Parliamentarians Urge Home Affairs Minister to Deport Phil Craig, Schreiber Maintains It Isn’t Easy

• Members of Parliament have called on the Home Affairs Minister to deport British citizen Phil Craig
• Craig is the leader of the Referendum Party and co-founder and spokesperson for the Cape Independence Advocacy Group
• Craig maintains that he has no ulterior motives, saying he wants to provide a better life for his family in South Africa

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

WESTERN CAPE – Political parties want the Department of Home Affairs to do something about Phil Craig.

The British citizen is accused of trying to divide the country, as he continues to push for Cape Independence.

Craig, who is not a South African citizen, has been in the country for over 20 years and is the co-founder and spokesperson for the Cape Independence Advocacy Group.

Politicians ask Home Affairs Minister to consider deporting Craig

Politicians have now called on Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber to act. Various parties have called on the minister to consider deporting Craig, arguing that he was trying to cause divisions within the country.

On Tuesday, 20 May 2025, Members of Parliament (MPs) of the Home Affairs committee argued that Craig should be considered undesirable like Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso.

Thapelo Mogale of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and ActionSA’s Lerato Ngobeni, were both very vocal about their unhappiness with Craig being in the country.

Leon Schreiber responds to deportation calls

Replying to the growing calls for Craig to be deported, Schreiber said that immigration laws could not be used to settle political matters.

He also added that Home Affairs couldn’t just deny Craig citizenship because of his politics, noting that he hadn’t applied for citizenship either.

“We must respect freedom of speech. That is the right of everyone in South Africa, according to our constitution,” Schreiber noted.

Craig responds to calls for his deportation

The British citizen has previously weighed in on calls for his deportation, arguing that he was trying to provide a better life here in South Africa for his family and had no ulterior motives.

He claimed that the conduct of certain political parties and individuals has been despicable, malicious, undemocratic, and coercive. Craig also stated that Parliamentarians were unwilling to recognise the right of all peoples to self-determination, which he stated was hugely problematic.

Craig further alleged that Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and the Democratic Alliance were going to great lengths to avoid calling a referendum and allowing the people of the province to share their thoughts on whether it should become independent.

Cape Independence Advocacy Group receives backlash

Briefly News reported in April 2022 that the Cape Independence Advocacy Group was not in the good graces of a lot of South Africans.

The group angered many following a social media post illustrating how different the Western Cape is from the rest of Mzansi.

Many found the tweet offensive and social media users stated that they considered the tweet to be racist.

Source: Briefly News