The African National Congress (ANC) has come out strongly against vigilante groups targeting foreign nationals, warning that acts of intimidation violate South Africa's strict new hate crime laws.

Speaking at a media briefing in Johannesburg on Tuesday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula condemned recent anti-immigrant vigilantism.

He made it clear that those engaging in mob justice or harassment would face prosecution, adding that the party fully backed the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the National Prosecuting Authority in enforcing the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act.

"We urge our people to balance their actions with the discipline of legality," Mbalula stated.

"We cannot fight unlawful conduct in a democracy by ourselves engaging in unlawful conduct."

He warned that vigilante behaviour threatened national stability and risked turning South Africa into a lawless State.

Despite the strong warning against lawlessness, the ANC acknowledged that the core frustrations driving public protests were largely legitimate. The party conceded that unlawful immigration had placed immense strain on local communities, fuelling genuine socioeconomic pressures.

Mbalula said government must urgently address criminal syndicates exploiting porous borders, corruption in the SAPS and the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), as well as private sector opportunism, urging businesses to obey national labour laws.

"These demands are genuine and these demands are real, and the government is at work on every one of them," Mbalula noted, promising decisive action on national security and border management.

Meanwhile, the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) cautioned against labelling all anti-illegal immigration marches as xenophobic. The party noted that citizens were primarily demanding a visible government and prompt State action.

Mbalula emphasised, however, that the hate speech and targeted verbal abuse, mob justice and physical assaults and intimidation outside clinics, schools, and workplaces crossed the line into illegality.

The ANC NEC also urged protest leaders to remain highly vigilant against "third-force infiltration" aimed at destabilising communities for political gain.

To fortify national borders, Mbalula highlighted that the Border Management Authority had commenced a build programme to upgrade at least six of South Africa's principal border posts.

This massive infrastructure and public-private partnership upgrading introduces a modernised digital interface capable of tracking and tracing tourists who overstay their lawful period, as well as individuals who enter on short-term visas and decline to leave.

The upgraded security measures include autonomous smart drone capabilities operating in real-time, designed to monitor the border.

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced the recruitment of 10 000 additional personnel for the Department of Employment and Labour and Mbalula detailed that these recruits would be trained as South African labour inspectors tasked with intercepting unlawful employment.

"Where an employer is found undercutting our labour laws, the inspectorate will act," Mbalula emphasised.

He also issued a firm plea for citizens to refrain from vigilantism, warning that taking the law into their own hands provided critics “with an excuse to shame South Africa”.

To ensure that these border and employment enforcement efforts were not compromised from within, Mbalula noted that the Special Investigating Unit continued its mandate to rid the DHA of corrupt officials.