AN OPEN LETTER TO THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CAPE TOWN
29 June 2026
Your Worship, Executive Mayor,
RE: City's inadequate response to the evolving humanatarian migrant crises
I write as Chief Executive Officer of Inspire Network, and as an appointed Section 12 Monitor for the South African Human Rights Commission, following the humanitarian crisis at the Department of Home Affairs Repatriation Centre in Epping on 28 June 2026.
What I witnessed was deeply distressing and should trouble every resident of Cape Town. Hundreds of vulnerable migrants, including mothers with infants, young children, elderly persons and families, were left exposed to severe winter weather with little more than plastic sheeting for protection.
While the Department of Home Affairs eventually allowed mothers with babies and young children to wait inside the reception area, the City of Cape Town appeared to take the position that it bore no responsibility for emergency shelter, transport or humanitarian assistance. That position is not only troubling; it is difficult to reconcile with the City’s duty to protect life and dignity.
Municipal government cannot set aside its humanitarian obligations on the basis of nationality. When people are left exposed to life-threatening weather within the City, the matter is no longer only one of immigration administration; it becomes a question of disaster management and basic human protection.
The City also contributed to confusion by allowing the expectation that Epping would function as a reception and temporary shelter point without ensuring proper planning, shelter or coordination. Home Affairs has made clear that Epping is a processing facility, not an accommodation centre.
Cape Town is reknown for its capacity to respond to emergencies. It is therefore deeply concerning that those mechanisms were not activated when vulnerable people were left in freezing rain.
This crisis is not simply about immigration. It is about whether women, children and families will be left to endure the cold when government has the means to prevent it.
As Executive Mayor, ultimate responsibility for the City’s emergency response rests with your office. If injury, illness or loss of life occurs because appropriate measures were not taken, those consequences will be difficult to defend.
We therefore call on the City of Cape Town, urgently, to:
• Activate disaster management and humanitarian relief mechanisms.
• Establish temporary emergency shelter for displaced migrants.
• Work with Home Affairs, Provincial Government, humanitarian organisations, faith-based organisations and diplomatic representatives through a Joint Operations Centre.
• Ensure immediate protection for women, children, infants, elderly persons and persons with disabilities.
• Publicly clarify the City’s humanitarian response and responsibilities.
Leadership is measured by how government responds when the most vulnerable are in distress. The Constitution requires that every person’s dignity be respected and protected.
We urge you to act now, with urgency and compassion, to ensure that no person is left exposed to the elements simply because they sought safety and assistance.
We remain ready, together with civil society partners, to assist in any coordinated humanitarian response that protects life and dignity.
Yours sincerely,
Imraahn Ismail-Mukaddam
Chief Executive Officer
