The Border Management Authority (BMA) said that almost 90,000 people had passed through the country’s borders after being repatriated to their countries of origin.
Of that number, the Department of Home Affairs said that around 83,000 had been processed through the Lindela Repatriation Centre west of Johannesburg, after being found to be without valid documentation.
But at a cost of almost R300 million, the Department of Home Affairs has already spent more than five times its allocation for deportations.
The department briefed Parliament’s portfolio committee on Tuesday on the status of the operation, with Director-General Tommy Makhode saying operations at the temporary repatriation facility in Musina were now being scaled back.
The majority of those returning to their country of origin hail from Malawi, followed by Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The number of people repatriated so far this year is more than double the 44,607 people repatriated during the last financial year.
The Department of Public Works, meanwhile, has spent R48 million setting up the repatriation centre at Musina, which could accommodate up to 20,000 people.
The governments of Malawi, Ethiopia and Nigeria have been requested to reimburse the South African government for the costs incurred in repatriating their nationals.
