A South African minister has said there is no need to build camps to cope with an influx of people fleeing the crisis in neighbouring Zimbabwe.
The Home Affairs minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, made her remarks after meeting the head of the United Nations refugees agency, Antonio Guterres.
Mr Guterres told a news conference that contingency plans for a wave of Zimbabwean migrants are now in place.
An estimated 3,000 Zimbabweans cross the border daily into South Africa.
Most fleeing Zimbabweans are desperate for food, money and jobs.
By any definition it is a serious humanitarian crisis. And Mr Guterres has been touring the region looking at ways of dealing with it.
'Integration, not camps'
Now, Mrs Mapisa-Nqakula says building camps is the wrong approach.
After meeting Mr Guterres in Johannesburg, Mrs Mapise Nqakula said the government's current policy of integration remains their preferred strategy and they had no plans to force Zimbabweans into camps.
It was a policy the high commissioner endorsed. Camps, he said, should be the last resort.
But to a certain extent the high commissioner's and the government's hands are tied.
Legally they can only help those who are fleeing persecution or who apply for asylum.
Most Zimbabweans are economic migrants who are not willing to risk deportation, preferring instead to avoid the authorities altogether.
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