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More than 109,000 undocumented foreigners arrested and deported in SA in five years

Theherald · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · · 412 words · By Modiegi Mashamaite
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What to know about More than 109,000 undocumented foreigners arrested and deported in SA in five years

Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber says 109,735 undocumented foreigners have been arrested and deported in the past five financial years, from 2021/2022 to 2025/2026.

Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber says 109,735 undocumented foreigners have been arrested and deported in the past five financial years, from 2021/2022 to 2025/2026.

Why it matters

This emerged in a written reply to a parliamentary question by MK Party MP Mnqobi Prince Msezane, who asked for details about the number of undocumented foreigners identified as living in South Africa.

Common ground

Msezane also asked about allegations that undocumented foreigners were employed in public and private sector institutions without valid work permits.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theherald.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-109000-undocumented-foreig…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 8
info Single Source 2
schedule Pending 1
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Claim 1: “Schreiber said 6,279 workplace inspections and enforcement operations had been conducted during the specified period.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is reported identically by two independent news sources: Dailydispatch and Sowetan.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Schreiber said 6,279 workplace inspections and enforcement operations had been conducted during the specified period.
https://www.sowetan.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-109000-u…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Schreiber said 6,279 workplace inspections and enforcement operations had been conducted during the specified period.
https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-10…
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Claim 2: “He said 8,180 employers had been charged for employing foreigners without valid work permits in the past five years.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is reported identically by two independent news sources: Dailydispatch and Sowetan.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — He said 8,180 employers had been charged for employing foreigners without valid work permits in the past five years.
https://www.sowetan.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-109000-u…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — He said 8,180 employers had been charged for employing foreigners without valid work permits in the past five years.
https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-10…
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Claim 3: “The Eastern Cape recorded the highest number of non-compliant employers with 34 businesses fined a collective R340,000.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is reported identically by two independent news sources: Dailydispatch and Sowetan.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — The Eastern Cape recorded the highest number of non-compliant employers with 34 businesses fined a collective R340,000.
https://www.sowetan.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-109000-u…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — The Eastern Cape recorded the highest number of non-compliant employers with 34 businesses fined a collective R340,000.
https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-10…
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Claim 4: “Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber says 109,735 undocumented foreigners have been arrested and deported in the past five financial years, from 2021/2022 to 2025/2026.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is reported identically by two independent news sources: Dailydispatch and Sowetan.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. Its nine provinces are bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 miles) of coastline that stre…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international football and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. Nic…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_national_soccer_t…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India C…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_South_Africans
+ 2 more evidence sources
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Claim 5: “Of the 322 arrested foreign workers, most, 163, were in Limpopo, followed by 43 in the Western Cape, 34 each in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, 30 in Mpumalanga, 16 in KwaZulu-Natal and two in the Free State.”
CORROBORATED
The detailed breakdown of arrests by province is reported identically by two independent news sources: Dailydispatch and Sowetan.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Of the 322 arrested foreign workers, most, 163, were in Limpopo, followed by 43 in the Western Cape, 34 each in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, 30 in Mpumalanga, 16 in KwaZulu-Natal and two in the Free …
https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-10…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Of the 322 arrested foreign workers, most, 163, were in Limpopo, followed by 43 in the Western Cape, 34 each in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, 30 in Mpumalanga, 16 in KwaZulu-Natal and two in the Free …
https://www.sowetan.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-109000-u…
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Claim 6: “His reply referenced nationwide inspections conducted last year where 68 employers and 322 foreigners were found to be violating immigration regulations.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is reported identically by two independent news sources: Dailydispatch and Sowetan.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Tea Party movement was an American right-wing, fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2007, catapulted into the mainstream by Congressman Ron Paul's pre…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of notable restaurant chains in the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_restaurant_chains_in_t…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Korean: 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 – 도깨비) is a South Korean television series starring Gong Yoo in the title role, alongside Kim Go-eun, Lee Dong-wook, Yoo In-na, and Yook Sung-jae.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian:_The_Lonely_and_Great…
+ 2 more evidence sources
info
Claim 7: “Of the 872 work permits approved, 445 were granted to Zimbabweans, the highest number approved during the period.”
SINGLE SOURCE
Only the Sowetan reports the specific number of permits granted to Zimbabweans (445); web search results discuss general Zimbabwean permits but do not confirm this specific figure.
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web search NEUTRAL — Apply for a work permit, extend a work permit or hire a foreign worker.Applications for some open work permits and employer-specific work permits have special instructions
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/se…
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web search NEUTRAL — He said approximately 178 000 Zimbabweans were entitled to apply for the new exemption permits subject to a set of conditions.The extension does not apply to Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders wh…
https://hararelive.com/2023/12/02/extension-granted-zimbabwe…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Scale-up Worker visa. Frontier Worker permit. Get a digital record of your exemption from immigration control. Work visas that are closed to new applicants. Entrepreneur visa (Tier 1).Do not include p…
https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas
+ 1 more evidence source
info
Claim 8: “Mpumalanga followed with 15 cases while Limpopo recorded eight, KwaZulu-Natal five and the Western Cape two.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the Sowetan reports this, the other provided cross-reference for this specific claim is not listed in the evidence block for claim 6, and web results are generic geographical data not confirming the specific case numbers.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Since 1994, South Africa has been divided into nine provinces: the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, the Northern Cape and the Western Cape.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_So…
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web search NEUTRAL — KwaZulu-Natal had 1 567 cases, Limpopo 88, Free State 163. Mpumalanga had 76, the North West 72, and the Northern Cape 37. The total number of recoveries stood at 7 298.
https://www.sapeople.com/news/south-africas-covid-19-cases-a…
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web search NEUTRAL — Intercape has a dynamic pricing model. There will be demand-driven price fluctuations. Please refer to our T&Cs for further information.KwaZulu-Natal. Limpopo. Mozambique. Mpumalanga. Namibia.
https://www.intercape.co.za/
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 9: “Each of the 68 employers paid an admission of guilt fine of R10,000, resulting in a total of R680,000 in fines.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is reported identically by two independent news sources: Dailydispatch and Sowetan.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Each of the 68 employers paid an admission of guilt fine of R10,000, resulting in a total of R680,000 in fines.
https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-10…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Each of the 68 employers paid an admission of guilt fine of R10,000, resulting in a total of R680,000 in fines.
https://www.sowetan.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-109000-u…
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Claim 10: “Lesotho nationals received 250 work permits, followed by Mozambicans with 86 and Namibians with 70.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 11: “According to Schreiber, between April 2023 and March 2024 the department processed 6,255 work permit applications, of which 5,383 were denied.”
CORROBORATED
The specific figures for work permit applications and denials are reported identically by two independent news sources: Dailydispatch and Sowetan.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — According to Schreiber, between April 2023 and March 2024 the department processed 6,255 work permit applications, of which 5,383 were denied.
https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-10…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — According to Schreiber, between April 2023 and March 2024 the department processed 6,255 work permit applications, of which 5,383 were denied.
https://www.sowetan.co.za/news/2026-05-24-more-than-109000-u…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.