After baptism of fire as Home Affairs minister, Schreiber to face Parly oversight committee for first time

CAPE TOWN - Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber will on Tuesday for the first time face the parliamentary committee responsible for oversight over his department. 

The past three months have been a baptism of fire for Schreiber, who’s had to respond to all manner of issues from illegal visitors to citizenship debacles. 

On Friday, his department announced it would cancel identity documents that were currently blocked if those affected did not come forward to motivate otherwise. 

In January, Lawyers for Human Rights successfully challenged the department against the blocking of identity documents believed to be fraudulent.

Often dubbed a poisoned chalice department, the Democratic Alliance (DA)'s Schreiber, a vocal critic of inefficiencies in the public service in the past, now faces the perennial problems of fraud and corruption that dogs Home Affairs.

On Tuesday, Parliament’s Home Affairs committee will be expecting an update from him on the visa debacle involving 95 Libyan nationals coming to South Africa to spend time at what’s believed to be an illegal military training camp in White River. 

The Border Management Authority (BMA) has also detained over 90 Ethiopian nationals believed to have travelled to South Africa to peddle fake goods. 

Schreiber has also ordered a departmental investigation after a Miss South Africa contestant’s nationality sparked public attention and the suspicion that one of her foreign-born parents may have committed identity fraud. 

The Home Affairs Department is giving the holders of blocked IDs 30 days to argue why they should not be permanently cancelled. 

In January, the Pretoria High Court slammed the department for blocking scores of IDs without prior warning nor offering the opportunity to make representations.