Hundreds of foreign nationals, including pregnant women and babies, have occupied Che Guevara Road and nearby roads since the early hours of Tuesday morning (October 6).

According to the schedule, today the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Office is meant to receive applicants from Southern African Development Community (SADC), North Africa, and Asia. For residents and businesses, the influx evoked recent memories of Congolese nationals who camped along the road for more than four months.

The queues started on Friday, to the discontent of nearby residents and businesses. The new wave of foreigners, originally from different countries, descended on the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Office seeking legal documentation.

The move followed a Constitutional Court ruling ordering all Home Affairs Refugee Reception offices, among other directives, to “with immediate effect, receive every person who reports in person, and indicates an intention to apply for asylum, and must assist that person to lodge an application”.

The Acting Director-General of the Department of Home Affairs, Thulani Mavuso, in a letter to all offices, stated, “This instruction deals only with new asylum applications. No office may refuse to receive or facilitate an asylum application for reasons of unlawful entry, unlawful presence or absence of documentation.”
Mavuso added, “Where the Refugee Reception Office cannot assist every person who reports on a given day, it must record each person’s name and issue a written appointment. No person may be sent away without one.”

Heather Roos, vice-chairperson and co-founder of the Glenwood /Bulwer Ratepayers and Residents Association (GBRRA), shared her dismay.

“For as long as I can remember, there have always been complaints from residents and businesses living in and operating from the area around that Home Affairs. It sadly affects any area when you always have crowds of people hanging around a particular building and area each day.

“Issues like where they go to the toilet have come up, the mess that’s left behind, people sleeping around that area waiting for their turn; the crime element also comes in as well, as these people waiting to be seen to inside the Home Affairs can easily become targets of criminals. It also affects traffic, as often people spill out onto the roadside, and Che Guevara Road is a very busy road.”

The documentation process is ongoing, with no set deadline. Upon enquiry, several asylum seekers indicated that they originated from Angola, India, Botswana, DRC, Egypt, Congo, Malawi, Mauritius, Pakistan, and Ethiopia.

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