Foreign nationals who are not documented in SA must stay in their countries in order to control human displacements.

This was the message from chairperson of the international relations committee and minister of small business development Lindiwe Zulu who urged neighbouring African countries to stay committed to protecting their borders.

"In line with the Paris agreement [of] recommitting SA to its responsibility in the fight against climate change, working with other countries to incentivise their population to stay within the borders of their countries of origin," Zulu said.

The minister was speaking to the media on the party's manifesto briefing on international relations and cooperation yesterday.

Zulu said this would ensure that SA's regional integration and cooperation policies include a resolution of immigration matters, especially where there were concerns of human displacements and undocumented immigrants.

"The ANC-led government is working closely with neighbouring countries as well as the global community to ensure better management and coordination of people's movement from different countries."

Zulu's comments followed attacks on foreign nationals three weeks ago where their shops were looted at Seacow Lake, Kernville, Overport and surrounding areas of Sydenham in Durban.

Some of the Malawian nationals were displaced during the sporadic attacks after they were accused of stealing locals' goods.

The eThekwini municipality has since begun reintegrating about 300 displaced migrants from Malawi back to where they lived, but Malawi authorities have expressed concern over their safety.

The Malawian Embassy to SA confirmed last month that over 50 of its citizens were willing to return to their country after hundreds of them were allegedly removed from Sydenham, Sherwood and Burnwood in Durban.

Meanwhile, minister of trade & industry Rob Davies, who also sits on the committee of international relations, warned that the ongoing US trade war with China will harm the SA economy.

"We are concerned about this for the simple reason that we have become a collateral damage in this [war]. We lobbied intensively and we got some partial relief but not total, and at the same time there was a process on a similar exercise on automotive products."

He also reflected on the European Union situation, saying SA's automotive vehicle and sugar trade remained a concern for the governing party. Davies said his department was keeping a close eye on the implications of Brexit as the EU represents 77% of SA's total foreign direct investment