S. Africa vows to improve service to asylum seekers

South Africa will set up an effective system to improve services to asylum seekers, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Wednesday.

One of the purposes of the system is to prevent asylum seekers from falling prey to corruption, Gigaba said at a press briefing after meeting with representatives from the African Diaspora Forum in Pretoria.

"We had fruitful discussions this morning with the African Diaspora Forum, an umbrella body of various migrant communities living in South Africa," he said.

The purpose of the meeting was to explore what needs to be done by the Department of Home Affairs working in partnership with stakeholders to improve quality of services offered to asylum-seekers and refugees, the minister said.

He acknoledged that there are corrupt officials who demand bribes from asylum seekers to assist them in acquiring documents.

Gigaba also pledged to simplify asylum seeking procedures, saying one of the steps will be the establishment of one-stop asylum offices at the country's ports of entry.

This will enable asylum seekers to get their documents without traveling long distances to Home Affairs offices and assist in reducing the duration of getting one's documents, Gigaba said.

"We believe that this is going to assist all migrants and asylum seekers in acquiring their documents on time," the minister said.

The South African government has been criticized for the slow pace in processing asylum applications. Many applicants complained that their applications went unattended or took years.

The Department of Home Affairs has completed an analysis of the Marabastad Refugee Reception Office whose primary objective was to determine key areas affecting services rendered to asylum-seekers, Gigaba said.

A dedicated team was deployed to assess and develop a plan for addressing challenges that were identified, he said.

Subsequently, and as informed by issues on the ground, a project manager was appointed to set-up a specialised project team, and to manage the processes to change the current environment, according to Gigaba.

African Diaspora Chairperson Marc Gbaffou said that his organization is prepared to work with the South African government to find ways to improve the conditions of asylum seekers. Endit