Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber inspects the temporary repatriation facility in Musina on Wednesday, saying the site will improve processing while ensuring orderly operations and protecting people's dignity.
Image: Ntswe Mokoena / GCIS
Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber says government has repatriated more than 30,000 undocumented foreign nationals from eThekwini alone as part of what he described as an unprecedented repatriation operation, with tens of thousands of people already returned through a centralised government process.
Speaking on the sidelines of his visit to the Beitbridge Border Post in Limpopo on Wednesday, Schreiber said 525 buses had so far been processed by government during the operation.
"In terms of the repatriation process overall, there were over 30,000 individuals out of eThekwini alone that we've repatriated.
''The latest number of buses from the government side that we've processed is 525 buses, so indeed we're looking at tens of thousands of individuals that's already been successfully repatriated," he said.
Schreiber described the operation as "a massive operation" that was "truly unprecedented", saying its scale reflected the coordinated effort by the Inter-Ministerial Committee and various government departments.
He said government had moved away from decentralised processing centres across the country and instead established a single secure processing facility in Musina to streamline the repatriation process.
Schreiber said the process involved several checks before anyone could be repatriated, including verifying whether individuals were wanted for crimes in South Africa, recording the biometrics of those found to be in the country illegally, declaring them undesirable in terms of the Immigration Act and ensuring all cross-border permits for transport were in place.
"So it's a major logistical operation and we've now really moved all of that work here to Musina," he said.
Schreiber said about 4,000 people were still being accommodated at the showgrounds in Musina, where government was completing the remaining processing before transferring them across the border.
He said all new arrivals would instead be directed to a purpose-built temporary repatriation facility established by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.
After visiting both sites on Wednesday morning, Schreiber said the new facility provided a more suitable environment for those awaiting processing.
"It's more dignified, we're going to have the ablutions, water, food and all of the processing work, security, all of it in one location and I think that's going to help us have a much more smooth process," he said.
Schreiber said government was committed to ensuring the operation was carried out lawfully while protecting the dignity of everyone being processed.
"I'm very proud of the fact that we have been able to do this process in a way that is upholding the law, it's having an orderly process and also respecting the dignity of every human being," he said.
"I made it clear at our last press briefing that no one forfeits their basic human dignity because they're accused of breaking the law, any kind of law and so we absolutely respect and uphold that,'' he added.
Schreiber said about 500 people were at the new temporary repatriation facility when he visited on Wednesday morning.
Government planned to increase the facility's capacity to 4,000 people, while the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure was working to expand it further.
He said government had already cleared 99% of the people who had been at Home Affairs offices and was now focused on processing those remaining at the showgrounds before they were transported across the border.
Schreiber said all new buses transporting people for repatriation would be directed to the new temporary repatriation facility rather than the showgrounds, with signage to be erected to guide drivers.
He added that government had met with the International Organisation for Migration, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and several non-governmental organisations to help ensure the repatriation process was conducted properly.
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