South Africa to bill the government for costs of deporting Nigerians

By Favour Ulebor

South Africa has announced that it will begin charging foreign governments, including Nigeria, for the expenses incurred in deporting their citizens who violate the country’s immigration laws.

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The announcement comes as the South African government intensifies its efforts to curb illegal migration amid rising anti‑immigration sentiment in the country.

According to Channel Africa, the policy was revealed by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

The department stated that the government will seek to recover costs associated with detaining and deporting undocumented foreign nationals.

South African authorities noted that more than 100,000 undocumented migrants have been deported in the last two years, imposing a significant financial burden on the government.

Under the new arrangement, countries whose citizens are arrested and deported for immigration offences will be expected to cover the cost of their repatriation.

The department added: “Moving forward, we will also be billing countries for their foreign nationals who have to be deported or who are in our criminal detention facilities and have to be deported back into their countries.”

It further said that the government would work through the Department of Home Affairs to ensure the policy is implemented.

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