Hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested at Beitbridge Border Post
ENCA - 19 Apr 2022
Government is waging a war against illegal immigrants coming into the country. Over 200 Zimbabwean nationals were arrested at the Beitbridge Border Post. This is as Home Affairs cracks down on illegal crossings between South Africa and Zimbabwe. eNCA's Manqoba Mchunu was there.
Courtesy #DStv403
Man arrested for running ‘home affairs’ office from flat in Hillbrow
The Citizen – 19 April 2022
Documents found included more than 95 South African ID books, birth certificates and passports.
A 47-year-old Zimbabwean man was arrested after police found a fully functioning “department of home affairs” in his flat in Hillbrow, Johannesburg.
Gauteng provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela said police were patrolling the streets of Hillbrow when a community member tipped them off about a man producing fraudulent identity documents and passports.
When police searched the man’s flat they found documents that include more than 95 South African identity documents, birth certificates, smart identity cards, passports, bank statements, Covid-19 certificates, work permits, police firearm licence competency certificates, Sassa cards, bank cards and other essential documents.
“The suspect was immediately arrested and charged with fraud. There is a possibility that more charges will be added pending the investigation,” said Mawela.
Mawela also thanked the community for providing the information that led to the arrest.
“I would like to thank the community members who continue to be the eyes and ears of the police. As much as we have intensified police visibility on the streets, we still rely on information from the community about the crimes taking place indoors,” he said.
“This arrest is attributed to community members who would not allow crime to be committed under their watch,” he added.
Immigration officer nabbed
The arrest in Hillbrow comes after Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed earlier this week that an immigration officer at OR Tambo International Airport was arrested for allegedly helping Bangladeshi illegal foreign nationals get into South Africa without legal documents.
Motsoaledi told eNCA the syndicate involves a runner who recruits Bangladeshi nationals who do not qualify to visit South Africa, and also members of an airline, to help them enter the country illegally.
He said the operation is coordinated by a kingpin, who charges foreign nationals R110,000.
An airline employee then smuggles the foreign nationals by either providing false names of the passengers or excluding them from the list of travellers, Motsoaledi said.
Refugees hope the end of state of disaster will ease their problems with Home Affairs
Weekend Argus 19 Apr 2022
Cape Town - The termination of the National State of Disaster is a light at the end of the tunnel for refugees and asylum seekers struggling with the online extension system implemented by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).
Following the president’s announcement of the end of the national state of disaster last week, head of strategic litigation and advocacy at the UCT Refugee Rights clinic Sally Gandar said this was good news for refugees and asylum seekers as the termination would enable refugee reception offices (RROs) across the country to promptly resume the full services that were on halt for the past two years.
Despite the online renewal system that enabled refugees and asylum seekers to renew their documentation, the UCT Refugee Rights Clinic continued to see individuals on a daily basis who were experiencing issues with the system.
The lack of a full range of services at RROs across the country became a concern as no new asylum applications were able to be lodged during that period, as well as services for those whose documentation expired prior to the national state of disaster being declared. This created barriers for those trying to access rights and services such as accessing bank accounts, traffic/vehicle registration services and in some incidences, employers insisted on a renewed document in order for the individual to continue working.
With various challenges experienced, refugee status holder Alfonse Ilunga said till this day, he is waiting for DHA to get back to him on his request for renewal.
“I sent my application for renewal since November last year and till this day, I’ve yet to receive a response. This has been a tough time for me at my family because my boss let me go in January this year due to this. In order to make some sort of money, I turned to the e-haling business in order to put some food on the table.
“I know and understand that we are not South Africans, and to be quite honest, I know we will never be treated with the same dignity as a citizen, however I think it is important to understand and remember that we are all Africans first before we are anything else. Such nonchalant efforts to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers are legalised in the country gives birth to the man xenophobic fears and attacks we saw last week. This creates several issues and it feeds into the notion that there are several undocumented regress in South Africa, when the truth is, the people who suppose to give us the documentation that we need are staring at our emails, plea, outcry and complaints and are not addressing it.”
“I really hope that the termination the national state of disaster can bear fruit, and that there could be a light at the end of tunnel for various of refugees and asylum seekers who are trying to make an honest living in South Africa,” said Ilunga.
Gandar said: “We welcome the termination of the national state of disaster by the president, and hope that it will mean that all refugee reception centres across the country promptly resume a full suite of services as were offered prior to the declaration of the national state of disaster more than two years ago. This will go a long way to ensuring that asylum seekers and refugees can access effective protection and documentation in South Africa – which the SA government should be providing in terms of international law. We note that the civic services Home Affairs offices have been open to in-person services and mostly offer all services and have done so for many months even during the lockdown.It may also be prudent for the department to offer additional services or longer hours initially, as there may be some backlogs as a result of the closure of the offices for over two years.
“As there is likely a backlog in respect of new applicants as well as other services, we believe additional capacity and additional hours of service would be a useful way to start assisting persons who need services at RROs. We are aware that sometimes this could result in a systems overload at the Department – as has also been the case with civic Home Affairs at times – and so if there is a way to ensure that the systems are always online and or that there is a formal an official document that can be issued immediately to persons seeking assistance at RROs, while waiting for other processes to take place, we would highly recommend that such contingency measures are implemented.”
“In addition, the department needs to communicate broadly and effectively to all government and other stakeholders, including the general public, that there is a backlog which has resulted in people not having access to documentation or renewal services and such persons should not be penalised or arrested for this. The department should also communicated progress regularly so that all stakeholders are aware of the backlog and the department’s efforts to ensure those in such backlogs are assisted efficiently and effectively,” said Gandar.
While the department has not yet set a date on the reopening of the the RROs, spokesperson for Minister of Home Affairs Siya Qoza said that efforts are being made to resume full services.
“The DHA started with plans to resume full services at the Refugee Reception Centres before the president’s announcement.”
“At the heart of planning are the efforts to avoid overcrowding and stampede on the first few days, a careful approach is required to protect the clients. Once all necessary preparations are made, the department will communicate with the clients,” said Qoza.
www,samigration.com
We don’t have the capacity and resources, says Home Affairs Gauteng manager
IOL – 19 Apr 2022
Johannesburg - Department of Home Affairs Gauteng provincial manager Mamokubung Moroke admitted during the DA’s visit today to the Home Affairs office in the Johannesburg CBD that they lacked resources and capacity to handle the large number of people coming to the department.
This comes after DA leader John Steenhuisen led a DA delegation on an oversight inspection of the Home Affairs office in the Johannesburg CBD.
During the inspection, Steenhuisen said the department’s systems were broken, and they were not serving residents or immigrants who were trying to sort out their legal documents.
“The problem is with the Home Affairs Department. You can see the dysfunctionality, and I am glad the DA gets things done. We have two trucks here today that they sent because they knew we were coming,” he said.
While chatting to the individuals in the queue, the DA leader said he discovered that the queue usually runs down the street with no shelter and people have to pay up to R100 just to secure a place in the queue.
However, Gauteng DA leader Solly Msimanga said he was shocked to see the department’s trucks outside the building because normally there is nothing when he passes by.
“We were talking to a lady in a queue who has been here from 4am. Why does it have to take us coming here for her to get assistance, why does it have to be that way?
"We cannot live in a country where people only do their job because there is somebody else sitting in their background or watching them. People need to do their job each and every single day and take pride in that. This is why we have a country that is falling apart,” he maintained.
He also explained that they were going to reach the minister and find out the step that can be taken to ensure that the system does not go off-line.
According to the DA, their inspection today was to check if the systems were operating well and if people were being assisted in a good manner.
Philisiwe Khumalo, one of the people in the queue, said she had come to the department numerous times and still did not get the help she needed. “The problem is my ID, and when I come here, they say it’s not on the system and I should have had it for several months,” she said.
Addressing the media after meeting with the management, Steenhuisen said electronic systems should be introduced at Home Affairs, so that they would know who could enter the country and who could not.
“Our sympathies are with the Zimbabwean national who was killed last week in Diepsloot. That is the ultimate end where you misdirect the anger.
"The anger should be here at Home Affairs, outside the Union Buildings and Parliament because its government ministers are falling so fundamentally,” he said.
He said Operation Dudula and other operations would have devastating and dangerous consequences for South Africa.
Mitchells Plain Home Affairs sees people queuing for hours in cold and rain with no guarantee of service
Groundup - 19 Apr 2022
‘Most of us have been standing here since 3am’ says 60-year-old man.
Over 100 people braved the cold morning drizzle to queue outside the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) in Mitchells Plain on Wednesday. Most were there to apply for identity documents or register births.
At 7am, Home Affairs officials started asking people near the front of the line what assistance they needed. At 8am, security sanitised and allowed the first ten people inside the gate.
Rasheed Galant, 60, who had covered himself with a black plastic bag, wanted to apply for a temporary ID. “I left my home in Lentegeur hurriedly to join the queue and only realised when I arrived around 3am that I don’t have a jacket and it’s drizzling … It’s cold … Pregnant women are just standing here with no assistance or chair to sit on. Most of us have been standing here since 3am,” he said.
Galant, who said he lost his job at a construction company in Hanover Park during Covid-19, said he borrowed R100 to pay for transport for a round trip to Home Affairs.
“I promised to pay it back when I get my R350 [Covid Grant]. I came here two weeks ago, but the machines [computers] were offline. At Sassa they refused to serve me without an original copy from DHA,” he said.
Vandim Willaims said he arrived at 2am to apply for a temporary ID. He complained that people are not treated with dignity at the Home Affairs office, as there was no shelter, seating or toilets available for those who are forced to wait for hours to be served.
“I have seen people sleeping outside DHA offices; others selling their ticket numbers to other people. When Home Affairs officials come in, they don’t even greet. They see us as animals. People are frustrated,” he said.
Nicky Davids, brought her two children to apply for IDs. “Why don’t they suggest that Home Affairs goes once a year to schools to register learners for ID? Now parents are missing work and children missing school. We have to sit the whole day and sometimes without getting service,” she said.
People from Mitchells Plain, Philippi, Delft and surrounding areas queue for hours outside the Home Affairs office. Some are sent away without being helped. (Photo: Tariro Washinyira)
Also at the gates of Home Affairs was a group of protesters supported by Democratic Alliance (DA) members. They were demanding that the office increase staff in order to help more people per day. They also want staff to be professional when dealing with clients, for the long queues to be addressed, and for adequate facilities to be provided for people coming to the office during winter.
They handed over a memorandum, signed by ward councillors, to DHA office manager Shereen Meyer and district operations manager Irmgard Michaels.
Meyer told GroundUp: “We will attend to the memorandum. I still have to go via my principals and then we will respond.”
Home Affairs was given two weeks to respond after which members of the provincial parliament have promised to escalate the matter.
Ricardo Mackenzie, DA Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, said: “We call for an urgent debate on service delivery matters in Home Affairs because when Home Affairs don’t work South Africa doesn’t work … We are sitting with undocumented individuals with no IDs because of Home Affairs’ failure to document people properly. Last year in the parliamentary debate, Home Affairs said they are busy addressing … almost a year later nothing has been done,” he said
www.samigration.com