News Desk Reporter
The Department of Home Affairs plans to introduce a biometric online platform to improve the processing of asylum applications.
The system will verify applicants’ details and flag those who have previously had asylum claims rejected.
The platform is expected to be operational by 10 November. It will also authenticate passports and other travel documents and identify recorded immigration infringements.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber outlined the plans at an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration media briefing in Pretoria on Sunday. He said the platform would help the department establish how many people were seeking asylum and determine the resources needed to process their cases.
The department is also dealing with a substantial backlog of asylum appeals. Schreiber estimated that about 120,000 cases remained outstanding, although he said a confirmed figure would be provided.
Initial asylum applications are being processed in approximately 30 days, but appeals remain a major source of delays. The backlog was reduced by about 20% during the previous financial year.
To increase capacity, the department has brought in 74 advocates to assist with appeals. Schreiber said the current administration initially inherited a system in which only nine people were handling asylum appeals.
The online platform is also intended to help identify repeat claims that may be used to delay deportation after an application has been rejected.
“The ConCourt did not remove our right as Home Affairs to adjudicate a refugee application. If someone doesn’t qualify, it is our job to say you don’t qualify and you must be deported,” Schreiber said.
The Constitutional Court judgment delivered on 7 July dealt with procedural aspects of asylum applications. It did not automatically grant refugee status or citizenship to foreign nationals.
The government intends to approach the Constitutional Court for a supervisory order to obtain guidance on implementing the judgment and addressing related administrative and operational challenges.
Meanwhile, the committee has directed relevant government departments and entities to participate in a hearing on 29 October before a panel of judges from the Gauteng Division of the High Court.
The hearing will consider conflicting judgments on asylum seekers issued within the division.