Schreiber: Matter of 95 deported Libyans symptoms of a 'crisis that threatens national security interests'

CAPE TOWN - Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said that the matter of 95 Libyans who were receiving military training at a camp in Mpumalanga was a national security threat. 
 
Schreiber has delivered hard-hitting truths about the Home Affairs Department before Parliament’s portfolio committee on Tuesday, saying the incident should shock all South Africans.

The men were deported last week after their visas were found to have been fraudulently issued. 
 
Schreiber said that incidents like this would persist until there was complete digitisation of his department.
 
Minister Schreiber did not mince his words about the state of the Home Affairs Department, telling Parliament the antiquated, paper-based system was easy to abuse and this abuse was likely to continue. 
 
"The matters we will discuss today are not isolated incidents. They are in fact symptoms of a systemic crisis that threatens national security interests of the republic."
 
It’s been revealed the 95 Libyans who entered the country in groups between April and May had done so on handwritten study visas issued in Tunisia. 
 
"How can it be that we expect Home Affairs to do its job, or indeed to hold the minister accountable, when Home Affairs does not even have effective management control of some of the officials processing visa applications at foreign missions."
 
The Border Management Authority (BMA) estimates around 125 Libyans are still in South Africa.