Lindela Repatriation Centre Contact Details

Lindela Repatriation Centre at Krugersdorp West is where the Department of Home Affairs holds people pending deportation. Most people looking for it are trying to trace a relative who has been detained, and the useful thing to know is that Home Affairs lists the facility itself in its own contacts directory, so you do not have to go through a general enquiry line to reach it.

Official contact channels

• Lindela Holding Facility: 011 662 0500 or 011 662 0510
• Location: Krugersdorp West, Gauteng
• Home Affairs contact centre: 0800 60 11 90, or hacc@dha.gov.za
• Directorate: Deportations, Pretoria: 012 406 4989, 012 406 7055, 012 406 4941, 012 406 4940 or 012 406 4985
• Home Affairs lists a named centre manager with a direct mailbox and a mobile number. Those are an individual employee contact and are not reproduced here. Use the facility numbers above

What the centre is and what it is not

• Lindela is a holding facility under the Immigration Act, not a prison and not a correctional services centre. People held there have not been sentenced
• It holds people awaiting deportation or transfer. Detention pending deportation is time-limited by law and a court order is required to extend it beyond the statutory period
• Asylum seekers with a valid section 22 permit should not be detained there. If someone with a valid permit has been taken in, that is the first thing to raise
• It is run for the Department of Home Affairs under contract, but the department remains the responsible authority

Tracing someone who has been detained

• Police stations are designated as places of detention before transfer to Lindela. Someone picked up in an immigration operation is usually held at a station first, so start with the station in the area where they were arrested
• Home Affairs publishes the list of designated police stations by province in its Places of Detention notice. Gauteng stations on it include Johannesburg Central, Brixton, Sophiatown, Krugersdorp, Randfontein, Kagiso, Katlehong, Springs, Akasia, Soshanguve, Mabopane, Brooklyn, Garsfontein, Sunnyside and Villeria
• Have the person full name, date of birth, nationality and passport or permit number ready before you phone
• Ask for the file or admission reference and write it down. Every follow-up is faster with it

Legal help and complaints

• Legal Aid South Africa advice line: 0800 110 110, free from a landline
• South African Human Rights Commission: 011 877 3600 or complaints@sahrc.org.za. Conditions of detention and length of detention are within its mandate
• The Public Protector takes complaints about the conduct of a state department on 0800 11 20 40
• A detained person is entitled to contact a legal representative and, if a foreign national, their consulate or embassy

Sources

• Department of Home Affairs contacts directory, Lindela Holding Facilities entry, for the facility telephone numbers and the Krugersdorp West location
• Department of Home Affairs contacts directory, head office and Directorate Deportations entries, for the contact centre number and mailbox and the deportations directorate numbers
• Department of Home Affairs Places of Detention notice under section 34(1) of the Immigration Act, for the designated police stations