South Africa Spent About US$21 Million Moving 99,933 People Out

SOUTH AFRICA · SOCIETY

South Africa’s repatriation and deportation drive moved 99,933 foreign nationals out of the country in the weeks after the June anti-immigration protests, at a cost of about R341 million (about US$21 million), according to figures the Department of Home Affairs presented to parliament. Buses alone accounted for R232 million (about US$14.4 million) of the total.

What the South Africa repatriations operation cost

The department’s figures cover the period since the anti-immigration protests of late June, when tens of thousands of foreign nationals, many of them undocumented, gathered at assembly points or were moved to a temporary processing centre and then taken home. The total came to about R341 million (about US$21 million).

Most of it was transport. Some R232 million (about US$14.4 million) went on buses carrying people to border posts and airports, making it by far the largest single line. Demand for buses was so high that officials told the committee they could not always collect the three price quotes that procurement rules normally require.

A further R48 million (about US$3 million) was spent by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure on setting up and running the Temporary Repatriation Processing Centre at Musina, near the Zimbabwean border. Chartered flights to countries including Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Burundi cost about R8 million (about US$500,000), and overtime for officials working what the department called horrendously long hours came to about R13 million (about US$800,000).

Who actually left

The department distinguishes between two categories. It records 89,936 repatriations, meaning people who chose to return home, and 9,997 forced deportations.

By nationality, Malawians were the largest group at 54,541. Zimbabweans followed at 27,920, then 2,417 Mozambicans and 1,145 Nigerians.

The dominance of one nationality in a voluntary-return figure is unusual. It suggests the pressure was felt very unevenly across migrant communities. Malawi’s government had itself struggled to pay for repatriation buses from mid-June, one reason South Africa stepped in to organise transport.

The money the department did not have

Home Affairs has formally asked the National Treasury for R292 million (about US$18 million) in unforeseen and unavoidable expenditure. If the request is refused, the department will have to absorb the cost from its existing budget, which committee chairperson Mosa Chabane called an untenable situation for a department trying to improve basic services.

The department’s annual deportation budget is already depleted. Its chief financial officer told MPs he had overridden the rule that sufficient budget must exist before a purchase order is issued, so that municipalities and service providers could be paid. Cabinet had earlier approved R60 million (about US$3.7 million) from the Criminal Assets Recovery Account, a fund built from seized proceeds of crime, and a submission for further funding has gone to Cabinet.

Parliament has not accepted the framing without question. The committee flagged an overspend of around R220 million (about US$13.6 million), asked for a detailed breakdown showing where resources were diverted from, and told the department’s internal auditors to examine the spending before the Auditor-General does.

Reading the numbers carefully

These are departmental figures presented to a parliamentary committee, not audited outcomes. The Auditor-General’s treatment of the expenditure will come later.

One arithmetic caution is worth flagging. Dividing the total by the headcount gives a cost of roughly R3,400 (about US$210) per person, but that figure does not hold up, because the R341 million (about US$21 million) includes fixed costs such as the Musina facility that do not scale with each departure.

The categories also deserve care. A voluntary return recorded during an enforcement drive is not the same thing as a voluntary return in an ordinary month.

The people behind the figures

Most of those who left passed through the Musina centre, which had capacity for 20,000 people and, by the government’s account, provided shelter, food, water, sanitation and a 24-hour clinic. Charities including Gift of the Givers and the Al-Imdaad Foundation supplied meals and baby care items, and observers from the International Organization for Migration, the UN refugee agency and UNICEF monitored conditions and the welfare of children.

The operation has not been without tragedy. The government has confirmed that a Malawian man died on a bus shortly before it reached the Beit Bridge crossing in July; the provincial health department opened an inquest.

Embassies issued collective travel documents for citizens who had no valid passports, and municipalities, churches and mobile network operators provided transport, coordination and temporary connectivity at the site.

The regional picture

Malawi is the country most affected, followed by Zimbabwe, the source with the longest history of cross-border movement into South Africa. Musina sits on that route.

Under international practice, countries that request the return of their nationals carry the primary responsibility for transport costs. South Africa’s government says it is engaging the countries concerned through the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to recover or share the costs, though parliament has cautioned that such diplomacy is slow and no substitute for proper budgeting.

For the region, the fiscal question is who absorbs the return. Neither the departures nor the costs stop at the border.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Parliament of South Africa, Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs media statements (25–26 August 2026); Parliamentary Monitoring Group; Eyewitness News; South African Government Inter-Ministerial Committee briefing on migration (12 July 2026).

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