South Africa to fingerprint asylum seekers online
A biometric platform due on 10 November is meant to stop rejected applicants filing again. The minister says the appeals backlog is about 120,000 cases.
Pretoria — South Africa's Department of Home Affairs is building an online biometric system for asylum applications that it expects to switch on by 10 November, the minister, Leon Schreiber, has said.
Speaking in Pretoria at a briefing of the inter-ministerial committee on migration, Dr Schreiber said the platform is meant to speed up decisions, confirm who applicants are, and stop people whose claims have been rejected from applying again and again to delay their removal.
How it will work
Applicants will have to give biometric information. The system will use it to verify identity and to check whether the person has been turned down before. It will also check that passports and other travel documents are genuine and flag other recorded offences.
The department says the design draws on its experience with the Electronic Travel Authorisation system it built for visitors.
The backlog
Dr Schreiber gave these figures, while saying he did not have an exact count for the backlog and would provide a confirmed number later:
- about 120,000 cases waiting on appeal;
- a reduction of about 20% in the backlog over the last financial year;
- about 30 days to decide an initial application;
- 74 advocates brought in to work on appeals;
- nine people handling appeals when the current administration took office.
The court ruling
The announcement follows a Constitutional Court judgment of 7 July on how asylum claims must be processed. Dr Schreiber said the ruling dealt with procedure. It did not give anyone refugee status or citizenship, he said, and it did not take away the department's power to decide applications or to deport people whose claims have finally failed.
The government intends to ask the Constitutional Court for a supervisory order, to get guidance on carrying out the judgment. The minister said the department needs to know how many people will apply before it can plan staff and capacity.
Separately, a panel of judges of the High Court in Gauteng will hold a hearing on 29 October on conflicting judgments about asylum seekers issued within that division. The committee has told the relevant departments to take part.
Source: SAnews, 11 October 2026.
