KEMPTON PARK - Of the 568 Nigerian nationals cleared to leave South Africa under a voluntary repatriation programme, 66 were required to cancel their asylum status before they could depart.
This is according to the Department of Home Affairs’ head of immigration enforcement, Stephen van Neels.
"This raises the question whether the applications were legitimate," he says.
READ: About 270 Nigerian nationals begin repatriation process
A total of 268 Nigerians left the country just after midnight on Thursday as part of the Nigerian government’s voluntary repatriation initiative.
The Nigerian Embassy has said that 1,000 people signed up for the programme. However, Van Neels said only 568 were cleared for departure.
Of those, 66 were found to have approved asylum status in South Africa. Should they wish to leave on the next scheduled flight on 15 June, they will first need to cancel that status.
Nigeria is the third country to facilitate voluntary repatriation for its nationals living in South Africa.
Malawi previously repatriated its citizens using two buses that departed from Mossel Bay in the Western Cape.
Ghana was the first country to offer voluntary repatriation. Home Affairs previously said that of the 300 Ghanaians repatriated from South Africa, only 10 were found to have been in the country legally.
However, Ghana disputed the figure, saying it was inaccurate and maintaining that those on the flight had no immigration-related issues.
READ: Only 10 of 300 Ghanaians repatriated were in SA legally, officials say
"When an embassy says they want people returned, they give the department a list of names," says Van Neels.
"The list is read against all of our DHA systems to see the status of the person in the country," he adds.
He said officials then work with the embassy to interview those listed.
"So the process we are following is a thorough process," says Van Neels.