EFF says Home Affairs failures force foreigners to turn to crime

Failures and corruption at Home Affairs lead foreigners to pursue crime and result in xenophobia in South Africa.

That is what the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) argued during a question and answer session with Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber.

Schreiber was answering questions in a National Council of Provinces (NCOP) plenary on Thursday.

Home Affairs blamed for it all

Referencing xenophobic attacks, the EFF’s Nolubabalo Mcinga asked Schreiber what measures he had put in place to ensure services offered at Home Affairs offices – particularly those related to citizenship and permanent residence – are provided efficiently.

In a follow-up question she said corruption and lack of efficiency in the department – seen by foreigners waiting up to seven years for interview appointments – led to them remaining illegal “due to no fault of their own”, pursuing crime and by extension, perpetuating hate and stereotyping among South Africans.

The minister first responded that services provided by the Department of Home Affairs are delivered in terms of the Constitution and legislation that translates those principles into action.

He said someone who applied for citizenship and permanent residence and had an adverse outcome, could appeal this. They also have the right to pursue legal action if unhappy.

Watch the session below:

“The truth is, chair, we have to enhance the efficiency of Home Affairs very significantly if we want to play our role in nation building in dealing with the scourge of xenophobia,” he said.

Schreiber said if people had to wait for years for the outcome of an application, or if there was a corrupt environment at Home Affairs that affected its efficiency, the department was failing itself and the state.

Digitising processes will help with this but the department still had a long way to go, he said.

Foreigners remain illegal ‘due to no fault of their own’

In her follow-up question, Mcinga said systemic bias at Home Affairs contributes to xenophobic attacks and black-on-black violence.

“There is no foreign national, minister, who wants to remain in a foreign land illegally,” she said.

“The reality is that the systems of South Africa often appear to be unfairly skewed against African asylum seekers compared to those from European countries.

“For example, African asylum seekers are frequently given interview dates seven years in the future and these dates often come without any official documentation that confirms their appointment: just a date on a piece of paper.”

She said this leads to doubt and vulnerability, perpetuating a state of illegal status, “due to no fault of their own”.

She said delays in processing applications from married couples where one partner is a foreigner, cost the department funds that could potentially be made by securing legal pathways for documentation.

“Instead, these prolonged processes push individuals to illegal avenues that could then be used to justify xenophobic sentiments.”

Again, she stressed the department seemed to give preferential treatment to certain nationalities and asked what steps the department had taken to eradicate bias.

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Digitisation ‘will eradicate corruption and delays’

Schreiber answered that “bias is inherent in human nature” and giving discretion to human beings will lead to some bias and corruption.

He said these could be removed by embracing digital technology (when dealing with applications).

“This is exactly why there is such a big focus on backlog eradication,” he said, alluding to appeal backlogs for asylum seekers.

The minister said his department would also look into the booking system at refugee centres, to speed up appointments and reduce corruption.

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