PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
15 July 2026
Al Jama-Ah Leader Hon. Ganief Hendricks Writes To President Ramaphosa Calling For Historic Mandela Day Amnesty Proposal For Undocumented Migrants
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — Following the precedent of other Government of National Unity (GNU) leaders, the President of AL JAMA-AH, Honorable Ganief Hendricks, MP, has formally written to His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of Mandela Day, urging the presidency to back a compassionate, constitutionally sound, and legally vetted amnesty proposal for undocumented foreign nationals in South Africa.
Under the rallying call, “let us lead like Mandela,” Hon. Hendricks has presented a comprehensive, legally vetted proposal to overhaul Immigration Directive No. 7 of 2026— designed to resolve South Africa’s systemic immigration crisis, protect hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children, and formalize the status of long-term residents.
In 1995 when Mandela addressed a crowd of about 15 000 people in Alexandra, Soweto, he lashed out at rising anti-immigrant sentiments and violence that had been brewing against African immigrants. He stated: “It saddens and angers me to see the rising hatred of foreigners.”
Hon. Hendricks engaged top legal minds to draft and vet these proposed amendments to the existing Directive 7, which was originally signed by the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Leon Schreiber. Acknowledging that only the Minister of Home Affairs holds the statutory authority to execute and sign these changes into law, Hon. Hendricks has submitted the legally vetted draft proposal directly to the Director-General of Home Affairs, Tommy Makhode, who has agreed to review the document. Hon. Hendricks has challenged the Director-General to embrace the legacy of Nelson Mandela by taking bold administrative action to correct decades of departmental backlogs and systemic failures.
Unpacking the Legally Vetted Proposed Directive: A Masterclass in Human Rights and Administrative Reform
The proposed amendments to Immigration Directive No. 7 of 2026 represent a structural shift in South African immigration management, outlining a strategic, legally vetted proposal to replace punitive bottlenecks with automated, legal pathways to regularisation. The core pillars of the proposed framework include:
* The Proposed Extension of Concessions (Clause 4.1): A proposal to extend the temporary concessions for pending waivers, visas, and appeals—originally set to expire in June 2027—to 31 December 2028. This ensures that permanent legal frameworks are operational before temporary protections expire, preventing applicants from falling into a legal vacuum.
* Pathway 1 Proposal: Immediate Relief for Administrative Delays (Clause 4.3): Under this proposed clause, any lawful visa applicant whose renewal or extension has been pending for over six months would be entitled to an “Acknowledgement of Pending Application” (APA) Certificate within 72 hours. This certificate would grant immediate rights to work, study, and reside, with a binding mandate on the department to resolve the underlying application within 30 days.
* Pathway 2A Proposal: 10-Year Regularisation Pathway (Clause 4.4): A proposal that undocumented residents who have lived continuously in South Africa for 10 or more years, and who have no serious criminal record, be eligible to apply for a Regularisation Permit (RP). This proposed permit would grant full residency, work, and trading rights, leading to eligibility for Permanent Residency after three years and citizenship after five. Proof of residence could be established using flexible community-level evidence, such as letters from employers, religious institutions, utility bills, or school records.
* Pathway 2B Proposal: Lower Threshold for SADC Nationals (Clause 4.5): In alignment with South Africa’s regional treaty obligations under the SADC Protocol on the Facilitation of Movement of Persons, the proposal outlines a reduced residency threshold of five years for nationals of SADC member states. Qualifying SADC nationals would receive the same Regularisation Permit privileges as long-term residents.
* Pathway 3 Proposal: Citizenship for South African-Born Individuals (Clause 4.6): A proposal that any individual born in South Africa be entitled to citizenship, irrespective of their parents’ documentation status at birth. The proposal seeks to outlaw the administrative practice of letting citizenship applications lapse, granting applicants a Protected Status Certificate (PSC) to secure their stay while processing occurs.
* Proposed Protection of Learners (Clause 4.8): To address the crisis of approximately 610,000 undocumented learners and 400,000 undocumented South African learners, the proposal strictly prohibits the arrest, detention, or deportation of any student. Under this framework, schools would be declared off-limits for immigration enforcement operations, and the Department of Basic Education would be directed to penalize any official who intimidates undocumented children.
* Proposed Border Humanitarian Standards (Clause 4.9): The draft proposes enforcing strict humanitarian standards at all border posts, mandating immediate access to potable water, food, emergency medical care, and designated shelter. Stranding travelers at border posts for more than 12 hours would be officially classified as a humanitarian emergency.
Strategic and Justificatory Sections Vetted:
6.A FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS (PROPOSED)
* 6.A.1 Modernization Budget Integration: The proposed administrative digitization and regularisation pathways under Directive 7 of 2026 would be absorbed within the existing baseline allocation of the Department of Home Affairs’ modernization budget.
* 6.A.2 Tax Base Expansion: The proposed regularization of long-term undocumented residents aims to systematically broaden the national tax base through formal labor participation and PAYE/VAT collection, generating a net-positive fiscal return for National Treasury.
* 6.A.3 Emergency Funding Coordination: The proposal suggests that any emergency localized funding required to address the humanitarian displacement corridor and health interventions at border points be coordinated through the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) utilizing existing statutory contingency provisions.
6.B PERSONNEL / ORGANISATIONAL IMPLICATIONS (PROPOSED)
* 6.B.1 Administrative Case-Burden Reduction: The proposed deployment of automated, hardcoded digital timelines and Automatic Provisional Authorization (APA) Certificates would significantly reduce the manual administrative case-burden on departmental adjudicators.
* 6.B.2 Urgent Localized Orientation: Under this proposal, staff would receive urgent, localized orientation on processing merit-based asylum reviews rather than applying automatic time-bar rejections, directly complying with the Scalabrini judgment.
6.C LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL IMPLICATIONS (PROPOSED)
* 6.C.1 Mitigation of State Litigation: This proposed memorandum is designed to directly prevent catastrophic state litigation by aligning departmental enforcement with the unanimous 7 July 2026 Constitutional Court order in Scalabrini Centre [2026] ZACC 30, mitigating further cost orders against the Minister.
* 6.C.2 Fundamental Constitutional Obligations: The proposed regularisation pathways seek to give effect to the state’s constitutional obligation to uphold the principle of non-refoulement and protect the rights of vulnerable children within the borders.
AL JAMA-AH maintains that these proposed amendments would not only prevent costly state litigation but would also yield a positive fiscal return for South Africa. By aligning Home Affairs’ administrative practices with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the legally vetted proposed directive offers a practical, orderly, and highly compassionate solution to a long- standing national crisis.
Hon. Hendricks urges the President and the Department of Home Affairs to seize this Mandela Day as a historic opportunity to turn this vetted proposal into reality and demonstrate bold, humanitarian leadership.
Issued by Asghar Khan on behalf of Al Jama-ah
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