Each day crowds form outside the refugee reception offices of the Department of Home Affairs, asylum seekers who have often crossed thousands of kilometres only to find that the process to gain recognition as a refugee can take years in South Africa. The government is determined to clear this backlog of asylum applicants – now about 100,000 – over the next year. Success will mean ending both long delays and many of the problems in documentation faced by the growing queue of those awaiting a decision on requests for refugee status.