Home Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said last week the government would strengthen South Africa’s borders to prevent an influx of illegal immigrants from crossing into the country.

In a statement, Dlamini-Zuma said the move was part of a broader initiative to deal with a backlog of illegal immigrants, mostly Zimbabweans, in the country. The Beit Bridge border, which hundreds of Zimbabweans breach on a daily basis, is the most porous in the SADC region and the busiest in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We will also enhance our National Immigration Information System (NIIS), which is used to register asylum seekers and refugees while reducing the backlog at the adjudication and review/appeals level. We have to adopt a regional approach to mixed migration with the view to curb the abuse of the asylum seeker process and ensure the issue receives the attention of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). We will therefore strengthen controls at our borders and ports of entry in cooperation with our neighbours,” she said.

She said that South Africa remained committed to honouring its international obligations to protect those who legitimately seek respite from persecution, in line with international and domestic laws. "Ours is to determine and protect the status of asylum seekers by providing them with relevant documents and permits,” the minister said.

Dlamini-Zuma said the government was in the process of reviewing and overhauling the asylum seeker management processes to ensure there was adequate capacity and expertise at all levels of the process to ensure its security and efficiency.

The minister’s statement follows the recent refusal of entry of nearly 100 undocumented Somali refugees who intended to enter the country through Beit Bridge. Several of them were left stranded at the Zimbabwean border while others managed to use illegal crossing points along the Limpopo River to enter the country.

Dlamini-Zuma’s comments follow Parliament’s support for the enacting of the Refugee Amendment Bill. The new legislation, which will have significant implications on refugees applying for asylum in South Africa, now requires the signature of President Jacob Zuma to become law.