Repatriation centre shows government can enforce immigration law
· Citizen
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber is right when he says the setting up of the large repatriation centre outside Musina in just a matter of days is proof that there is still a well of excellence in his department.
But, at the same time, that achievement has set the bar high for the whole process of cleaning up our rotten immigration system.
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It is sobering to realise that more than 35 000 people will have left the country, either voluntarily or under deportation orders, since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the toughening up of immigration procedures last month.
Home affairs officials and those from the Border Management Authority (BMA) have had their work cut out for them, documenting those who want to leave – ensuring they are fingerprinted and checking they are not wanted for crimes.
And it is heartening to know that those who are found to have been in the country illegally – and that seems like a significant percentage of those who left – will be prohibited from returning.
What the process does show – whether Schreiber and acting BMA commissioner Major-General David Chilembe intended to do so, or not, in their media briefings this week – is that government has had the capacity to crack down.
But it has either chosen not to, or turned away while officials have taken bribes and allowed the whole system to break down.
The challenge for the government now – and the glove thrown down by the March and March countrywide protests – is to maintain that momentum in dealing with illegals within our borders and applying the promised new immigration policy with firmness and vigour.
There won’t be much opportunity for backsliding, either, given that March and March has vowed to keep up its pressure via weekly protests until there is a visible change.