On Sunday, Kubayi said home affairs plans to introduce the phased registration model by 10 November, 2026.
FILE| Asylum seekers queue outside the Customs House building on May 31, 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images / Nardus Engelbrecht)
Following a failed attempt at processing asylum seeker applications last week, the department of home affairs has proposed a phased structure registration and appointment model.
The chair of the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) on migration Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi, said the IMC welcomed this approach.
On Friday, the director-general of the department of home Affairs Livhuwani Makhode withdrew the directive his office issued on 28 September regarding the intake of asylum seeker applications.
The department said the attempt to practically implement the judgment immediately “led to serious consequences that could not have been foreseen in the Court order”.
Refugee reception offices were overwhelmed within days of the directive being issued; home affairs officials were put at risk, and serious threats to public safety and order emerged as South Africans protested the judgment.
Among the concerns raised by South Africans is that home affairs resources are being diverted from the department’s day-to-day responsibilities to deal with undocumented foreigners. The current backlog on home affairs’ systems was also highlighted, as the department was already struggling to handle these.
Home affairs’ proposal
On Sunday, Kubayi said home affairs plans to introduce the phased registration model by 10 November 2026.
“The process will be implemented as follows, so that there is no gap in the intake process. Using an online platform, a receipt will be issued online, and an appointment will be booked at refugee reception offices,” said Kubayi.
“Assisted registration will be available at every refugee reception office and, on request, for a person in police or immigration detention, through officials, legal representatives, and civil society partners, in the main languages.
“The receipt will record the holder’s particulars, and here we are bringing in biometric requirements. So anyone who applies through this mechanism must include biometrics and the intention to apply for asylum. It’s compulsory now that, when they apply, they must have those biometrics done.
“A reference number will be issued, and the appointment date will be issued.”
The receipt is neither a visa nor recognition of a person’s status. However, home affairs will use the receipt to instruct all officials and border management authorities that a holder of a valid receipt is not to be removed or found and is not to be arrested or detained solely for being in the country without a visa, pending lodging and final determination.
Deportations
Kubayi assured South Africans that deportations of people who are illegally in the country will not be halted during this period. Only those with legitimate receipts will be protected.
“We are re-emphasising that because in the public domain there seems to be a suggestion that deportation and other Immigration Act provisions have come to a stop,” said Kubayi.
“They haven’t, so protection applies only to people who have asked to make a first application for asylum. An evaluation will be done for those who are in the country legally and illegally. Those whose claims have been finally rejected after any review or appeal will continue to be deported as the law requires.”
