The humanitarian crisis unfolding at Sherwood in Durban, where more than 10,000 Malawian nationals have been held awaiting processing and deportation, has put South Africa’s migration management failures under a harsh spotlight. For Craig Smith, a leading immigration lawyer and longstanding advocate for migrant rights in South Africa, the situation is not an isolated emergency. It is the predictable result of years of policy neglect.
A crisis years in the making
Conditions at the Sherwood site have deteriorated sharply. Migrants have described long queues, overcrowding, poor sanitation, and days without the ability to wash. Tensions boiled over when crowds clashed with police, who responded with stun grenades and teargas to disperse the gathering.
While authorities frame the operation as a necessary processing and repatriation effort, Craig Smith argues that the crisis reveals something deeper: a national failure of attitude and policy toward foreign nationals.
In his view, the way South Africa treats migrants, from the most vulnerable to the most established, reflects an apathy that has been allowed to harden into open hostility, with Durban now bearing the most visible consequences.
The economic contribution that goes unrecognised
One of Craig Smith’s central points is that Malawian workers have made a substantial and under-acknowledged contribution to the South African economy. He describes them as a productive, loyal, and conscientious part of the labour force who have integrated well across both the informal and formal sectors.
For Craig Smith, the question is not whether these workers add value, but why that value has never been properly recognised by Home Affairs or the broader government.
A question of due process
Much of the public conversation has framed those at Sherwood as people to be removed as quickly as possible. Craig Smith challenges that framing on legal grounds.
He argues that current enforcement practices may be sidestepping proper immigration procedure, pointing to concerns around fast-tracked or irregular court processes and the detention of large groups of people who, he says, retain the right to contest their treatment. Under South African law, every undocumented foreign national is meant to be processed individually, with identity verification, legal documentation, and a court appearance before any deportation can lawfully take place.
When thousands of people are processed en masse under pressure, Craig Smith warns, that individual due process is precisely what gets lost.
The amnesty question
Perhaps Craig Smith’s sharpest critique concerns consistency. Over the past fifteen years, other nationalities, including Zimbabweans, Angolans, and Lesotho nationals, have at various points been offered regularisation or amnesty pathways allowing them to live and work in South Africa lawfully.
Malawians, he notes, have received no equivalent offer. In his assessment, that inconsistency is difficult to justify and raises serious questions about whether enforcement is being applied evenly, or whether some communities are simply being treated as more deportable than others.
He frames this as a constitutional issue. The protections of dignity, lawful conduct, and procedural fairness enshrined in the Constitution are not reserved for citizens alone. They extend to everyone within South Africa’s borders.
A constitutional duty, not a political convenience
Craig Smith is not alone in raising these concerns. Humanitarian and civil society voices have echoed the warning that government officials carry a binding constitutional duty to respect, protect, and promote the rights of all individuals, without exception, and that responding to political pressure or a quick fix is not what the Constitution was built to deliver.
Relief organisations operating at the site have also stressed a simple principle: in times of hardship, the responsibility to assist those in need does not depend on nationality, race, or circumstance.
Why migrant rights in South Africa matter to everyone
The Sherwood crisis is a stark reminder that immigration status in South Africa is rarely as simple as documented or undocumented. Migrant rights in South Africa, including the right to due process, legal representation, and dignity, exist even for those facing deportation, and understanding them is often the difference between an unlawful removal and a fair process.
At Craig Smith and Associates, our work centres on exactly these questions: ensuring that foreign nationals are treated lawfully, reasonably, and with the dignity the Constitution guarantees. Whether you are navigating a visa application, a regularisation pathway, a detention matter, or a deportation order, you have rights, and you have options.
If you or someone you know is affected by an immigration or deportation matter, contact Craig Smith and Associates for guidance from an experienced Immigration lawyer who understands both the law and what is at stake.