PRETORIA - Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber has dismissed claims that his department's failure to process applications is the cause for the number of undocumented individuals in the country.
Schriber was speaking at the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration briefing on Friday ahead of the 30 June planned demonstrations against undocumented migrants in the country.
During the briefing, he insisted that Home Affairs should not be made a "scapegoat" for illegal migration.
He further rejected suggestions that failures within the department's application processes had contributed to the crisis.
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According to Schreiber, during a site visit at eThekwini on Monday, one of the biggest issues in the process was the lack of basic documentation among migrants.
He said some of the Malawian authorities had to issue group passports because the majority who chose to be repatriated on that side did not even own a passport.
“Owning a passport from your home country is the fundamental requirement for any visa category. It doesn't matter if you're coming as a tourist, if you're coming for a work visa application, whatever the case may be. You can't lodge an application without a passport.”
Earlier during the briefing, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi revealed that more than 15,000 Malawian nationals had been processed for deportation and repatriation since the anti-migrant protests began.
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Schreiber pointed out this large number and said it proved many did not even own the proper documents.
“The only conclusion is that it has nothing to do with a Home Affairs document application process, because there could never have been such an application without a passport,” he added.
Schreiber maintains that the department relies heavily on the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), a system that forms a central pillar of digital transformation.
All while leveraging cutting-edge machines to digitalise and automate visa processes, replacing outdated paper-based systems with a secure, efficient, and traveller-friendly digital platform.
The department had previously indicated that the ETA enables visa applicants to apply online, capture biometrics, and receive approvals in real-time, eliminating lengthy processing times and cumbersome documentation.
Schreiber said the system works.