sami - Posthaven

Bongo was removed from his powerful position months after he was suspended from the parliamentary position by the ANC leadership during strict implementation of its “step-aside” rule.

The party suspended Bongo in May after he refused to voluntarily step aside while facing fraud allegations, as per party guidelines.

However, he will remain an ordinary MP, serving on the home affairs committee.

According to several high-placed sources, Bongo’s removal was among changes announced by ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina at the party’s caucus meeting on Thursday.

ANC caucus spokesperson Nomfanelo Kota said she was unable to comment. This story will be updated when her reaction is obtained.

However, ANC insiders have revealed that, in the main, portfolio committee chairpersons aligned with suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule have been moved around and, with the exception of one, replaced by people sympathetic to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s dominant faction.

Among them are those whose election was opposed by opposition parties and criticised by civil society, who objected because they were implicated at the state capture commission.

Despite initial objection to her election in July 2019, Faith Muthambi, who has been leading the cooperative governance and traditional affairs committee, is credited for its tough approach towards floundering municipalities.

She has swapped roles with former Eastern Cape MEC Fikile Xasa, who will now chair her committee, according to sources. Xasa was the chairperson of the environment, forestry and fisheries oversight committee.

The outspoken Tandi Mahambehlala, who led her committee’s criticism of international relations and cooperation minister Naledi Pandor’s handling of the suspension of department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco) director-general Kgabo Mahoai on Wednesday, has been swapped with former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo, who has chaired the tourism portfolio committee since June 2019.

The Dirco committee, under Mahambehlala, has been tough on Pandor, especially over her perceived inaction against officials implicated in the controversial purchase of a dilapidated New York building for R118m.

MPs have been critical of Pandor for placing Mahoai on precautionary suspension, saying she was using him as a scapegoat in the matter. They have also clashed with the minister for not always explaining her decisions on the matter.

“You must spare yourself from self-importance — your utterances, I find them very arrogant,” Mahambehlala told Pandor during a heated meeting of the committee in February.

Former #FeesMustFall leader Nompendulo Mkhatshwa is said to be the new chairperson of the committee overseeing higher education. This follows the promotion of the committee’s chairperson, Philly Mapulane, to Ramaphosa’s executive.

Mapulane was appointed deputy minister of communications and digital technologies earlier this month.

In the National Council of Provinces, Zolani Mkiva, an ANC delegate from the Eastern Cape, will replace former Buffalo City mayor Zukiswa Ncitha, who stepped aside earlier this year while facing fraud charges in the so-called Mandela funeral scandal.

www.samigration.com

Home Affairs, where permanent residency applications go to gather dust in Covid-19 State of Disaster

Home Affairs, where permanent residency applications go to gather dust in Covid-19 State of Disaster

Daily Maverick - 26 August 2021

The Home Affairs Office in Roodepoort, South Africa. The Department of Home Affairs is a custodian, protector and verifier of the identity and status of citizens and other residents in South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images/Fani Mahuntsi)

Home Affairs should resume processing permanent residency applications that have been suspended since March 2020 ‘as soon as possible, with measures to reduce this backlog’, according to a Presidency document from earlier this month.

But it’s only from 1 January 2022 the permanent residency applications would again be considered, although appeals against permit decisions restart from October 2021, according to Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s State of Disaster directions in the 30 June 2021 Government Gazette.

The permanent residency application stoppage over the past 17 months has left tens of thousands of people – 33,700 by Home Affairs’ own count – in limbo.

When asked whether halting the processing of permanent residence application was not a violation of the Immigration Act – its preamble stipulates expeditious issuing of residence permits though simplified procedures based on predictable and reasonable criteria – the Home Affairs written response was it “is offering services in line with the State of National Disaster and the ministerial directions. This is within the provisions of law”.

The State of Disaster was declared on 15 March 2020, and has been renewed without fail since then. South Africa remains in Covid-19 lockdown; on Thursday, the country marked lockdown day 518.

The Presidency document, seen by Daily Maverick, was presented earlier in August to what’s called the National Economic Recovery Committee.

“The Department of Home Affairs has suspended the processing of applications for temporary and permanent residence visas or citizenship since March 2020, resulting in a large backlog of applications. The processing of applications needs to resume as soon as possible, with measures to reduce this backlog,” says the document in the section on improving the regulatory framework for skilled immigration.

The committee is understood to be part of implementing the Economic Reconstruction and Recover Plan President Cyril Ramaphosa presented in Parliament in mid-October 2020, and works alongside Operation Vulindlela, the joint initiative between the Presidency and National Treasury to undo bottlenecks to key structural reforms for economic growth.

“Investors and industries find the process of obtaining a scarce or critical skills work permit to be lengthy and onerous and sometimes ineffective at solving their short-term skills shortages,” said the Operation Vulindlela presentation to MPs on Wednesday.

Delays and difficulties to obtain scarce skills, work and permanent residency permits have long been a bone of contention, also at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) where business has called on the government to facilitate and streamline work, scarce skills and permanent residency applications.

For immigration specialist lawyer Gary Eisenberg, the suspension of processing permanent residence applications since March 2020 “has been the undoing of the entire immigration system”.

The 60-day turnaround time regulations stipulated on paper already had “evaporated” – a four- to five-year permanent residency application process has become routine – in a complex mix of factors, including resignation of senior Home Affairs officials.

“The lack of proper adjudication capacity has effectively transformed an architecturally simplistic process into a conflagration for many people,” Eisenberg told Daily Maverick via email.

“Foreigners, who have invested in this country in one way or another – buying a home, keeping cash in a South African bank, employing a single South African as a domestic or in any other capacity, or local business interests – can no longer rely on the visa application process to live an ordinary, secure existence in this country. Coupled to the quality of decision-making are the endemic delays in visa adjudication forcing people to wait five to eight months for decisions in the routine flow… Obtaining permanent residence status is therefore relied on as the ultimate antidote to this bureaucratic failure.”

No one yet has challenged Home Affairs’ decision to suspend processing permanent residency applications, seemingly as courts have erred on the side of caution to largely uphold Covid-19 motivated executive directives.

From individuals, who remain vulnerable pending the finalisation of permanent residency even if they invest money, conduct business and create employment, to businesses which have long complained of residence permit, visa and immigration difficulties, and immigration specialists, to now also some circles in government, dissatisfaction with Home Affairs seems widespread.

Coincidentally, the department’s immigration services have missed six out of its 10 targets, yet overspent by 101% its R1,26-billion allocation, according to Parliament’s research unit summary of performance in the final quarter of the 2020/21 financial year prepared for MPs last week. The overspend was attributed to expenditure on meals at Lindela repatriation facility, and legal fees.

On the backlog of permanent residence applications the Presidency document described as “large”, Home Affairs differed, and downplayed the numbers.

The backlog currently stands at 33,700 permanent residence applications, but this predated the Covid-19 pandemic, and a team has been put together to deal with the backlog.

“In July 2021, the department analysed the applications it received for permanent resident permits between January 2015 and December 2020. In this period 119,517 applications were received,” said the Home Affairs written response of Wednesday evening.

“The analysis of this data indicates that, contrary to popular belief, most of the applicants to whom Home Affairs issues the highest number of permanent residence, are in the category of ‘spousal and dependent’ applications. More than 68,400 applications over this period fell into this category. These applications do not require the spouse of the dependent to be economically active.”

On those numbers, it seems Home Affairs has issued just 17,417 residence permits for primary applicants, not spouses or dependents. Sections 26 and 27 of the Immigration Act allow permanent residency applications from those who for at least five years have had work permits, including corporate permits, those with special skills, or those wanting to open a business or retirees.

Home Affairs told Daily Maverick it “regularly reviews the services it is offering to take into account the threat posed by Covid-19” and thus decided to temporarily suspend processing of permanent residence applications.

“There were no applications coming in during this period,” said the department, adding other reasons included a ban on international travel, port closures and the closure of the department’s VFS service provider offices to minimise contact services.

But Home Affairs referred a question whether it is finding itself under pressure over permanent residence and other immigration measures, to the Cabinet spokesperson.

“Decisions of Cabinet are taken on the basis of what is before it,” said Government Communication and Information System [GCIS] Director-General Phumla Williams, who speaks for Cabinet, on Thursday.

New immigration documents may well eventually be found in Cabinet for consideration.

The Presidency document outlines a review of the immigration policy framework and processes for skilled immigration, led by Mavuso Msimang, a former Home Affairs director-general, to coordinate inputs from the departments of Home Affairs; Trade, Industry and Competition; Employment and Labour; and Higher Education and Training.

That four-month review is under way and is set to be completed by the end of October 2021 to “provide recommendations on the changes that are required to the policy framework for skilled immigration”.

Skilled immigration, and permanent residency, are part of this drive, mentioned as key in Ramaphosa’s February 2021 State of the Nation Address to promote economic growth and attracting skills.

And while Home Affairs did publish its draft list of scarce skills for comment within the presidential deadline, it included some odd skills like camping ground manager.

The public comments are currently being analysed, and Home Affairs’ target date for releasing a final list of scarce skills has emerged as 17 September 2021.

Whether that will happen remains to be seen. Also uncertain is the impact, if any, on an immigration regimen that has suspended processing permanent residence applications until 1 January 2022.

www.samigration.com

They waited 17 months for the border to reopen. Now they’re giving up and going home

They waited 17 months for the border to reopen. Now they’re giving up and going home

21 August 2021 — Sydney Morning herald

Tens of thousands of immigrants are calling time on Australia and heading back overseas because of the prolonged border closure and uncertainty over when they will see their loved ones again.

Department of Home Affairs figures show that between July 2020 and May this year, 34,200 residents left Australia with the intention to be away for more than a year.

That included 20,933 Australian citizens (including dual nationals) and 13,267 non-citizen residents (including permanent residents and long-term visa holders). The trend is growing, with long-term resident departures averaging 3500 a month so far this year, compared with 2780 a month last year.

Social researcher Mark McCrindle said Sydney and Melbourne were global cities filled with educated professionals from around the world who were used to being able to fly in and out. “Until we open up again, these global professionals are finding Australia is not compatible with their particular lives,” he said.

About 30 per cent of Australian residents were born overseas and 50 per cent have at least one parent who was born overseas.

The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age have heard from dozens of foreign expats, mostly from Europe and the United States, who have decided to return to those countries to be closer to family. Among them is Katy Stephenson, who recently featured in a story about a surge in applications for travel exemptions, having been refused permission for either her mother to visit or to visit her mother after complications from a difficult birth.

Many others say they would “move in a heartbeat” but feel “stuck” because they married an Australian and have children here.

German-Australian woman Daniella May has captured the sentiments of many in a protest song based on a Sarah Blasko song that is picking up steam on YouTube and Instagram.

Measures to fight the pandemic include a travel ban that prevents Australian citizens and permanent residents from leaving the country and foreign nationals from entering, unless they obtain a travel exemption from Australian Border Force.

Immediate family members of Australian citizens and permanent residents do not require an exemption to enter Australia, but unlike many other countries the definition of “immediate family” does not include the relationship between parents and adult offspring.

Meanwhile, many people are separated from partners too. While the definition includes a spouse or de facto partner, many relationships that were new when the pandemic started, including people holding prospective marriage visas, don’t meet the criteria.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently announced a four-phase plan to reopen the country based on vaccination targets, including reopening the international border and ending the use of lockdowns.

This was the last straw for US-born Marissa Parkin because it confirmed for her that there was “no end in sight”.

“If you read between the lines of this four-phase plan, the language is ‘it may include this, it may include that’; none if it is ironclad and none of it is guaranteed,” said Ms Parkin, from Thornleigh in northern Sydney. “Free movement has always been what makes living here work for us.”

Ms Parkin and her British husband Ian Stephen have lived in Australia for nearly eight years and their daughter was born here. They became citizens in May 2019 and planned to stay here forever. Instead, they have sold their house and in two weeks will move to Britain.

Mr Stephen, a university academic, is taking a huge pay cut for a role in the UK while Ms Parkin has been able to transfer her marketing job.

“It’s getting very close and it’s definitely the case that the closer we get, the sadder I am, but I don’t think either one of us has had a single moment where we’ve regretted our decision,” Ms Parkin said. “Based on the information that we have, we’ve made the best decision for our family.”

Ms Parkin said the “real kicker” in Mr Morrison’s plan was it only discussed allowing Australians to travel overseas and travel bubbles with low-risk countries, and didn’t give any real timeline for allowing foreign visitors in. While she and her husband and their two-year-old daughter could make a short overseas trip once a year, their parents are retired and have the time and money to come here more often and for longer periods of time.

Ms Parkin said the “brain drain is coming” for Australia. She knows several other friends in highly skilled jobs who are also leaving, including one set of friends who became citizens this week and will leave Australia permanently in three weeks’ time.

Lisa and Diarmaid Connolly are another couple who had planned to live in Australia permanently but are now leaving, with flights booked for late September.

They have sold their house in Oyster Bay in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire - which they thought would be their “forever home” - and are returning to Ireland with their children Alex, 4, and Izzy, 8 months. If the lockdown is extended they may have to leave without saying goodbye to friends and family in Australia.

www.samigration.com

Germany Facilitates Entry Rules From Several Third-Countries, Including South Africa

Germany Facilitates Entry Rules From Several Third-Countries, Including South Africa

Schengen visa info - 22 August 2021

The German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention Robert Koch Institute has removed several third countries from the list of virus variant areas, which has prompted the German authorities to facilitate entry restrictions for arrivals from these countries.

At the same time, the institute has announced that from August and on, there will be only two types of risk areas: high-risk areas (previously high-incidence areas) and virus variant areas, while the simple risk area category will no longer exist.

Since Sunday, August 1, 2021, at 12:00 am, Germany has removed nine third countries from the virus variant area category and placed them in the category of the high-risk areas, including here South Africa, which has been in place since the beginning of 2021. These countries are

Botswana
Eswatini
Lesotho
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia
Zambia
Zimbabwe
South Africa

The change of categories for these countries means that visa holders from these areas will finally be eligible to travel to Germany, including here work and student visa holders.

Last weekend, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs imposed a requirement of negative COVID-19 test results for travellers who have not been vaccinated yet, and those that haven’t previously been infected with COVID-19, including arrivals from areas in the safe list.

The requirement will also apply to arrivals from the countries listed above, who now are obliged to present proof that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, they have recently recovered from the virus or proof of negative test results.

“When entering the Federal Republic of Germany after a stay in a foreign high-risk area (previously high-incidence area) or virus variant area, special registration, verification and quarantine obligations must be observed,” the RKI explains.

According to RKI’s most recent update, no new virus variant areas have been detected since the previous update. Currently, in this category remain only Brazil and Uruguay.

At the same time, Andorra has been moved from the category of simple risk areas to the high-risk list. The Dominican Republic, on the other hand, is no longer a risk area.

Germany is among the EU countries with the highest vaccination rates, with 72.9 per cent of its population having received at least the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19, while 59.1 per cent of them are fully vaccinated, data by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reveals.

Yet, according to the World Health Organization, Germany has reported 2,454 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours and 30 deaths, which has brought the number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 3,766,65 since the beginning of the pandemic. The country now counts 91,637 deaths due to the virus.

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