Bulk of amount spent to deport foreign nationals: Home Affairs

Home Affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza said an amount of R33 million was spent between April 2018 and March 2019 to deport 22 000 foreign nationals to their countries of origin.

The Department of Home Affairs has spent almost R42 million to deport thousands of undocumented foreign nationals between April 2018 and August 2019.

Home Affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza said an amount of R33 million was spent between April 2018 and March 2019 to deport 22 000 foreign nationals to their countries of origin.

Qoza said an amount of R8.9 million was also spent between 1 April and 31 August 2019. This included the deportation process of 10 000 illegal foreign nationals between January 2019 to June 2019.

The bulk of the amount was spent on flight tickets and bus transportation for foreign nationals from neighboring countries.

Qoza said the department will continue to deport undocumented foreign nationals, and that it was currently negotiating with embassies and various countries around the world on how to share the burden of deporting people.

“The department continuously deports those who are found to be here illegally because this is a continuous problem,” Qoza said. 

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)