An online petition started by an online activist, Mehmet Vefa Dag, calling for the resignation of Home Affairs minister, Leon Schreiber, is gaining traction on social media.
This comes after the minister’s office recently released the critical skills list which includes call centre management, nursing, environmentalists as being on the country’s critical skills list on the back of high levels of unemployment which affects graduates and young people in particular.
The petition, which was started shortly after Schreiber’s appointment as the new minister in July, has gained no less than 1 800 signatories.
South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), released in May by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) indicated that the number of unemployed persons increased by 330 000 to 8.2 million during the first quarter of 2024.
According to StatsSA, the official unemployment rate stands at 32.9 %. This suggests an increase of 0.8 of a percentage point in first quarter of 2024 (Q1: 2024) compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 (Q4: 2023).
The results of the QLFS also revealed that the number of employed persons increased by 22 000 to 16.7 million in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.
The department also received criticism after its decision to extend work visas to more than 11 000 immigrants who are meant to fill these vacancies.
“As a group of unemployed South Africans, we are deeply concerned by the decision of Leon Schreiber, the DA Minister of Home Affairs, to extend work visas for immigrants. This decision comes at a time when our country is grappling with a crisis of unemployment. With over 19 000 000 skilled workers unemployed within our borders, this measure feels like a severe blow.
“Notably, this decision seems to undermine the diligent work done by Schreiber’s predecessor, former minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who tirelessly worked to streamline our system and remedy the errors of past administrations. Now, it seems we’re again veering off course,” reads parts of this online petition calling for Schreiber’s head.
On Monday, the EFF through its student command led by its secretary-general Khanya Bungane, wrote to minister of higher education calling for the department to investigate the matter of critical skills shortage in the country.
“We are aware that the department of higher education compiles the list of critical skills list report, which it submits to the department of home affairs.
“In terms of legislation, this list must guide the Department of Home Affairs in sourcing foreign and/or non-South African workers from abroad to fill gaps in the South African local economy and labour market.
“The high number of unemployed graduates and youth in South Africa require that we always put the youth in South Africa first and insulate it from asymmetric global competition in our local labour market,” Bungane said.
As such, the party has called for the department to publish a comprehensive skills shortage list, stop the current call for working visas to immigrants and to prioritise SA graduates, young people and locals in some of these jobs.
Attempts to get comment from the Ministry of Home Affairs were unsuccessful at the time of going to print following promises to revert with a statement on some of the recent developments affecting it.

 The department of Home Affairs said it has cleared a backlog of 247 500 identity documents which had started accumulating since November 2023 following a change in IT service providers. The Department of Home affairs said it has cleared a backlog of 247 500 identity documents which had started accumulating since November 2023 following a change in IT service providers. In a statement released on Wednesday, the department said the changeover created a bottleneck in multiple areas in the production value chain. This impacted the office of application, application authentication, printing, and the final issuing of the ID. “The clearing of the ID backlog, which had been accumulating since November 2023, within a single month, serves as yet more tangible proof that long-standing challenges at Home Affairs can be resolved when we work in a systematic and focused manner,” said the department’s minister, Leon Schreiber. “The clearing of this specific backlog also signifies our commitment to turn Home Affairs into a powerful economic enabler, as the individuals affected by the backlog can now seek employment, open accounts, and gain access to social grants,” he added. Moreover, Schreiber said this action should lead to growing confidence in the department’s ability to drive the reforms required for Home Affairs to deliver dignity to all. The department is also making progress in reducing the visa backlog and taking steps towards digital transformation. “We still have much more to do. Our apex priority is the wholesale digital transformation of Home Affairs to create a new system where South Africans should be able to submit ID and other applications from the comfort of their own home through a digital platform, followed by the delivery of these documents to their doorstep,” said Schreiber.

The enquiry comes after a South African woman who was allegedly abused by her landlord in Croatia pleaded with Dirco to assist.

Being stuck in a foreign country can be challenging and scary.

What do you do if you are struck in a foreign country unable to make your way back home to South Africa?

This was a question answered by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco).

The enquiry comes after a South African woman who was allegedly abused by her landlord in Croatia pleaded with Dirco to assist her and her son to return to South Africa.

She is expected back in South Africa on Thursday, Dirco said.

A video of the alleged abuse, which went viral on social media platforms on Sunday, showed the woman known as “Bassy Janmi” on X sitting on the floor, crying hysterically and uncontrollably, saying she and her son had been attacked by her landlord and his children at her apartment.

Shocking

Dirco head of public diplomacy Clayson Monyela told 702 the video was “absolutely shocking”.

“We eventually got her out. We advised that she needed to leave Croatia and make her way to Budapest where we’ve got an embassy and we could be able to assist. One of the complications was the fact that her son was born in that country [Croatia] and was not registered as South African because she was married that side.

“We had to sort out the travel documents for her son so that they could make their way back home where she can be reunited with her family. She should be landing today, so we are quite happy that we were able to intervene and ensure she is safely brought back home,” he said.

Stuck in a foreign country?

Monyela shared advise to South Africans about what they should do if they are struck in a foreign country under similar circumstance or as a result of natural disaster or conflict.

“We exist to offer South Africans in distress this type of help where we render consular assistance. Even in countries we don’t necessarily have presence on the ground, we do get accreditation from neighbouring countries.

“The best thing to do would be to reach out to the department in Pretoria. We also have a mobile app, it’s called ‘Travel Smart’ with Dirco that can be downloaded from any app store. You’ll be able to share your details with us and we can reach out to you and see how we can assist,” said Monyela.

He said while South Africa has a global footprint in about 119 countries, he advised that if citizens are going to live, study or work in another country they need to know where the South African embassy is located in that country.

If they need to reach out, South Africa also has honorary consuls in certain countries and the details are on Dirco’s website.

 

The short answer
If his visa expired before lockdown, you may need to get legal assistance.
The whole question
My husband is a Malawian and we got married 2015 in Malawi. We came back to South Africa to register our marriage. I gave birth this year on 4 July. I wanted to get a birth certificate for my baby, but I found out that they can't register my baby because my husband's visa expired. He only had an entry visa. Home Affairs said my husband needs to leave the country and come back. They also can't help my baby at the clinic without a birth certificate. What can I do?
The long answer
There are a number of issues here:
• Also, a foreign national whose visa had expired would have to get a Form 20/Good Cause letter to be allowed to submit an application in South Africa, as would usually be the case.
Home Affairs saying that your baby can’t be registered because your husband’s entry visa has expired:
Although the Births and Deaths Registration Act (BDRA) was amended in 2014 to say that both parents had to have a legally valid passport or permit in order to register a child, this was challenged in 2018 in the Naki versus Director General of Home Affairs court case.
In this case, the Eastern Cape High Court ordered that the BDRA must be read to mean that both parents should show valid documentation to register their child “where possible”. The court found that all children born in South Africa had a right to have their births registered, even if one parent was not legally documented. That court decision means that it’s easier now to register the birth of children where one parent is South African and the other parent is not, because Home Affairs may not refuse to register a child’s birth on the grounds of the legal status of its parents.
Although the court order was in 2018, Home Affairs often takes a very long time to comply with court orders and you may want to consult the following organisations for advice:

What is the effect of divorce on a permanent resident permit?

A client asked: What is the effect of divorce on a permanent resident permit when a US citizen is married to a South African citizen and was granted permanent residency and a SA ID document on the basis of the marriage?

Permanent residence under the spousal category is issued in terms of section 26(b) of the Immigration Act of 2002:

“Subject to section 25 and prescribed requirements, the Director-General may issue a permanent residence permit to a foreigner who has been the spouse of a citizen or permanent resident for five years and the Director-General is satisfied that a good faith spousal relationship exists:  Provided that such permanent residence permit shall lapse if at any time within two years from the issuing of that permanent residence permit the good faith spousal relationship no longer subsists, save for the case of death;”

This is read with regulation 23(6):

“A foreigner contemplated in section 26(b) of the Act who has been issued with a permanent residence permit shall, within the last six months of the second year following the issuing of that permit, avail himself or herself for an interview at any office of the Department.”

In practice however, there is no way to comply with this regulation – I have never heard of any Department of Home Affairs regional office that conducts these interviews.

Section 28(b) dealing with withdrawal of permanent residence:

“The Director-General may withdraw a permanent residence permit if its holder has failed to comply with the terms and conditions of his or her permit;”

In terms of section 26(b) there would be no impact on the permanent residence (and subsequent green ID) if the relationship ended more than two years after the permanent residence was issued.  If it ends within the two year period, either party could inform the Department of Home Affairs, but it is usually the South African citizen / initial permanent residence permit holder spouse that the application had been made under, who attends at a regional office to inform immigration inspectorate of the breakdown of the relationship on affidavit.

Inspectorate will then contact the foreign national to appear before them and the information will be forwarded to the office of the Director-General.  As it is at the Director-General’s discretion, there have been cases where the permanent residence was not withdrawn, despite the end of the relationship, e.g. if there are minor children who would benefit from having the foreign national parent to remain in the country.