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`The longer they stay, the more we pay`: Schreiber says SA spent R300m deporting foreigners

Source: News 24, 29/01/2025




Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said since 2015, more than R300 million has been spent on deporting undocumented foreign nationals. - Since 2015, just over R300 million has been spent on deporting undocumented foreign nationals. - Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said a high number of foreign nationals were being deported from the Lindela Repatriation Centre. - Schreiber was responding to parliamentary questions.Undocumented foreign nationals are being deported within 10 days of being locked up, but deportation costs continue to drain the public purse.Responding to parliamentary questions from ActionSA and the IFP, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber reported since 2015, more than R300 million has been spent on deporting people who were in the country illegally.In 2015/16, the department spent R51 million on deportation costs; R28 million in 2016/17 and 2017/18; R23 million in 2018/19 and 2020/21; R22 million in 2021/22; and R17 million in 2022/23. During the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, deportation costs amounted to R54 million and R73 million, respectively. ActionSA MP Lerato Ngobeni asked Schreiber about recouping the money spent on deportations.Schreiber replied that Section 34(3) of the Immigration Act 2002 was used to recover some money. This section states: `The director-general may order a foreigner subject to deportation to deposit a sum sufficient to cover in whole or in part the expenses related to his or her deportation, detention, maintenance and custody and an officer may in the prescribed manner enforce payment of such deposit.`Responding to a written parliamentary question from IFP MP Busaphi Eleonor Machi, Schreiber said the department deported a high number of inmates who were detained at the Lindela Repatriation Centre within 10 days. The centre is the country`s biggest holding facility.Schreiber said: The longer they stay in the facility, the more costs are incurred. The department currently bought 10 buses and trucks that will be utilised to conduct deportation through funds provided by the Criminal Assets Recovery Account instead of outsourcing the buses to conduct deportations. These are now operational and were recently used to deport Basotho nationals on 22 November 2024.Furthermore, he added a non-profit organisation assisted the department with cleaning the facility at no cost.`They give their members a stipend every month-end. This helps to maintain an adequate standard of the facility,` Schreiber said.He added the department informed all embassies or consular generals about their nationals who were detained at Lindela.This is to help identify them prior to deportation and issue any travel documents that allow them to leave South Africa.In five months - between April and August last year - South Africa spent more than R52 million to deport 19 750 foreigners who were in the country illegally.There were more than 150 000 recorded asylum seekers and refugees in the country, with most from Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Bangladesh.There are 68 991 active refugees, including those from Somalia (21 202), Ethiopia (13 680), the DRC (20 624), Rwanda (932), and Zimbabwe (3 408). There are also refugees from Yemen (four), Ukraine (three), and Syria (40).In December 2022, the Constitutional Court ruled sections of the Refugees Act, which denied asylum seekers` rights unconstitutional.The Constitutional Court was confirming the Western Cape High Court`s ruling, delivered by Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath.The Scalabrini Centre had applied to the High Court for a declaratory order that subsections and regulations of the Refugees Act were inconsistent with the Constitution and were, therefore, invalid.The centre argued the minister of home affairs - at the time Aaron Motsoaledi - the director-general of the Department of Home Affairs, and the chairperson of the department`s Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs created a system whereby asylum seekers who failed to renew their visas within one month of the date of expiry were deemed to have abandoned their applications for asylum.This was unless they could satisfy the standing committee that there were compelling reasons for their failure to renew their visas timeously.


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