview of the proposed changes to South Africa’s asylum and refugee policies in the revised White Paper. **IBN Immigration Services. **In this video, Andreas Krensel – Senior Director of Africa & Europe at IBN Immigration Solutions, breaks down the major changes proposed in South Africa’s revised immigration white paper, with a focus on visa categories, work permits, and permanent residence pathways. He explains the introduction of new temporary residence visas for financially independent individuals, the merging of general work and critical skills visas into a single skilled worker visa, and the updated process for international students and spouses. The video also covers practical changes such as the new overstay fine system and the creation of a single Home Affairs authority for appeals and waivers. **NewzRoom Afrika.** The Department of Home Affairs has published its revised draft White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection. The revised draft White Paper reframes citizenship and immigration as both an economic enabler and a security and public interest function. Chairperson of South Africans for Constitutional Reform is Princy Mthombeni **SABC News. **Some civic organisations have called on the government to revise the Constitution of South Africa, claiming that it favours everyone but the citizens. They say asylum-seeking foreign nationals can work and start up businesses, such as spaza shops, while disregarding some of the country’s bylaws. The Home Affairs Department visited the Free State for its consultation drive workshop on the Draft Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration, and Refugee Protection. The aim is to clamp down on fraud and abuse of the asylum status, as well as enhance national security, improve service delivery, and promote economic development. **NewzRoom Afrika.** The Home Affairs Department’s Draft Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration, and Refugee Protection is open for public comment until 31 January. It aims to improve visa processes, prevent fraud, boost national security, and support economic growth. Key reforms cover refugee management, civil registration, citizenship, and immigration. Immigration Lawyer Ashrav Essop weighs in. ### _Statements and media releases_ Click on a logo to view. ![click to view statement](https://cdn.dearsouthafrica.co.za/wp-content/uploads/ 2025/11/28075733/Logo-New-smaller-1.png "Logo, New smaller") Want to display your organisation’s statement? [Click here. ](https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/immigration-paper/summary/ immi@dearsouthafrica.co.za?subject=org info for immigration info page) Close ### Cape Independence Party **CAPEXIT Party Objection to the DHA White Paper Policy on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection: The Cape Independence Party (CAPEXIT) rejects the DA-run Department of Home Affairs( DHA) “White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection” as completely unacceptable. It weakens our borders, it undermines law and order while opening the door for state corruption, and at the same time attempts to impose mass state surveillance on all South African citizens and residents. In contrast to this, the CAPEXIT Party stands for strict immigration control, vigorous enforcement of borders, criminalisation of illegal entry and stay, deportation as the default response to unlawful presence, citizenship reserved for those who demonstrate long-term loyalty to our principles and values, and protection of the privacy and security of all South Africans, particularly the people of the Cape. This White Paper moves in the opposite direction on almost every front. Objections: **1)** _Encouragement of Illegal Immigration – Violation of the Rule of Law (Section 1)(c)_ This White Paper fails to treat illegal immigration as serious criminal offences requiring prosecution and deportation. Instead it bizarrely introduces administrative fines for illegal entry and illegal over stayers – effectively destroying rule of law by making illegal immigration profitable for the government. This new proposal would make it easier for illegal immigrants to enter and remain in the country, as the threat of a fine, as well as the ability to apply for permanent residence and citizenship while remaining in South Africa would in essence render illegal entry no longer illegal, but simply a part of the administrative cost of entering and gaining South African citizenship. The government is then incentivised to allow and promote more illegal immigration, as once the illegal immigrant is in the country the government can then extract an income from the immigrant through the new fining system. This perverse DA proposal benefits both illegal immigrants and government corruption. **2)** _Points-Based Citizenship System and Executive Overreach – Citizenship Reduced to a Bureaucratic Scorecard (Section 3 Violation)_ The proposed Points-Based System (PBS) for citizenship is where the Department of Home Affairs scores applicants based on skills, investment, “social contribution” and subjectively, whether the minister believes it is of “strategic national interest”. This is both unconstitutional and deeply concerning. Citizenship should have a clear legal basis determining an individual’s right to citizenship. While it is certainly desirable to promote immigration into South Africa based on merit, skills and investment, these should be clearly defined as qualifying criteria and not ultimately to be determined by the whims of a bureaucratic body. This is substantiated in Richter v Minister (2009) where citizenship decisions should follow constitutional principles. **3)** _Mass Biometric Population Surveillance – Total Violation of Privacy (Section 14 & POPIA)_ The “Intelligent Population Register” (IPR) proposal to forcibly collect comprehensive biometric data on every citizen and resident of South Africa, is the single most alarming feature of the White Paper. This would create a full population surveillance state far worse than anything previously proposed. This would violate the privacy rights of every South African as protected against in Section 14 of the Constitution, it lacks judicial oversight, breaches POPIA on every level (purpose limitation, minimisation, consent, sharing restrictions), and has no constitutional justification. The legal precedent set in the Bernstein v Bester (1996) case with regards to the protection of privacy against warrantless surveillance would render this entire proposal illegal and unconstitutional. This provision alone renders the new Home Affairs White Paper unacceptable. **4)** _Ministerial Discretion Over Citizenship – Executive Overreach & Separation of Powers Violation_ It is unconstitutional and morally absurd to grant the final determination of citizenship powers to the subjective whims of a government Minister based upon what may or may not be considered a “strategic national interest” to that Minister. Unlimited ministerial discretion to grant citizenship on such vague grounds would be laying the foundations for even more corruption where this proposal would allow the government to override constitutional and statutory requirements. This proposal does not strengthen immigration control, it does the opposite. Citizenship decisions should be tightly constrained by law – not left to corrupt political favour. **Conclusion** This appalling DA-run Home Affairs White Paper is not a reform that strengthens the border or restores order – it is an expansion of unconstitutional, anti-enforcement, anti-law abiding, anti-citizen rights, and pro-illegal immigration policies. It fails to criminalise illegal entry properly, institutionalises citizenship-by- points, massively expands surveillance over South Africans themselves, and refuses to prioritise real border security. CAPEXIT Party therefore rejects the DHA Draft White Paper in its current form. We call on all South African citizens, particularly in the Western Cape, to submit objections before 18 February 2026 and to support the only realistic long-term solution: full self-determination for the Cape so that we may implement practical strong-border policies, effective safety and security measures, protection of our resources, and protection of our citizens. Sincerely, **Cllr Jack Miller** Cape Independence Party Leader