number of people coming across the border, only those who have been able to apply for asylum. Those not able to pay bribes are often forced to sit through the chaos for more than a week before accessing the front of the line. If and when an asylum seeker is able to gain access to the reception office, and apply for asylum, they must then return every 3 or 6 months to have their stay extended, while the department sifts through the backlog of applications until a determination on their status is reached. This status determination process for an asylum seeker to be granted Refugee status is not, in theory, supposed to take more than 6 months to complete. Through Passop’s frequent interactions with asylum seekers in Cape Town, it is apparent that the process can take anywhere from two to three years before an applicant is even granted an interview in order to assess their refugee claim. In Johannesburg, it is not uncommon to find asylum seekers who have been in South Africa with legitimate temporary asylum documents for over seven years. In one instance, a man had been living in South Africa with Asylum for 9 years before being told in an interview that his claim was invalidated and he was being forced to go home. In the 9 year period, the man had established a legitimate business and had two more children join his family; but because the judicial process had taken so long, the DHA claimed the conditions in his home country had changed to the point where he was no longer legally allowed to remain in South Africa. He was arrested and not given any opportunity to warn his wife and young children or to close his business and prepare for deportation. (See Box #6) On a positive note, those who have been able to apply for asylum and be granted a Section 22 document are fortunate in that they at least hold some form of valid documentation. This brings us to the issue of applicants actually being able to apply for asylum. A troubling number of applicants are turned away from Refugee Reception Offices (RROs) countrywide day after day and there were several reports of people being forced to give up on their application in order to keep their employment. In the Western Cape alone a reported 1659 people who presented themselves to the refugee reception centre were turned away unserved over just a 2 week period.30 Box #2 – *Naledi- Access to Marabastad *Naledi is a mother of six young children, the oldest of whom is fourteen. All seven members of the family live together in one room within a two bedroom flat in Yeoville, Johannesburg. She is an asylum seeker who worked as a security guard with documentation. She attempted to renew her papers when they were set to expire, but could not get access to the Refugee Reception Centre to renew the documents. Naledi was forced to give up renewing after repeatedly visiting the reception centre, thus risking her job, her means for survival. Expired asylum documents result in a R2500 fine, which was a further deterrent for her to attempt to deal with her document situation. Naledi continued working and living until eventually being arrested on her way to work. For three weeks following her arrest, her landlord, who relies on Naledi’s rent payment for her livelihood, has been supporting and feeding the children and sending them to school. This arrangement is not sustainable, as the landlord simply cannot afford to continue supporting six extra children, particularly without access to her usual source of income. 30 PASSOP report “Road to Documentation” 14