Home Affairs is developing a biometric online platform to speed up asylum applications, strengthen identity verification and prevent rejected applicants from repeatedly submitting claims to delay their removal.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the platform, expected to be operational by 10 November 2026, would help the department address longstanding inefficiencies in the asylum system while strengthening immigration law enforcement.
Speaking during an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration media briefing in Pretoria on Sunday, Schreiber said the reforms would draw on the department’s experience in using technology to improve other administrative processes, including the Electronic Travel Authorisation system.
The platform will require asylum applicants to submit biometric information, which Home Affairs will use to verify their identities and establish whether they have previously lodged applications that were rejected.
The system will also enable the department to verify the authenticity of passports and other travel documents and identify other infringements recorded against applicants.
Schreiber said the reforms were intended to improve the processing of applications while preventing abuse of the asylum system.
“The ConCourt did not remove our right as Home Affairs to adjudicate a refugee application. If someone doesn't qualify, it is our job to say you don't qualify and you must be deported,” he said.
The Minister emphasised that the Constitutional Court judgment of 7 July 2026 dealt with procedural aspects of processing asylum claims and did not grant refugee status or citizenship to any foreign national.
Addressing the appeals backlog
The planned digital system comes as Home Affairs grapples with a substantial backlog of asylum appeals.
Schreiber estimated the backlog at approximately 120 000 cases, although he said the department would provide a confirmed figure.
“I don't have the exact figure on where the backlog stands as of today, but I think it is around 120,000, following that reduction of about 20% that I mentioned, but I would ask that we just get an opportunity to send through the actual figure,” he said.
He said the department had achieved turnaround times of approximately 30 days for initial asylum applications, with the main delays occurring during the appeals stage.
Home Affairs had reduced the appeals backlog by about 20% during the previous financial year, but Schreiber said further improvements were necessary to prevent new applications from creating another backlog.
The department had also brought in 74 advocates to help strengthen its capacity to process appeals.
Schreiber said the current administration had initially inherited a system in which only nine people were responsible for processing asylum appeals.
He said the combination of additional legal capacity and technological reforms would help accelerate the adjudication process.
Government seeks court guidance
Meanwhile, Government intends to approach the Constitutional Court for a supervisory order to obtain guidance on implementing its judgment and to address the administrative and operational challenges facing Home Affairs.
Schreiber said the department needed to establish how many people would come forward to apply for asylum before it could adequately plan its staffing and processing capacity.
The proposed online platform would help Government establish the scale of the applications it needed to manage and plan a phased implementation process.
The IMC has also directed relevant government departments and entities to participate in a 29 October 2026 hearing before a panel of judges of the Gauteng Division of the High Court. The panel will consider conflicting judgments on asylum seekers issued within the division.
Schreiber said the department would continue to adjudicate asylum applications and enforce immigration law, including deporting those whose claims had been finally rejected, in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
The reforms are intended to improve the efficiency of the asylum system while enabling Government to implement the Constitutional Court judgment within the framework of the law. – SAnews.gov.za
