SAA has informed the trade that the South African Border Management Authority (BMA) and Department of Home Affairs are in the process of rolling out the Biometric Movement Control Systems (BMCS) at all ports of entry before September 30.

The planned start date for the BMCS roll-out at OR Tambo International Airport is scheduled for this week (August 19-23).

“As we are all aware the BMCS takes longer to process customers, which will mean an increase per passenger processing time resulting in possible long immigration/emigration queues during peak operational periods. This will negatively impact international arrivals baggage collection and possibly result in passengers missing connecting flights,” SAA said in the notice.

Passengers have therefore been requested to check in early and proceed through security early, leaving sufficient time for immigration processes.

Travel News tried to contact the BMA for more information but the phones listed on its website went unanswered.

The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration has welcomed the approval of overtime for Home Affairs officials to reduce the visa backlog.

This comes after Minister of Public Service and Administration, Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi and his department granted the overtime request from Homes Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber for the next three months to meet target and reduce the backlog.

“The committee understands and supports the interim measure of granting the Department of Home Affairs three months of overtime to the officials to reduce the visa backlog.

“These interventions will assist in ensuring the country attracts critical skills that businesses need to grow the economy and reduce the rising unemployment rate.

“The collaboration by the two departments clearly demonstrates ‘the spirit of commitment to a joint national effort to reconcile our nation and improve its well-being’ as mentioned by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his opening of the 7th Parliament,” chairperson of the committee, Jan De Villers, said.

In his first official act as the new Home Affairs minister, just one day after being sworn in, Minister Schreiber extended the temporary concession for foreign nationals currently awaiting the outcome of visa, waiver, and appeal applications.

The processing of some of these applications has been delayed as the department works on reducing backlogs. While Home Affairs has made progress in this regard since its previous communication, there is still a backlog in various visa and permit categories. Minister Schreiber has now moved to protect applicants while the backlog is reduced.

The department said the decision to avert adverse consequences for applicants who seek to obtain lawful visas in order to contribute to South Africa, either through their skills or as tourists, signals the minister’s commitment to improving the visa system to make South Africa a more attractive destination for international investment, tourism, and job creation.

At the time, Minister Schreiber committed to avoiding a repeat of the current situation that has seen the previous concession expires before the extension being announced.

“While the department is committed to eradicating the backlog as soon as possible, the minister undertakes that any further extension, modification or amendment to the terms of these concessions will be communicated in writing prior to the new expiry date of December 31, 2024,” the department said in a statement.

The backlog will assist those:

Applicants whose waiver application outcomes are still pending
Applicants whose visa applications are still pending
Applicants whose visa appeal applications are still pending
Short-term visa holders issued in terms of section 11(1)(a): Short term visas 90 days or less, who have applied for a renewal, but have not received their visa renewal outcome, must make the necessary arrangements to depart from South Africa within 90 calendar days from the date of expiry of the principal visa, to avoid being declared undesirable. The latter concession is in line with the provisions of section 11(1)(a) of the Immigration Act, 2002 which limits the duration of sojourn for visiting purposes to a total of 180 days.
The temporary concession applies only to foreign nationals who have been legally admitted into South Africa: This concession is also only applicable to applicants who have submitted their applications via VFS Global and who can produce a verifiable receipt for such application against the VFS Global tracking system.

De Villers said that Minister Buthelezi’s support to Minister Schreiber will directly contribute towards the building of improved professional state capacity in Home Affairs, which would have a positive effect on job creation and economic growth.

“We as the committee look forward to also playing our part towards supporting Minister Buthelezi and his department towards the goal of realising a professional, capable, ethical, and developmental state,” De Villiers said.

A year and four months after a stamp used to authenticate documents was stolen at a home affairs office, a 24-year-old man presented a birth certificate bearing the same stamp to apply for an ID.

The certificate, however, was found to be fake and was produced four months after the stamp was stolen.

This has now led to the arrest of a woman working as a cleaner at a home affairs office for allegedly selling a birth certificate to an undocumented Mozambican national for R6,000 after being linked to the crime by a bank statement.

The cleaner, Rhandzu Chauke, appeared at the Pretoria magistrate`s court yesterday. Two undocumented Mozambican nationals - Amerco Tibane and Lebogang Tibane also appeared in the high court.

Their arrests come at the time when fake and stolen IDs have been under the spotlight.

On Friday, minister of home affairs Leon Schreiber said the department has taken a decisive action against fraud involving identity books and cards. He said the move was to both resolve the decades-old issue of wrongfully blocked IDs while reducing the number of fraudulent documents in circulation.

Chauke, who lives in Atteridgeville, was arrested while knocking off at the department`s Centurion office on Thursday afternoon.

The 42-year-old woman appeared at the Pretoria magistrate`s court yesterday to face a charge of theft. Chauke is not a direct employee of home affairs but was hired through an independent contractor that has a contract with the department.



When she appeared in court yesterday, she kept her gaze on the floor and did not even look at her husband and other relatives who were in the gallery.

She was granted R1,000 bail.

Speaking to Sowetan after the court case, Chauke`s lawyer Adv Mkhacani Mashava said his client had revealed to police that she had been working with others at the Centurion home affairs office.

`We suspect that this woman is a middleman and everything is being blamed on her.

`She recently confessed to the police to working with other people at the same home affairs office. It seems she would be the one in which transactions are made through. The money would come from the people buying and would go through her to another person within the office.

`She seemed to be the one who would refer clients to the people in the office and obviously she herself was gaining something in this operation. So, there are more suspects that still need to be arrested. At this point it is not exactly clear whether the stamp was stolen by her or given to her by the workers there as part of the plan but that will need to be investigated.

`We expect that arrests would be made this week following her confession. That way all involved in the matter can make an appearance in court at once,` Mashava said.

Gauteng police spokeswoman Col Noxolo Kweza told Sowetan that earlier this month, a 24-year-old man went to home affairs in Centurion to apply for a smartcard.

The birth certificate he was using to apply for the smartcard bore a stamp that had been reported stolen at the office.

The home affairs official asked the man to return with his father.

Kweza said they then interviewed the man.

`It was established that he had purchased the said document from another lady who charged him R6,000 for it.

`The 24-year-old male was then placed under arrest for possession of fraudulent documents and also in relation to the Immigration Act for being in the country illegally. The father of the male suspect was also placed under arrest in terms of the Immigration Act for being in the country illegally.

`The detectives then followed up information regarding the seller of the document and were led to a female who is employed as a cleaner at the Centurion home affairs office. She, too, was placed under arrest for fraud and theft,` she said.

Sowetan understands that the stamp went missing in April 2023 and the man`s birth certificate was issued in August 2023.

The Mozambican man had gone to apply for a smartcard with that birth certificate bearing Tibane early this month when police were called.

A source said when Tibane went to apply for the smartcard, he went to the very same home affairs official whom the stolen stamp belonged to. The stamp was recognised by its unique quote.

During interrogation by the police, Tibane allegedly showed

police the account into which he sent the money and this led them to Chauke. .

Tibane and his father Amerco, who both live in Tembisa, also appeared at the Pretoria high court for their contravention of the Immigration Act charge and were denied bail.

Chauke was expected back in court on August 29.

South Africans looking to upgrade their green ID booklet to a smart ID card can book an appointment to do so using the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) eHomeAffairs platform.
Moreover, the system allows applicants to book appointments at DHA-supported bank branches across the country, meaning they never have to step foot in a Home Affairs office or face the associated queues.
The system launched in 2016, starting with a pilot phase that allowed citizens aged 30-35 to apply for their smart ID card online.
The DHA initially partnered with four of South Africa’s major banks, but it has since expanded the service to offer renewals and applications from branches operated by six different banks.
These include Absa, Discovery Bank, FNB, Investec, Nedbank, and Standard Bank.
Booking online with the system requires citizens to visit the eHomeAffairs website and register.
This will require you to input personal details like your name, surname, ID number, date of birth, email address, and cellphone number. The email address and cellphone number are only required for verification purposes.
Once registered, users can sign into the system. It will send them a one-time PIN to verify their login.
After signing in, users are presented with the home page and a “Create New Application” button at the top left-hand side of the screen. They must then specify whether the application is for themselves or on someone else’s behalf.
While most of the application form fields are pre-populated with your details, it requires users to provide the following information:
• Country of citizenship
• Birth town
• Residential and postal address
• The location at which you wish to have your biometrics captured and from which to collect your documents
Regarding the office or branch where you submit your biometrics, users currently have 30 bank branches from which to choose nationwide. However, they must be a customer of the bank they choose.
Once the form is complete, users can hit the “Submit” button at the top to progress to the document submission page, where they must upload a copy of their ID before proceeding to payment.
Payment for bank branch appointments works by loading your banking details on the eHomeAffairs portal and finalising the transaction through your Internet banking.
Once your banking details have been captured, you can book a slot at the selected branch. You do not have to complete payment before booking.
A complete list of available bank branches is provided at the end of the article.
South Africa wants to phase out its green ID books
Panic over green ID books
Former DHA minister Aaron Motsoaledi sparked chaos among South African residents in June 2024 when he announced his department’s plans to declare green ID books invalid.
“We want to do away with the green barcode ID. We think it’s long enough that we’ve kept dual identity documents,” he said.
“Very soon, we will make an announcement that we will keep one, and the other (green barcode) becomes invalid.”
He urged South African citizens to upgrade their books to cards so they would not be left behind when the announcement came.
However, a MyBroadband analysis revealed that Motsoaledi’s statement was premature at best, as it was unlikely the old green ID would become invalid for several years.
Besides most naturalised citizens and permanent residents being excluded from eHomeAffairs, the pace of smart ID uptake was too slow to invalidate green IDs anytime soon.
During the department’s budget vote speech in July 2024, deputy minister Njabulo Nzuza said the DHA wants to issue 2.5 million smart ID cards during the current financial year.
That would be a slight reduction in production compared to previous years. The DHA issued 2.6 million cards in 2022/23 and 2.8 million in 2023/24.
“In the 23/24 financial year, the Department issued 2,822,236 smart ID cards to citizens aged 16 years and above, against a target of 2.5 million,” said Nzuza.
“This is an increase of 7% compared with the 2,613,248 smart ID cards issued in 2022/23. This year, we plan to issue a further 2.5 million smart ID cards.”
The DHA will struggle to justify a deadline for invalidating South Africa’s green ID books at this production rate.
DHA deputy director-general Thulani Mavuso said 26 million South Africans currently hold smart ID cards. The plan was to phase out green ID books when the DHA reached 38 million smart ID cards.
However, this doesn’t account for the numerous new green ID books that have been issued over the past 11 years, and the target is likely substantially higher.
Therefore, the DHA must significantly increase its smart ID production to phase out green ID books anytime soon.
The table below lists all the DHA-supported bank branches through which South Africans can apply for a smart ID card or renew their passport.
eHomeAffairs bank branches by province
Province Branch Address
Gauteng (17)
Absa Centurion Lifestyle Centre C/o Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Rd, Centurion Lifestyle Centre, Centurion
Absa Key West Krugersdorp Shop 80, Key West Shopping Centre, c/o Paardekraal Drive and Viljoen Street, Krugersdorp
Absa Sandton City C/o Rivonia Road and 5th Street, Sandton
Absa Towers C/o Commissioner and Troye Streets, Johannesburg
Discovery Bank Head Office 1 Discovery Place, c/o Rivonia Road and Katherine Street, Sandton
FNB Centurion Lifestyle Centre C/o Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Rd, Centurion Lifestyle Centre, Centurion
FNB Glen Shopping Centre Shop U2, The Glen Shopping Centre, Glenvista
FNB Lynnwood Shop L04 Upper-level Cnr Simon Vermooten & Lynnwood Rd Equestria Pretoria
FNB Merchant Place 4 Merchant Place c/o Rivonia and Freedman Dr Sandton
Investec Bank Sandown 100 Grayston Dr, Sandown, Sandton
Nedbank Arcadia Shop 25, Nedbank Plaza, Beatrix Street, Arcadia
Nedbank Constantia Kloof 16 Constantia Boulevard Constantia Kloof Roodepoort
Nedbank Rivonia 135 Rivonia Road, Sandown, Sandton
Standard Bank Centurion Lifestyle Centre C/o Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Rd, Centurion Lifestyle Centre, Centurion
Standard Bank Jubilee Mall Shop no. 47 Jubilee Mall corner Jubliee and Harry Gwala Road Temba Hammanskraal
Standard Bank Killarney Mall Killarney Mall, Riviera Rd, Killarney, Johannesburg
Standard Bank Simmonds Street 5 Simmonds St, Selby, Johannesburg
Western Cape (5) Absa Stellenbosch Oude Bloemhof Building, c/o Plein And Ryneveld Streets, Stellenbosch
FNB Greenpoint Shop 1 & 2, ERF 176300, Media Quarter, Somerset Road, Greenpoint
Nedbank St George’s Mall Shop 3 The Box, St Georges Mall c/o Riebeeck Street
Standard Bank Canal Walk Shop 599, Upper Level, Canal Walk Shopping Center, Century Blvd, Century City
Standard Bank Mitchell’s Plain Promenade C/o AZ Berman Road and Morgenster Road, Mitchell’s Plain
KwaZulu-Natal (3)
FNB Cornubia Shop U56, Cornubia Boulevard, Cnr N2 Highway & M41, Durban
Nedbank Durban North 57 Adelaide Tambo Dr, Durban North, 4051
Standard Bank Kingsmead 1 Kingsmead Way, Durban
Eastern Cape (2) Absa Port Elizabeth 682 c/o Bagshaw & Govan Mbeki Avenue, Gqeberha
Standard Bank Newton Park 1 Pickering St, Newton Park, Gqeberha
Mpumalanga (1) Nedbank Nelspruit Shop 65, The Crossing Shopping Centre, c/o Samora Machel and Madiba Drive, Nelspruit
Limpopo (1) FNB Burgersfort Shop 55, Twin City Complex, Dirk Winterbach Street, Burgersfort
Northern Cape (1) Standard Bank Kathu Mall Shop 62, Village Walk Shopping Centre Kathu, Hendrik Van Eck Street, Postmasburg

• Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo has slammed a firm of attorneys and an advocate for `cut-and-paste` work in cases involving refugees.
• He ordered them to pay out of their own pockets for costs awarded in these cases.
• Manamela MA Attorneys was running a `cottage industry`, preying on vulnerable refugees, Mlambo said.
A firm of attorneys and an advocate have been ordered to pay the costs, from their own pockets, of six `cut-and-paste` applications involving refugees seeking asylum, GroundUp reports.
Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo, with Judges Leonard Twala and Colleen Collis concurring, said it was clear from the six applications, and other similar applications which had previously come before the court, that Manamela MA Attorneys was running a `cottage industry`, preying on vulnerable refugees, many of whom could not speak English and were in custody, awaiting deportation.
The judges have ordered that their ruling be sent to the Legal Practice Council, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, and the National Director of Public Prosecutions, for possible action.
The judgment was handed down in late July, but has only now become public.
Earlier this year, the court made orders in the six applications but reserved the question of costs due to concerns that court processes were being abused when `six identical applications, replicated six times with the same grammatical mistakes`, were placed on the urgent roll - the only difference being the names and country of origin.
`This gave the inescapable impression that one application was used as a template and then copied and pasted onto the others,` Mlambo said.
The judge ordered the attorneys, and advocate Sinethemba Vobi who appeared in court in the applications, to file affidavits setting out why they should not be ordered to pay punitive costs.
Instead, the attorneys applied for leave to appeal that ruling, which was dismissed. No explanatory affidavits were filed.
Mlambo, in his ruling on costs, set out various other cases which highlighted `cottage industries` in the attorney profession.
This abuse, and the `alarming practice of using identical affidavits save for personal details` was not novel, and courts had previously put an end to it in matters involving sequestrations and other issues involving refugees.
He said a careful analysis of the six applications which came before him `clearly confirms that what was placed before the court was a single affidavit, reproduced six times with minor changes`.
This was an abuse of the court process and exploitation of vulnerable asylum seekers `who likely do not understand what they are deposing to`.
Judge Mlambo said he analysed all cases launched by Manamela MA Attorneys filed in his division. He had found 66, most of which were matters against the Minister of Home Affairs, and `verbatim` affidavits had been used in most of them.
In pointing out spelling and grammatical errors, he said since English was not the first language of many lawyers, some mistakes could be expected.
He added:
What is unacceptable is for these mistakes to be replicated in almost all of a single law firm`s applications. What this analysis demonstrates beyond doubt is that no new drafting took place, but a cut-and-paste exercise was employed in all different matters.
Turning to the question of who should pay the costs of the applications, Mlambo said cost orders against legal practitioners were rare `and for good reason`.
`A legal practitioner should be free to represent their clients in the best way they deem fit, without fearing their opponent or even the court,` he said.
`Fear of an adverse costs order should a case be lost should not be a constant thorn in their mind.`
Mlambo said orders to pay costs from their own pockets were reserved for the most serious of matters, `where the court wants to show its displeasure at the conduct of a legal representative`.
`The use of identical affidavits, not only in this matter, but those recycled in previous matters involving both Manamela MA Attorneys and Mr Vobi were clearly aimed at misleading the courts,` he said.
`While Mr Vobi is an advocate, he was, however, involved in all the matters before us and couldn`t consciously go on as if nothing was amiss. Their conduct can only be regarded as deliberate and displayed a lack of care for the interests of their clients and those they cited as respondents.
`There was also no information placed before the court explaining how the affidavits were commissioned in English when, on their purported versions, the applicants only spoke `broken English`.`
`We must show our displeasure towards this in the strongest manner.`
Mlambo said the conduct of the firm and the advocate must be referred to the LPC for further investigation.
The state attorneys, who had received the matters, `must also be taken to task for their negligence in not realising the repeated use of identical affidavits`.
`This conduct must be brought to the attention of the Minister [of Justice] to consider whether it is necessary to put measures in place that could prevent such abuse.
`Lastly, the deliberate placing of false information before this court, and subsequent claiming for fees for work not actually done, must be brought to the attention of the National Director of Public Prosecutions to decide whether any crimes have been committed,` Mlambo said, ordering the attorney and the advocate to pay the costs out of their own pockets