Gigaba 'satisfied' with Lindela Repatriation Centre

The Lindela Repatriation Centre, in Krugersdrop, west of Johannesburg where illegal immigrants are held prior to being deported. Image: Nehanda Radio

Gigaba toured the facility, accompanied by senior Home Affairs officials and a media contingent. The visit was part of a series of visits to Home Affairs offices and entities that report to the department.

The Minister said a lot of progress has been made at Lindela over the years. The facility is a deportation centre for undocumented migrants in South Africa and is the largest of its kind in the country. Prior to deportation, individuals at the centre wait for their legal status to be verified by embassies in their home countries.

The administration of the centre is handled by the Department of Home Affairs but recent media reports have alleged that some of the people at Lindela were kept at the facility for longer than necessary and were allegedly living in unbearable conditions.

In a bid to dispel these media reports, Gigaba ate the food that was prepared and served to inmates at the facility.

Lindela has a suite of care facilities

"I would like to invite those people to come and spend a weekend or even a month here so they can see Lindela for themselves," he said.

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba says he is satisfied with conditions at the Lindela Repatriation Centre after he visited it amid reports of people being held there in appalling conditions. Image: GCIS

The facility has a medical clinic, which is manned 24 hours by qualified personnel to ensure medical treatment is available to anyone in the facility, which holds up to 4,000 people although there are currently just 1,116 people there. Gigaba said the ideal was to have no more than 1,500 people at Lindela.

With regard to allegations that some illegal immigrants were being kept for longer than the legally prescribed 90-day period, Gigaba said this happened when foreign embassies did not respond to requests to verify the status of the migrants.

Gigaba confirmed that the Home Affairs Department is working with the Human Rights Commission and Lindela is inspected on a regular basis. No pregnant women or children are kept at the facility.

He expressed concern about illegal immigrants, who present themselves at Lindela, especially during the festive season, because they want to go home.

"We are worried about that situation. It is costly for the department to deport people," he said. He emphasised that all foreign nationals who want to come to South Africa need to follow the correct legal processes.

The Department of Home Affairs is legally and administratively responsible for all matters pertaining to the apprehension, holding, processing, repatriation and release of illegal immigrants at the Lindela repatriation centre.