Refugees hope the end of state of disaster will ease their problems with Home Affairs

Weekend Argus 17 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

Man arrested for running ‘home affairs’ office from flat in Hillbrow

The Citizen – 17 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.

www.samigration.com

Hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested at Beitbridge Border Post

ENCA - 17 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

 

www.samigration.com

Home Affairs beset with an array of challenges

Iol.co.za -17-04-2022

The website of the Department of Home Affairs should stop giving the misleading impression (similar to other government departments) of a department under control, says the writer.

The outcry from miscellaneous members of the South African public against the lacklustre services by officials of the Department of Home Affairs is amplifying.

The list of grievances includes disheartening queues, which commence beyond entrances of the majority of the branches of Home Affairs, key machinery being intermittently offline, fallible plenipotentiaries prone to bribery, and most recently, the growing calls for the resignation of Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

In my view, Motsoaledi is among the few performing ministers in an obsolete ANC-led government. He is, sadly, let down in his present ministry by inept and corrupt plenipotentiaries. Removing him alone instead of the entire ANC Cabinet will be similar to playing the man instead of the ball.

In sum, such a move will not change anything. The aforesaid concerns, however, about the Department of Home Affairs, under his watch as the incumbent minister more than hints at a government department beset with obstinate challenges.

The latest mega bust by the Hawks of a fake passport syndicate, arrested on March 24, is among a string of sagas serving as evidence to support claims of corrupt activities apropos the Department of Home Affairs. Motsoaledi confirmed that 29 suspects, including an alleged kingpin, who was the mastermind behind the operation of selling fraudulent passports, were arrested in the Home Affairs office in Krugersdorp.

More arrests were imminent at other branches of the Department of Home Affairs. Details of the modus operandi of this syndicate confirmed the deep rot of maladministration, which disregarded all the immigration laws of South Africa.

Bribery of vulnerable South African victims and officials of the Department of Home Affairs was exposed. The aforesaid case reminded the public of almost similar exposures among others in the High-Level Panel Report on the State Security Agency (SSA), chaired by former minister of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi (released in December 2018) and the Report on State Capture, chaired by the then deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo (released in early 2022).

Effectiveness of the Department of Home Affairs continues to be raised amid the furore caused by infamous skirmishes led by “Operation Dudula” in Gauteng. The latter justify their operations in the guise of “Putting South Africans first”, a salvo directed against Africans they criticise as “undocumented foreign nationals”.

Such categorisation of fellow Africans must be rejected. As an Afrocentrist (explicated by Molefi Asante as one who subscribes to an ideology that Africans must be at the centre of their own experiences) which must not be confused with Pan-Africanists (members of a movement, not an ideology calling for African unity worldwide) I vehemently take exception with a historic derogatory references to any group of Africans, as this notably manifests self-inferiority.

Predictably, members of the public, unimpressed with Operation Dudula, have problematically slated them as xenophobic. For the record, xenophobia is a dislike of people from other countries, but it implies that those people are of multiple races.

Consistent with my Afrocentric stance, I opine that the latter charge is erroneous, in our local context. It must appropriately be replaced with Afrophobia, as the attacks are taking place only between indigenous Africans. In a recent interview, Motsoaledi found himself compelled to side with his political principal, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who went as far as labelling Operation Dudula as a “vigilante-like force”.

Such demeaning name-calling by the State President was unnecessary. Ironically, the “vigilantes” argue that they are helping government, especially the Department of Home Affairs and Police, by weeding out “undocumented foreign nationals”.

Motsoaledi inflexibly refutes any association between the Department of Home Affairs and Operation Dudula. Home Affairs has seemingly been in a quagmire for some time.

Unlike their counterparts, the Department of Police, led by the obdurate Minister Bheki Cele, Motsoaledi must not be in denial of the reality that his department must confront by sketching out plans to overcome identified problems.

For starters, the website of the Department of Home Affairs should stop giving the misleading impression (similar to other government departments) of a department under control. In the wake of ongoing exposés related Home Affairs, any claim(s) of being under control ought to be read as preposterous.

The listed concerns at the commencement of this article certainly challenge any denial of the Department of Home Affairs being in any purported position that may support wishful thinking of being under control.

Denialism will not solve anything. In reality, when one considers the malfeasance by an array of rogue individuals with proximity to politicians, in cahoots with government officials, then maladministration and corruption at Home Affairs (as elsewhere) should not astonish anyone.

Required solution(s) must begin from the premise that more than enough documents capturing rules and regulations of running government departments exist. What has always lacked is enough ethical plenipotentiaries with the political will to adhere to and implement rules.

www,samigration.com

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: Crime, not migrants, the common enemy we must work to defeat

EWN – 15-April 2022

Dear Fellow South African,

Twenty-five years ago, our new democratic Constitution came into effect. In adopting this Constitution, we affirmed our commitment to a society based on democratic values, social justice and human rights.

We were also making a complete break with our past. This was a past of race-based social engineering that manifested itself through influx control, job reservation, group areas and the dreaded dompas. When our forebears drafted the Freedom Charter in 1955, whose principles have been incorporated in our constitution, and declared that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, they were seeking a society free from ethnic chauvinism, tribalism, racism and sexism.

It is therefore deeply disturbing how the recent incidents of anti-foreigner sentiment in parts of the country echo our apartheid past.

We have seen people being stopped on the street by private citizens and being forced to produce identification to verify their immigration status. We have seen some political leaders making unscientific statements about immigrants to exploit people’s grievances for political gain.

We have seen marches being led on people’s homes and their dwellings raided for evidence of criminal activity. We have seen people being attacked, hurt and even killed because of how they looked or because they have a particular accent.

This was how the apartheid oppressors operated.

They said some people could only live in certain areas, operate certain businesses or take certain jobs. Under apartheid, black people were deemed suspects by default and stopped by police when found in so-called white areas. Black people were forced to produce a dompas and if they could not do so, they were jailed.

We cannot allow such injustices to happen again.

The events in the Gauteng township of Diepsloot last week were a tragedy. In the course of a single weekend, seven people were killed, sparking protests. This loss of life is deplorable, as is the killing of a fellow African from Zimbabwe allegedly at the hands of vigilantes.

Crime is a serious problem in this country. It affects all communities and people are justifiably tired of living in fear of criminals.

Contrary to what is claimed by some anti-immigration groupings and individuals, the perpetrators of crime are both black and white, male and female, foreigner and citizen.

Crime, not migrants, is the common enemy we must work together to defeat.

We cannot defeat crime through incitement, violence, intimidation and vigilantism aimed at foreign nationals, and specifically nationals from other African countries.

We acknowledge many communities are frustrated by the apparent inability of the police to deal with criminals. Among the measures we are taking to capacitate the police is the recruitment of an additional 12,000 additional police officers.

We are also re-establishing community policing forums (CPFs) across the country. These forums bring communities and police representatives together to improve local safety and hold police accountable. Communities need to work with the police by actively participating in CPFs and reporting suspected acts of criminality.

Even as we intensify our fight against crime, there is no justification for people taking the law into their own hands.

At the same time, we recognise that illegal migration poses a risk to South Africa’s security, stability and economic progress. Illegal migration affects service delivery and places additional burdens on essential services such as health care and education.

Like any sovereign nation, we have the right to implement policies and measures that guarantee the integrity of our borders, protect the rights of South Africans and provide that all who reside in our borders have a legal right to be here.

Controlling migration is the responsibility of government.

No private citizen may assume the role of immigration or law enforcement authorities by demanding that foreign nationals produce identification. Under Section 41 of the Immigration Act, only a police member or immigration officer can ask someone to identify themselves as a citizen, permanent resident or foreign national. If these officers believe, on reasonable grounds, that the person is in the country unlawfully, they may be detained while an investigation into their status is conducted. When doing so, law enforcement authorities must respect that person’s rights and dignity. They may not do so in a manner that is degrading or humiliating.

Enforcement of migration legislation is a priority for government. We are working to ensure that syndicates perpetrating immigration fraud in collusion with corrupt officials are brought to book. This year alone, several people implicated in passport fraud have been arrested.

No private citizen or group has the right to enter businesses and demand its owners produce proof that their businesses are registered or legal. This is the competence of municipal, provincial or national authorities, including inspectors from the Department of Employment and Labour and the South African Revenue Service.

Like all other businesses, foreign-owned businesses must obey the relevant laws, including health and safety regulations, have all the required permits and licences, and pay the necessary taxes.

We are a democracy founded on the rule of law. Acts of lawlessness directed at foreign nationals, whether they are documented or undocumented, cannot be tolerated.

Attacking those we suspect of wrongdoing merely because they are a foreign national is not an act of patriotism. It is immoral, racist and criminal. In the end, it will lead to xenophobia, whose consequences we have lived through in previous years. We do not want to go back there because in the main the people of South Africa are not xenophobic.

I want to appeal to all South Africans, but particularly to younger South Africans who thankfully never experienced the true brutality and dehumanisation of apartheid. Let us not become like the ones who oppressed us, no matter how legitimate the grievance.

Let us work together to resolve our country’s challenges without resorting to violence or vigilantism. Let us resist those who want to exploit the problems of crime and unemployment for political gain.

Today, our anger may be directed at nationals from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria or Pakistan. Tomorrow, our anger may be directed at each other.

Let us heed the words of Martin Niemöller’s famous poem about the Nazis in Germany:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Let us focus on defeating crime, no matter who commits it.

www,samigration.com