Home Affairs, border posts will be hit as 235 000 civil servants plan strike on Thursday

The Public Servants' Association (PSA) maintains that its strike in the public service will still "definitely" commence on Thursday, while the government said it would have measures in place to mitigate the impact of the industrial action.

The union has 235 000 members, and warned that its planned strike would hit Home Affairs, the Department of Transport, and South Africa border controls in particular. This will be the PSA's first strike since 2010. The union was founded more than a century ago.

Government is unilaterally implementing a 3% wage hike this month, while the PSA is demanding 6.5%.

Only the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) has accepted government's 3% wage offer, while Cosatu affiliates want a 10% increase.

The PSA will hold a march and picket at the offices of the National Treasury on Wednesday.

READ | Unions mull tough govt strike - but festive season and tough finances loom large

PSA assistant general manager Reuben Maleka told News24 that the PSA strike would "definitely" take place on Thursday.

The PSA said that if the strike becomes protracted, it had a fund in place to pay striking members. However, News24 understands that some in government only expect a one-day strike.

Maleka said the union would also march to the National Treasury to register its umbrage with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana setting an average 3.1% increase to the public service wage bill in his Medium-term Budget Policy Statement in October.

This was in line with the Acting Minister of Public Service and Administration Thulas Nxesi's decision to invoke section 5 of the Public Service Act to implement the 3% increase unilaterally, which will be paid out to qualifying public servants from next week.

READ | Possibility of 800 000-strong public sector strike looms as unions weigh options

The Department of Public Service and Administration said in a statement that it noted the PSA's plans to embark on a national march on Thursday.

"The department has put measures in place to mitigate the impact of such an action by the PSA."

It said rules state that picketing may "only take place during lunch hours or tea breaks outside the premises of the employer".

"All provisions related to the management of employees participating in the protected strike shall apply," the statement said.

In Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, Nxesi is set to appear in a plenary of the National Assembly to reply orally to questions regarding the ongoing deadlock in the public service wage talks.

Meanwhile, public service unions affiliated with the Cosatu - namely the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu), the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa), and the Police, Prisons and Civil Rights Union (Popcru) - will hold a briefing on Wednesday to announce their plans after being awarded certificates of non-resolution.

SA visas may give ZEP holders the best chance of staying in SA

By Marisa Jacobs 14 Nov 2022 

Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders should take advantage of the six-month extension granted by the South African government to apply for a mainstream visa or exemption.

The general but mistaken sentiment among ZEP holders seems to be that it is a pointless exercise because applicants will inevitably not be successful with their applications.

The reality is that ZEP holders can benefit much more from taking action now than waiting for their permits to expire.

In October, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa, said that less than 10% of the some 180 000 ZEP holders had applied for available South African visas. This was against the previous deadline of 31 December 2022. Because of the low response, the Minister of Home Affairs extended the period of exemption to 30 June 2023.

Protection

It appears evident that the government wants to end the ZEP process itself rather than discourage the presence of Zimbabweans in South Africa. This is so that, as foreign nationals, their stay in the country will be administered through the prescribed visa system and not independently of it.

The minister’s published directive on the implementation of the extension provides applicants with concrete protection.

This includes the following provisions for ZEP holders during the extension period:

• They may not be arrested, ordered to depart the country, detained for deportation, or deported for not having a valid exemption certificate label or sticker in their passport.
• They may not be dealt with in terms of sections 29 (Prohibited persons), 30 (Undesirable persons) and 32 (Illegal foreigners) of the Immigration Act.
• They may exit and re-enter the country freely provided they meet all the requirements for entry/departure, except for having a valid permit in their passport.
• They are not required to produce a valid exemption certificate or an authorisation letter to remain in South Africa when making their application for any category of visa, including a temporary residence visa.

This means they can move around freely and apply for an appropriate visa without fear of exposing themselves to prosecution or bureaucratic discrimination.

Benefits of a visa

A ZEP holder only has to look at the limiting conditions reflected in their passport to realise the benefits of applying for a visa.

First, they do not have the right to seek permanent residence in South Africa, regardless of how long they remain in the country. Applying for a visa for which they qualify presents the possibility of one day enjoying permanent residence.

ZEPs also cannot be renewed or extended. The current extension applies to the elimination of the ZEP system altogether, not the expiry of individual permits. On the other hand, visas may be renewed for qualifying candidates.

In addition, the ZEP holder cannot change the conditions of their permit inside South Africa. For example, to be granted a work visa, they would need to return to Zimbabwe and make their application through an SA embassy there. The extension grants them the ability to apply for a visa while still in the country.

Act now

Of course, the deciding factor is that the ZEP holder’s time will run out on 30 June 2023 anyway. So, they have nothing to lose by making their application, but nothing to gain if they don’t. Home Affairs has made it clear that no further extensions will be granted.

Finally, it is possible that a backlog will build up nearer the deadline, causing delays in the processing of applications.

To ensure that their status remains valid post 30 June 2023, ZEP holders should apply now to give themselves the best chance of success and plenty of time to plan ahead.

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South Africa gets R10 billion from France and Germany for the move away from coal – terms and conditions apply

Staff Writer - 14 Nov 2022

South Africa, France and Germany have signed loan agreements for the two European nations to each extend €300 million – about R10 billion in total – in concessional financing to South Africa to support the country’s just energy transition.

The loans will be provided by the French and German public development banks, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KFW), directly to the National Treasury.

“The loans are highly concessional as their terms are substantially more generous than what the government of South Africa would be able to raise in capital markets,” said Treasury.

The Treasury explained that the estimated cost for the government of South Africa to raise an equivalent loan today in the market would be around 8.9% – considering fair value estimation of South Africa’s foreign currency bonds relative to the risk-free rate, secondary market activity, and historical issue spreads.

“Due to South Africa’s high stock of debt and the currently high-interest rate environment, replacing market lending with much cheaper concessional loans allows South Africa to reduce its cost of funding and overall debt burden.

“By lowering debt service costs, the government of South Africa creates more fiscal space for critical social and other priorities,” said Treasury.

The department added that these loans are already reflected in South Africa’s gross borrowing requirement and are well within South Africa’s risk benchmark of foreign debt as a percentage of total debt.

These loans form part of an international funding package of $8.5 billion (R147 billion), known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), pledged to SA by France, Germany, the UK, the US and the EU at COP26 in November 2021.

Although 97% of the R147 billion is expected to be offered in the form of loans, it is still unknown what the terms will be – especially regarding those offered by the UK, the US and the EU.

However, while this funding is welcomed, it is only a small drop in the ocean of what experts estimate South Africa will need to fully realise its transition goals.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, during a speech at the COP27 summit in Egypt this week, said that the country needs close to R1.5 trillion ($86.5 billion) to reach its energy transition goals.

Despite this, the National Treasury said that this funding as part of the JETP is a notable step in attracting further investment – creating new industries and jobs, which will help South Africa to achieve energy security and climate resilience.

“South Africa requires more support for its just energy transition given the large scale of the required transition in the context of the current socio-economic challenges and will therefore continue discussions with various multilateral lenders to pursue this objective,” said Treasury.

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Water crisis in South Africa likely to be worse than the energy mess, warns infrastructure group

Staff Writer 14 Nov 2022

The current constraints on power generation in South Africa, which has resulted in extended load shedding by electricity utility Eskom, is overshadowing another potentially more dire crisis: water.

“The energy crisis is confronting us first, or maybe it is the most obvious, but for me, the current water shortage in Gauteng is absolutely a worse crisis. While the fundamental issues are the same, it is going to be a much more difficult situation for people to live with on a day-to-day basis,” said Darrin Green, Africa MD at globally trusted infrastructure firm AECOM.

Despite the issues being faced in the power sector, Green said that the work coming from it remains cyclical and difficult to secure. This is especially true on the high-voltage transmission and distribution side and even in the renewable energy sector, where despite a renewed focus, there is not a consistent flow of work.

AECOM said its involvement here mainly extends to photovoltaic systems for buildings, for example. “Of course, we have the necessary capability globally, but trying to bring that into the African market with all of the procurement issues we are facing is difficult,” said Green.

At a higher government policy level, energy also touches on sustainability, which AECOM embraces with its comprehensive Sustainable Legacies approach.

Climate change and resilience advisory services are an increasingly important part of this strategy globally. However, the approach in South Africa tends to remain reactive, as demonstrated by the recent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal. The question is how to futureproof infrastructure to mitigate the impact of such unforeseen events.

“Clients are not perceiving this as a priority. It must start with an overall understanding of sustainability and its key drivers. The South African market has not reached a sufficient level of maturity in this regard,” said Green, adding it is being equally hampered by a lack of future planning and modelling.

For example, integrated hydrological models of South Africa’s coastlines are not being maintained or updated. Such modelling is critical not only to map out the available water resources, but to determine the potential runoff. “That determines the input into the design for various types of infrastructure,” noted Green.

If it is known how many cubic metres a second a river discharges into an area, and based on historical rainfall data, changing patterns can be determined and future anticipated runoff predicted
and planned for. However, what tends to happen is small-scale modelling is applied for individual developments, which often relies heavily on the consultant’s experience.

A lack of holistic or integrated planning means that any upstream developments will be affected by concentrated or uncontrolled runoff from elsewhere. Downstream infrastructure and properties
simply cannot cope with that capacity, resulting in a snowball effect.

“It is not so much that there is a lack of development policy or controls, but these are not enforced,” said Green. While integrated planning is critical for stormwater, it applies to all infrastructure.

In terms of electricity, integrated planning is not only essential to understand future supply and demand but also how to maintain the existing supply. Transitioning to renewable energy sources is a means of futureproofing, but it must be bolstered with adequate policy support.

“We have to be at the level where we can design infrastructure with a proper understanding of all of these inputs,” said Green.

“Lifecycle costing optimisation needs to happen as part of this future-proofing. Another issue is that maintenance is not being carried out. Even if you design something the way it should be for resilience and futureproofing, a maintenance regime must be put in place.”

A simple example is ensuring stormwater drains remain clear. If these become blocked, it potentially changes the runoff pattern and can have a major impact on infrastructure elsewhere. “The mantra of ‘maintenance, maintenance, maintenance’ sounds very simple, but it is not being done,” said Green.

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3 big changes coming to Home Affairs

Businesstech - 10 November 2022

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) says that it is changing the way it does its business in South Africa, with a bigger focus on its mobile unit operations.

Presenting to the portfolio committee on home affairs on Tuesday (8 November), the department said that it is in the process of rolling out more mobile units to serve remote and rural communities in the country.

Over time, it said that this fleet of mobile units will outnumber its static offices and will become the department’s biggest service channel.

Currently, there are 110 mobile units across the provinces. These units focus on rural communities that often have to travel far to get access to DHA services. There are 106 units deployed to these areas, while four units are at head offices for special projects and testing new initiatives, it said.

20 more mobile units will be deployed in the current financial year, with plans to procure even more in the future. The department said that there is a need for 800 service points across the country – although it noted that this does not mean it will have that many units.

The department is also upgrading its fleet with Flat panel VSAT units for better connectivity, as there are areas where there is no 3G connection. This feeds into the department’s other changes around connectivity and network capacity.

The push for more mobile service points in the country comes as part of the DHA’s wider goal of tackling long queues and long periods of downtime at offices.

Back-office of a mobile Home Affairs truck

Tackling network downtime

Over the last few years, the department has been trialling several initiatives to deal with these issues, but they persist. It told the portfolio committee that it had identified key hurdles, primarily revolving around the State Information Technology Agency’s (SITA’s) core infrastructure.

SITA’s core network is under severe stress, and both the DHA and SITA are hampered by ageing infrastructure, the DHA said. In an assessment of the department’s technology, it found that of DHA-owned Wide Area Network infrastructure, 61 of 398 sites are obsolete. Of 450 Local Area Network devices, 398 are obsolete.

Other key issues identified are that data centres are fragmented, increasing latency; back-ends are bloated with software applications; and bandwidth is severely limited, causing bottlenecks.

Bandwidth has become a significant issue, it said. with increased use of video conferencing and growing datasets adding unprecedented demand to the networks. Bandwidth at some sites is below 1Mbps, the DHA said. While the department is busy upgrading to 2Mbps, it wants to go as high as 1Gbps to 10Gbps because the demand for bandwidth is huge.

To address this, DHA and SITA have contracted Broadband Infraco to upgrade infrastructure to assist with network downtime. SITA has embarked on a R400 million project to overhaul its core network over five years – R159 million has been spent so far.

Dealing with network downtime will not only reduce queues and frustrations at Home Affairs branches but will also satisfy banks, allowing the department to expand its services to more bank branches in the country.

Appointment booking system

The department is also rolling out its Branch Appointment and Booking System (BABS) to more sites in the country.

The system is currently active at 162 front offices in South Africa – up significantly from the 24 pilot offices that were running it earlier – but is limited to Smart ID and passport applications only, so the department is operating on a hybrid model.

Customers using the system have reported great success and ease of use, with wait times reduced significantly and services being rendered in under 30 minutes. Over 200,000 people have used the system since June 2022.

The department said that 34 more offices are currently in process of implementing the system, with these sites going live by the end of November 2022.

Further developments for the BABS include expanding the system beyond applications to also include collections and providing tablets to sites that use the system so that South Africans with no access to a computer to make the bookings online can also make use of the system,

The DHA said it is also investigating zero-rating access to Home Affairs websites so that users aren’t charged for making use of the systems.

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