Reception Office also appears to be in a similar situation to that of Maitland and Marabastad. Limpopo province has a few characteristics that differentiate it. The most obvious is its proximity to Zimbabwe and the distance from Lindela. Unlike the rest of South Africa, Musina has established steering committees and operational forums made up of relevant government departments, NGO’s and International Organisations. Through this, Musina has established a certain amount of transparency and accountability for which they should be applauded. There are paralegals from the Musina Legal Advice Office, stationed at various points known to be frequented by asylum seekers. These paralegals are in place to provide information and advice to asylum seekers as they enter the country. This information is vital because, in order to be documented a refugee must at least know what is required before they can do it. There are agreements in place between SAPS, DHA, SANDF and the committee about the procedures to follow when making arrests and when deporting. If these organisations exist and function, then how are there still rights being violated? The operational forum and their guidelines provide protection for all foreign nationals believed to be, by their definition, vulnerable. To be considered vulnerable, one must be fleeing persecution in some form and must be in South Africa because they are fleeing from persecution. Limpopo thus departs from the procedure followed in other South African provinces in several ways. Despite the transparency and appearance of accountability, procedural and human rights abuses can be found throughout the process in Musina. Zimbabweans appeared to be the nationality most marginalised in this province. The DHA in Musina doesn’t send all arrested alleged illegal immigrants to Lindela, only those not from Zimbabwe. Accurate figures were hard to verify, but it was widely reported by both deportees and relevant stakeholders that it was common for vans of arrested, largely Zimbabwean, immigrants to be taken over the border daily without going through any screening or verification process. Zimbabweans are not sent to Lindela from Musina, but are supposedly all screened before deportation to ensure they are in fact illegal. The verification process appears to only apply to those who can convince the Police or Soldier arresting them that they are not lying about their information being in the system. According to interviews conducted for the report those who are not held in the Musina Police Station, are kept in the large SAPS vans throughout the day until the van is full, at which point they are all deported. Asylum seekers who claim to have lost their papers are supposed, according to local agreement, to be taken to the Musina Legal Advice Office (MLAO) where their claim is assessed, but not verified. Basically claimants must convince the paralegal or lawyer that they are legitimate asylum seekers with lost documents. If they can do this, they are then taken the Musina Police holding cells, where the DHA can verify their status. The numbers of Zimbabweans deported daily varied from between 50 and 150 depending on the source. Those who are not run through the formal channels are being denied the right to sign a deportation form that allows the opportunity to contest arrest; and the right to be treated with dignity. This information is based on information given by several witnesses, returned deportees and corroborated by members of civil society in Musina. This included a Pastor from a local Church who runs three shelters for men, women and children in Musina and Beitbridge. He was arrested for not being in possession of his passport-which was valid. He tried to tell the soldiers this, but they did not listen and deported him with the others arrested. He was taken to International Organisation for Migration (IOM) across the border and, after refusing the transport to 37