Contrary to popular belief, the online system used by Department of Home Affairs (DHA) offices across South Africa can at least function partially — even during periods of downtime.
That suggests that the notorious “system is offline” issue many people are greeted with when visiting a DHA branch might be blown out of proportion and used as an excuse when it is not relevant.
DHA system downtime has often been blamed for significantly disrupting the department’s ID, passport, and other key citizen and resident services.
In response to a question in Parliament earlier this year, former DHA minister Aaron Motsaledi revealed that the department had lost nearly 141,000 working hours between the 2019/2020 and 2022/2023 financial years, primarily due to load-shedding and system downtime.
That number only includes hours lost to producing smart ID cards, with hours lost in other services like passport renewals not shared.
In 2022, Motsoaledi pinned the blame for the “system offline” issues on government’s ICT service provider — the State Information Technology Agency .
Sita hit back, explaining that the DHA had opted for the cheapest possible IT services product with the lowest service level agreement (SLA).
In addition to supporting a measly 2Mbps copper-based connection without backup, the SLA allows for up to 16 hours turnaround time in resolving issues.
A report presented to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications in 2021 showed that 90% of incidents were contained within individual DHA offices due to the vast majority of equipment being outdated.
At that point, only 5% of Home Affairs branches had a backup link. The DHA was also the only major government department without dual communication links to all its offices.
With most of the problems being localised, it makes sense that the DHA has only issued official notices of downtime on its national network on a handful of occasions.
Sita improved its uptime on the DHA’s network to 99.5% in 2023/2024, while the department’s hours lost due to local system downtime continued to rise.
It would appear that actual “system offline” cases — referring to DHA branches being disconnected from the National Population Register (NPR) due to a problem on Sita’s end — are rare.
Slow, outdated equipment and Internet disruptions at the branch level are causing the technical problems.
Passport collections among supported offline services
MyBroadband has learnt that the DHA’s system allows staff to work offline with some services even if the department is experiencing downtime.
When the system inevitably comes back online, it syncs any new information submitted while it was in an offline state.
The most recent major national Home Affairs outage in January 2024 was caused by a problem on the Sita mainframe that affected access to the National Population Register.
The inability to access this system made verifying people’s identities impossible and was no doubt highly problematic.
However, the DHA said it could still provide services like passport collections and issuing of handwritten death certificates for burials while the NPR was inaccessible.
It is unclear why the DHA would allow for offline collections of passports but not ID cards.
We asked the department for feedback regarding specific services that remain available when the system is offline but it did not provide comment by the time of publication.
Perhaps the best course of action for South Africans met by the “system offline” excuse is to enquire and ensure that the particular service they seek cannot be offered while the system is experiencing downtime — locally or nationally.
 Collecting a new passport is one of the services available when the DHA’s system is offline
Home Affairs minister quiet on planned upgrades
Recently-appointed DHA minister Leon Schreiber wants “the system is offline” to be regarded as a swear word and for himself to become known as the “Minister of System Online”.
Schreiber recently revealed that some offices still use 2Mbps lines for connectivity, over two years after Sita first highlighted the issue.
A recent analysis by MyBroadband found that speed to be slower than any entry-level broadband product currently available to home or personal users in South Africa.
Across uncapped fibre-to-the-home, DSL, fixed-LTE, fixed-5G, fixed-wireless, and satellite services, the slowest speeds on the most affordable packages were 4Mbps, 5Mbps, or 10Mbps.
The technology used by the DHA branches — DSL — has nearly been eliminated and replaced by fibre connectivity.
While Schreiber believes that the low speeds could be part of the technical issues experienced by DHA branches, his office has kept mum on specific details of planned upgrades to branches’ Internet connectivity, despite multiple requests from MyBroadband.

 Bethuel Ngobeni, Dumisa Moyo, Nhlanhla Magwaca, Moseki Sechele, Thabo Sechele and Khudzai Mashaya appear in court to face illicit gold mining charges. Image: Thapelo Morebudi An investigation into illicit gold mining has uncovered how one of the accused obtained a fraudulent identity document, 12 years after arriving in SA. The home affairs officer probing the case found that Leon Magwaca, real name, James Sigauke, had been issued with the fake ID at the home affairs office in Carletonville, on the West Rand, in 2015. He had been made the son of a Western Cape mother, allegedly without her knowledge, according to court documents Sowetan has seen. On Wednesday, Magwaca and his co-accused appeared in the Pretoria high court for a pre-trial hearing and their trial is set for February 2025. Both the state and the defence agreed that in November they will meet in court to finalise the logistics of the trial while they aim to spend six weeks for trial next year. Magwaca was the second in charge to Bethuel Ngobeni, the syndicate`s kingpin, according to the state. He allegedly facilitated the illicit transactions and was involved in four gold transactions valued at R652,000. The state alleges that Magwaca, working with the home affairs official, created a fictitious name which was then added to the notice of birth with the population register, which made him appear as the son of one Nobongile Magwaca, who was based in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni. A home affairs officer was assigned to trace the woman, however, nobody knew her at the said address in Daveyton, on the East Rand. “I continued to search in the population register all children who were registered under Nobongile Magwaca. Through the information obtained at Sassa, I telephonically managed to get hold of [Odwa Magwaca], one of the alleged siblings to Nhlanhla Leon Magwaca [Sigauke], who is residing in Nyanga, Cape Town. Odwa denied knowledge of Nhlanhla Leon Sigwaca,” reads a statement from the officer. Sowetan understands that the woman has since passed on. The home affairs official said a year later, Magwaca changed his tune in a statement and said he was actually from Chipinge in Zimbabwe, and that he had obtained his SA ID and passport illegally and that his real mother is Linah Sigauke, who stays in Zimbabwe. In 2022, home affairs issued Magwaca with a notice of intention to cancel his SA ID One of Nobongile`s daughters who did not want to be named said: “I don`t know him at all.” Home affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza had not responded to Sowetan`s questions sent on Tuesday. According to the state, Magwaca used his bank accounts to make transfers to buy an R712,000 VW Golf 7R, Renault Clio (R70,000) and Toyota Hino truck (R310,000). It`s alleged that Magwaca registered the vehicles under his wife Neo Susan Duba`s name. In March, the Asset Forfeiture Unit attached 51 vehicles, seven houses and 16 bank accounts belonging to the members of the syndicate. The state has since uncovered that Magwaca came from Zimbabwe in 2003 and was known as James Sigauke. Magwaca allegedly used his fake ID to accumulate assets for the gold trading syndicate. Ngobeni has also been exposed for allegedly stealing a Mpumalanga man`s ID. Last month, the department of home affairs warned that nearly 700,000 IDs were at risk of being cancelled unless the owners explained by September 26 why they should remain valid. The department said it was doing this in its effort to crack down on fraud related to identity books and cards. According to the state, Magwaca and his alleged syndicate made millions of rand from buying stolen gold-bearing materials from mineworkers and selling them at inflated prices in the black market. Lerato Bathebeng, Poppy Mathongwane, Dumisani Moyo, Duba, Moseki Sechele, Thabo Sechele and Kudzai Mashaya are the other accused in the matter.

Canada is taking steps, both official and unofficial, to curb the number of people coming to the country, highlighting the way in which immigration has become a political flashpoint ahead of a federal election.

According to figures obtained by Reuters, the ratio of refused visitor visa applications to approved ones was higher in recent months than at any point since the height of the pandemic. Immigration officials rejected more applications than they approved in January, February, May and June 2024.

At the same time, the number of approved study and work permits dropped. And in July, Canada refused entry to nearly 6,000 foreign travellers, including students, workers and tourists – the most since at least January 2019. Reuters reported the shift appears to be informal, and not dictated by a change in policy.

Recent polling has shown a sharp change in how Canadians perceive of immigration, amid a mounting cost of living crisis. One immigration lawyer in Nova Scotia said the firm has seen an increase in rejections – and mounting hostility towards the firm’s clients.

“These are things people have said to us – about barring people from coming here or kicking them out – they likely wouldn’t have felt comfortable saying a few years ago. But now they say it to us, knowing exactly what sort of work we do.”

Last week, the immigration minister, Marc Miller, said his ministry would reassess the number of people applying for permanent residency.

“Now it’s time to take a look at them and put real options on the table for the prime minister and for other cabinet ministers to look at, and not cosmetic changes simply to deal with public opinion. Real significant change,” Miller told CTV News.

That same week, the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said his government would scale back the controversial temporary foreign workers following a surge in applications. The program was recently condemned by a UN special rapporteur for being a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery”.

Last year, employers were approved to hire 239,646 temporary foreign workers – more than double the 108,988 hired in 2018, according to Employment and Social Development Canada.

Employers are increasingly using the program to fill positions in new sectors, including in fast food and construction. For example, the number of people hired for low-wage jobs in the healthcare sector is up more than 15,000% since 2018.

Trudeau said employers in sectors where the unemployment rate is 6% or higher, will not be able to hire low-wage TFW, with an exception granted for “food security sectors” like agriculture and food and fish processing. His government has also approved a carve out for the construction and healthcare sectors.

The prime minister also mused about reducing the number of permanent residents Canada accepts each year, dramatically upending years of increased immigration levels under his tenure.

“Canada remains a place that is positive in its support for immigration, but also responsible in the way we integrate and make sure there’s pathways to success for everyone who comes to Canada,” he told reporters last week following a cabinet retreat.

With a federal election due within the next year, political leaders have sparred over immigration, with the Conservatives, who lead in the polls, accusing Trudeau’s government of letting in too many people too quickly.

CAPE TOWN - Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber says since March, his department already reported 109 cases of document fraud to its counter corruption unit. Three officials have been convicted and sentenced during this same period. Schreiber has detailed the extent of the rot in a parliamentary reply to a question from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The cases include a Pakistani national involved in a passport syndicate, bribing officials with R45,000 for a document. At least 15 Home Affairs officials are currently under investigation. Twelve of them have had criminal cases opened against them for selling birth certificates, assisting foreigners to acquire national documents, and doing passport photo swaps. At least two officials have been sentenced for selling birth certificates to Zimbabwean nationals for R1,000. Another official who was part of a syndicate for processing 192 passports in 2021 was sentenced to 12 years by the Durban Commercial Crimes Court in August. Schreiber says a multi-disciplinary approach has now been implemented after a tip-off that South Africans are helping foreign nationals to get passports using their personal details, but allowing Home Affairs officials to capture the photo of the foreign national.

The short answer

You shouldn't be discriminated against because of your HIV status.

The whole question

I live in South Africa on a Retired Person Visa. I need to know if Home Affairs will still be extending my visa as I'm now HIV infected. I'm married to a South African woman but she has almost no income, which means spousal visa won't be possible.

The long answer

Thank you for your email asking whether Home Affairs would extend your Retired Person’s Visa now that you have become HIV-positive. You say that although you are married to a South African woman you don’t think the spousal visa will be possible as she has hardly any income.

To begin with, the Constitution gives rights to all people to access basic health services, which include HIV/AIDS treatment. National health policy is that antiretroviral treatment is freely available to everyone in South Africa, irrespective of documentation, status or nationality.

The Constitution also protects the right to privacy and confidentiality. The National Health Act says that medical confidentiality may only be breached if a patient consents to the disclosure in writing; if a court or law requires the disclosure, or if non-disclosure represents a serious threat to public health.

The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) says that access to information or records can be refused if it amounts to an unreasonable disclosure of third party personal information. This means that where another person or institution requests health information, particularly HIV-related information, that information cannot be disclosed unless the person whose information it is, gives permission in writing for it to be made known.

According to the Home Affairs website, the diseases that must be excluded in terms of good health are “cholera, pestilence, yellow fever and any other diseases as determined by the Department of Health from time to time”. The required radiological report means you would also need to submit a recent chest XRAY to exclude TB.

There is no mention of HIV/AIDS. B. This would apply whether you wanted to extend your Retired Persons Visa or apply for a spousal visa.

The main emphasis for Home Affairs when granting or extending a Retired Persons Visa seems to be that the applicant has sufficient funds. I quote from Home Affairs:
“Proof that applicant has the right to a pension or irrevocable annuity or retirement account which will give such foreigner a prescribed minimum payment per month (R37 000) for the rest of his or her life, as determined from time to time by the Minister, by notice in the Gazette or Proof that the applicant has a minimum prescribed net worth per month (R37 000) realising from the combination of assets, as determined from time to time by the Minister, by notice in the Gazette.”

But because it’s hardly ever easy or straightforward when it comes to dealing with Home Affairs, you may want to approach the following organisations for advice and assistance