South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, which has resumed mass deportations of undocumented Zimbabweans, late last month, closed down the Port Elizabeth Refugee Reception Centre under the pretext that it was not located strategically for people who wanted to apply for asylum.
The department’s Director-General, Mkhuseli Apleni, dropped a bombshell on Thursday when he said even more centres would soon be closed in the cities.
“Any new asylum seeker will not be processed in Port Elizabeth; they must be served in the province where they enter the country. We are also on record as saying it is our intention as the Department to move all these Refugee Reception Centres to the borders,” said Apleni.