In a symbolically important first step towards the digital transformation of the Department, the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, has instituted a new rule to deliver the outcomes of visa waiver applications digitally via email to applicants. In the first phase of the rollout of this process, the outcome of waiver applications for holders of Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEPs) will be sent digitally, effective immediately. Over time, this digital-first approach will be extended to other applicants in the visa and permit regime.

This means that applicants will no longer be required to visit a VFS branch to collect physical, paper-based copies of the waiver letters. Instead, starting today with ZEP holders and later, all applicants will conveniently receive digital waiver letters, in PDF format, through email. These digital letters can be used to submit a mainstream visa application going forward.

“While this step on its own may be a small one, it is still meaningful as part of our larger quest to clamp down on corruption and to enhance efficiency of services by transforming Home Affairs into a digital-first Department. This simple embrace of a digital-first approach to processing waivers has also significantly accelerated our work to clear the permitting backlog that dates back a decade, which started out at over 306 000 unprocessed applications. Through this change, we have been able to effectively process 60 582 outstanding ZEP waiver applications, many of which date back to 2022. Another 22 529 ZEP waiver applications are set to be processed soon, further reducing the backlog and freeing up valuable resources in a department that has been financially gutted to the point of only having 40% of the staff resources. This step illustrates our absolute determination to use technology to do more with the little we have.”, said Minister Schreiber

Applicants who still prefer to collect hardcopies of ZEP waiver letters at branches will still be able to do so, the Department would like to ask applicants to not be doubtful when they receive an outcome digitally via email from the following official addresses:

• No-reply1.dhasa@vfshelpline.com

• No-reply2.dhasa@vfshelpline.com

• No-reply3.dhasa@vfshelpline.com

• No-reply4.dhasa@vfshelpline.com

• No-reply5.dhasa@vfshelpline.com

• No-reply6.dhasa@vfshelpline.com

George Moyo, a businessman and ANC activist, argues that not all foreign nationals are illegals. Those who are in the country legally should be treated with kindness and due respect. 

My name is George Dingizulu Moyo. I disagree with the notion that South Africans no longer want black foreign nationals. 

As an ordinary South African born and raised in Alexandra, I believe we should welcome everyone, regardless of race or nationality. 

However, for government administration purposes, I think it`s essential that everyone - black, yellow, or white - be registered when entering or leaving the country. Those who wish to work, become residents, or citizens should go through proper Home Affairs processes and obtain necessary qualifications. 

Although I was born in Alex, my father Jackson Ngoya Moyo was a  Zimbabwean from Plumtree. 

He arrived in South Africa in 1936 and was influenced by the African National Congress of Zimbabwe under the ANC Presidency of Joshua Nkomo and later was introduced to the ANC of South Africa by his country man Thomas Nkobi. 

Yes, Nkobi, who would later become treasurer general of the  ANC and a close confidant of Oliver Tambo, was Zimbabwean by birth. 

My father lived in Sophiatown and Alexandra, where we coexisted with people from various backgrounds - Mozambicans, Malawians, Batswana, Ba Sotho, Swazis, Coloureds, Indians, and whites. 

My mother is a South African from the Xaba family, related to the Radebe, Dhlamini, and Mthimkhulu clans. 

I was involved in the struggle against Apartheid and later worked at the ANC headquarters, Shell House, after the organization was unbanned. I registered and trademarked ANC and protected the image of Nelson Mandela . I headed the 1994 Election Merchandise Project. 

My cousin brother Dan Moyo was imprisoned on Robben Island, and his elder brother Koki was part of MK Special Ops, later became a Ltn. Colonel in VIP Presidential Protection Unit and Madiba`s bodyguard since 1991 and continued to serve for over 30 years. 

Our uncle Jayson Moyo in ZAPU and  Joe Modise of MK as a senior Commanders were responsible for the unity of MK and ZIPRA to fight side by side against Ian Smith and apartheid armed forces in Wankie and Sipholile in Zimbabwe. 

Alexandra has a rich history of intergenerational growth, with children of foreign nationals interconnected with South Africans. 

While acknowledging colonial borders, I believe we should embrace Ubuntu and treat each other with kindness and respect.

However, illegal immigrants should be addressed to bring order and focus on growing Africa together. 

I totally agree that the government must be hard on foreign illegals and clean up corruption in Home Affairs, and as South Africans, we must begin to take the eradication of any corruption seriously and assist our government. 

I want to counter the harmful narrative that African nationals are to be feared and hated.  

Not all foreigners are unauthorised, and many contribute positively to our society. Let`s work towards a more balanced perspective, recognising the complexity of migration and the value of our diversity.

Following Minister Leon Schreiber’s zero-tolerance directive, Home Affairs is clearing illegal immigrants from the streets in the Western Cape.
This success follows the deplorable actions of a South African diplomat in Dubai. He is accused of selling passports to UAE citizens and using his influence to get his son diplomatic benefits. And let’s not forget the on-going scandal of Chiddima Adetshina’s mother’s identity theft.
Now, IOL reports that the City of Cape Town has made inroads as Home Affairs removes illegal immigrants off the streets across multiple operations. This is according to statements by Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith, the man who’s remit includes tracking and removing undocumented persons.
HOME AFFAIRS REMOVES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Smith said last week that the Department of Home Affairs teamed up with local authorities for key operations. Following extensive tracing of suspected illegal immigrants, the teams descending on an area along the N1 between Paarden Eiland and Woodstock. Several informal structures had been erected believed to house undocumented immigrants. A week prior Home Affairs removed illegal immigrants from the area of District Six, too
“Home Affairs and the City has made good progress working together. Last week, we did a large operation in District Six and now we have conducted yet another big operation. We worked the entire length of the N1 highway close to the city. There are a lot of structures along the side of the road, most of which are occupied by illegal foreign nationals. 34 people were arrested yesterday for not having the relevant documentation or permits to be in the country,” explained Smith.
FACING DEPORTATION
A further 72 people were surveyed – 40 of them undocumented men and 32 women – and they now face deportation. Minister Schreiber has been vocal about a zero-tolerance approach to illegals. Likewise, he believes in deploying the latest digital technology at Home Affairs to protect national security
Corruption within the department’s ranks is rife and threatens the country’s safety. And undocumented persons living in the country will continue to go undetected until ‘wholesale digital transformation’ takes place within the department, said Schreiber. He says he is working tirelessly to revitalise the department.

MBABANE – The net is closing in on civil servants who are implicated in the fraudulent activities at the Ministry of Home Affairs.
This is because the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which has been conducting investigations, has reportedly completed its work. This publication has gathered that the ACC has completed its work and around 10 officers are set to face the music. Having concluded the investigation, it was gathered that ACC officers were already working on an application to obtain warrants of arrests for the implicated individuals. Sources revealed that if all goes according to plan, the arrests would be effected in the next coming days. Called for comment, ACC Acting Commissioner Maphevu Mkhatjwa said while the commission has completed its investigation, he could not say when the arrests would be effected. Mkhatjwa argued that it was not wise to reveal anything, as such would jeopardise whatever investigation they carried out. He then referred this reporter to ACC Spokesperson Jabu Phakathi who, however, told this reporter that she was not aware of any planned arrests.
Prohibits
Phakathi reminded this reporter that the entity operates within the ambit of the law which prohibits the disclosure of information or details of any person who is the subject of an enquiry or investigation. The ACC has a three-pronged legal mandate of prevention whereby it is supposed to examine practices and procedures and advice on ways of preventing corruption.
It also has an education role of empowering the public and private bodies and the general public on the forms and dangers of corruption.  Furthermore, the ACC has the function of investigation which is to receive and investigate complaints of alleged or suspected corrupt practices made against any person, and refer appropriate cases to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).  
Refugee status
In 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs instituted an internal probe into the sale of refugee status and passports to foreign nationals.  Police investigations reportedly found that there was a syndicate dealing in documentation status and refugee passports.  It was revealed that the syndicate charged between E30 000 and E50 000 for fresh and legal documents for any undocumented citizen, who wanted to be treated as an official refugee in the Kingdom of Eswatini.The internal investigations saw over 100 immigration officers being transferred last year.  At the time, the Immigration Office was faced with the challenge of disappearance and theft of security documents such as passports and travel documents.When the investigation was instituted, the ministry did state that heads were set to roll, as it was dedicated to getting rid of all elements of corruption.
Aiding a syndicate
In one of the cases, there were allegations that government officials were aiding a syndicate in Manzini that was dealing in refugee status documentation and passports. It was alleged that during the internal investigation, an official confessed to taking a bribe from a foreign national. She, however, could not renew the passport and it triggered the investigation and the ACC reportedly instituted an internal investigation in the ministry to ascertain if there were officers who were involved in granting the passports illegally. It has been reported that as the ACC continued with its investigation, it was discovered that in the system, the information on who had printed the passports had been deleted. Reliable sources have confided that the ACC then engaged the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) based on the fact that it is the one that controls the systems of the making of passports and other documents.

The RSTP, it was gathered, has what is known as the administrative rights and there are officers who are able to find the documents since there are footprints that are in the system.
The RSTP system is able to determine that an officer presented the documents and this is made possible through the use of the IP address of the computer that was used. There were suspicions that there could be officers who wiped out some of the evidence and the RSTP has to come in to re-assemble the needed data. Worth noting is that for some time, the ACC has been deemed inefficient with members of the public and politicians labelling it toothless in that it received a government subvention but did not effect as many arrests as expected.
However, things have changed in recent months as there have been arrests witnessed. Last month, the ACC nabbed a UNESWA lecturer and a senior officer of the National Maize Corporation (NMC). The UNESWA lecturer, who is also a farmer, has been identified as Daniel Vusane Dlamini of Mkhulamini, while the officer is Mthobisi Sifiso Dlamini of Nyakeni and is employed as a Project Manager at NMC.The two are alleged to have colluded in a corrupt act involving a truck trailer belonging to government.
Prevention of corruption
The duo was arrested in accordance with the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA), a legislation enacted to investigate and punish corrupt activities, establish the ACC and to provide for other matters incidental to the prevention of corruption. The POCA was put in place in 2018 and since its inception, the State has seized and subsequently forfeited a number of assets that are believed to have been acquired through criminal means or used as instrumentality for criminal activities. The two individuals are said to have been arrested for allegedly contravening Section 42 of the POCA, which details general offences of corruption. The veracity of the allegations is yet to be tested in court. According to the charge sheet, in 2015, the Government of Eswatini bought farming equipment which included tractors, tractor trailers and other farming implements for purposes of hiring them out to farmers in the country. The tractor trailers bought were 50 in number.

The Department of Home Affairs has launched a significant initiative aimed at addressing the long-standing issue of blocked identity documents (IDs) in South Africa. The department has published a comprehensive list of blocked IDs in the government gazette, calling upon those affected to provide written reasons and representations within 30 days on why their IDs should not be cancelled.
This initiative forms part of the department’s broader strategy to combat identity fraud, which has plagued the system for decades. The public has been urged to send their submissions to Sylvia Phasha at Sylvia.Phasha@dha.gov.za, with the department committing to a fair and transparent process.
In addition to the gazette publication, the Department of Home Affairs has also embarked on an extensive social media campaign to ensure that the public is fully informed about the opportunity to make representations. This move is seen as a necessary step to rectify wrongful blocks and to identify and cancel IDs held by unauthorised individuals.
The issue of blocked IDs is not a new one. Some IDs were blocked as far back as 2005 due to a variety of reasons. These reasons include instances where the biometric system flagged the IDs as duplicates, where the documents were suspected to be held by illegal immigrants, or in cases where the ID holder had reportedly passed away. However, it has become apparent over the years that some IDs were wrongfully blocked, causing significant inconvenience to legitimate holders.
Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, highlighted the importance of this initiative in ensuring justice and fairness in the administrative process. “I encourage members of the public to make use of this opportunity to ensure that we conduct a just and equitable process to unblock IDs that have been wrongfully blocked,” Schreiber stated.
The department’s decision to publish the list and invite public input is also in response to a court order issued earlier this year. The court had mandated the department to implement a fair administrative process to distinguish between wrongfully blocked IDs and those that pose genuine security risks.
The Home Affairs Department’s actions come at a time when identity fraud is a growing concern in South Africa. Fraudulent IDs have been linked to various criminal activities, including illegal voting, financial fraud, and the unlawful acquisition of government services. By inviting public input and rigorously verifying the status of blocked IDs, the department aims to significantly reduce the number of fraudulent documents in circulation.
The department’s proactive approach includes a sustained social media presence to raise awareness among affected individuals. This approach is expected to reach a broader audience, especially those who may not have access to the government gazette but are active on platforms such as X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, and other social media networks.
For those whose IDs have been wrongfully blocked, this initiative offers a chance to restore their rightful status. The department has assured that every submission will be carefully reviewed, with the aim of balancing security concerns with the rights of individuals to hold valid identification.
Furthermore, this initiative is not only about rectifying past errors but also about reinforcing the integrity of South Africa’s identity system. By cancelling IDs that are found to be fraudulent, the department is taking a firm stand against identity theft and fraud, which have had far-reaching implications for national security and the economy.
In closing, Minister Schreiber reiterated the department’s commitment to resolving these issues swiftly and effectively. “The gazetting of these decisive measures underscores our commitment to clamp down on fraud, and to move with urgency to resolve longstanding challenges while upholding the rule of law,” he said.