Wits University Immigration Professor Louren Landau says the issue of illegal miners at Stilfontein mine in the Northwest province of South Africa shouldn't be about undocumented foreigners mining illegally there.
The illegal miners have been underground for months refusing to resurface.
Police says most of them are undocumented from Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Sisi Segalo spoke to Professor Landau about how this situation is affecting South Africa's relations with its neighbours.