Home Affairs uses online system to protect immigrants from corrupt officials

The department of home affairs says it is using an online system for asylum and refugee management which minimises the possibility of corruption and limits officials’ contact with clients.

The department said it is aware of reports from clients of corrupt officials and has taken a zero-tolerance approach to corruption.

TimesLIVE reported immigrants and asylum seekers have said the process of getting legal documentation often involves having to pay bribes.

Spokesperson Siya Qoza said on Tuesday that the department had established, at deputy director-general level, a counter-corruption and security branch.

“In the area of asylum and refugee management, we have minimised possibilities of corruption by using an online system to limit officials’ contact with clients,” he said. “Clients have limited contact, mainly with management.”

The department encourages clients and members of the public to report acts of corruption and bribery. “Clients are urged to desist from making bribery advances to officials of the department, they do not have to pay for services, which are rendered free,” he said.

Qoza said the refugee reception offices are not fully operational as a result of the risk-based approach to service delivery during Covid-19 and the state of disaster regulations.

However, the department had put in place arrangements to continue to provide services during the Covid-19 lockdown. “In April 2021 the department launched an online solution to extend expired permits. The process is automated and human interaction is triggered by management on those applications that cannot be extended, and owners of such applications are invited to the office,” said Qoza.

Thousands of immigrants have made use of the system.

Qoza said 155,044 refugees and asylum seekers renewed their documents through the online system between April and December 2021.

“Of this number, 102,745 asylum seekers were able to extend their section 22 visas. Nearly 37,500 refugees renewed their section 24 permits. There are 14,800 people who were requested to come to our offices to collect their outcomes. The main intervention has been that the minister has been granting blanket extensions to increase the validity period of permits that expired during the lockdown. The ministerial extension is set to expire on April 30,” he said.

According to the department, genuine asylum seekers must do the following:

• They must enter through the official ports of entry because they have the right to do so and they must not pay bribes.
• They must announce themselves to authorities. They can go to a home affairs office,  police station or magistrate’s court and they’ll be guided on what to do to formally announce themselves.
• Asylum seekers and refugees who seek an extension of their documents should be aware services are free and must never offer any form of gratitude for services.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.