South Africa: Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre Finally Takes Shape

20 October 2022
GroundUp (Cape Town)
By Tariro Washinyira

After a court battle lasting ten years, the new centre is set to open next year

  • The long-awaited Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre in Epping is finally taking shape, with builders hard at work on the site of the new building.
  • The office is due to be opened early next year after court battles which have lasted ten years.
  • The offices will have an arrival area for 200 people, interpretation facilities, child-friendly facilities, food stalls, and a covered waiting area outside.

More than ten years after the start of a court battle over the Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre, a new centre is finally taking shape in Epping.

When GroundUp visited on Tuesday, the site was a hive of activity. Workers were moving equipment inside the renovated main building, fixing a smaller building and repairing the roof.

The legal battle between refugee organisations and the Department of Home Affairs for the centre dates back to 2012, when the department first closed the Cape Town Refugee Reception Office. The closure meant refugees could only apply for asylum in Durban, Musina or Pretoria. The Western Cape High Court said the closure was unreasonable and irrational in 2012. The department was ordered to reopen the office by the same court in 2016, and then by the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2017.

Home Affairs then sought leave to appeal from the Constitutional Court but this was refused.

When Home Affairs still had not opened the Refugee Reception Office by 31 March 2018, the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) went back to court on behalf of the Scalabrini Centre and the Somali Association of South Africa. In May 2021, Acting Judge Alma de Wet ordered Home Affairs to submit monthly reports on progress opening the office.

Devon Turner of the LRC told GroundUp that the centre was now due to open next year. He said Judge de Wet and the LRC had conducted a visit to the site in July 2022. According to the minutes of the meeting, Chief Director of Asylum Seeker Management Mandla Madumisa said the premises would also house the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs and the Refugee Appeals Authority of South Africa. There would be a covered seating area for overnight arrivals leading into the main seated reception area.

Madumisa said: "There are a series of counters with interpretation systems available via phone with interpreters at head office, three screens with numbers on them ticketing a queue management system with 12-14 counters for reception and self-service facilities, to renew your own permits. Then those to be processed further will go to the next section Refugee Status Determination."

According to the minutes, there will be 14 offices for staff, an arrival area for 200 people, six toilets including a disabled toilet, air conditioning and stalls for four food trucks. The Epping industrial area is served by buses and taxis. "We are assured that trains will be back up", the Department said.

Read the original article on GroundUp.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2022 GroundUp. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.