Thousands of South Africans are losing their citizenship, some without even realizing it

Thousands of South Africans are losing their citizenship, some without even realising it

Many South Africans are being stripped of their South African citizenship when they voluntarily obtain citizenship in a second country.
Gary Moore, a Senior Researcher at the Free Market Foundation, said that thousands of South Africans are having their citizenship stripped, with many, if not most, not knowing.
Moore looked at a 2021 application made to the Pretoria High Court for an order to declare Section 6(1) of the Citizenship Act constitutionally invalid. Section 6(1) states that South Africans will automatically lose their citizenship if they voluntarily obtain citizenship of another country a continuation of apartheid law. However, the South African Constitution states that no citizen may be deprived of citizenship.
Moore said that Section 6(1) also denies certain fundamental rights to South Africans that are enshrined in the Constitution, including the right to vote, the right to reside in South Africa, the right to stand for public office, and the right to choose any occupation.
South Africans must apply to the Minister of Home Affairs for permission to retain their South African citizenship as per the Citizenship Act. The Minister may thus grant or deny permission at their own discretion. Moore said that the provision is a flagrant violation of South Africa’s Constitution.
The case
The applicant in the case said that many South Africans are unaware of the terms of Section 6(1) of the Act and do not know that they have to approach the Home Affairs Minister for permission to retain their citizenship.
However, Pretoria High Court Judge Jody Kollapen upheld Section 6(1).
Judge Kollapen referred to the Constitution’s founding provisions about citizenship, which state that South Africans are entitled to the rights and benefits of citizenship but are equally subjected to its duties and responsibilities, and the legislation provides for the acquisition, restoration and loss of citizenship.
Kollapen said that the fundamental right to not be “deprived” of citizenship in the Bill of Rights was aimed at preventing statelessness. He added that the Citizenship provision in the Constitution does not apply to South Africans applying for citizenship in another country, as they are not stateless.
Moreover, the judge said that Section 6(1) of the Citizenship Act did not amount to citizens being “deprived” of citizenship but rather a “loss”, which is a forfeiture and does not meet a justifiable requirement of the Bill of Rights.
Commentary
Moore said that the judge’s decision was superficial and flawed.
He noted that the judge’s interpretation of being deprived of citizenship was to prevent statelessness fails to address another section (8(2)), which authorises the Minister to deprive South Africans with citizenship in another country from their South African citizenship in the public’s interest or if the person has been sentenced to imprisonment for a year or more.
In addition, the applicants shared results from an online survey that showed many South Africans lost their citizenship due to being unaware of Section 6(1), many of whom did not intend to forego their South African citizenship.
However, Kollapen disagreed with this argument and said that South Africans looking to emigrate to other counties with the possibility of acquiring citizenship should familiarise themselves with the relevant laws.
Moore said that Kollapen’s argument failed to consider South African citizens seeking a second passport for easier travel and saw migration as the only possible reason to have a second passport.
Kollapen also relied on the notion of ignorantia juris neminem excusat (“ignorance of the law excuses no one”), but this principle is not generally applied. The courts say that persons cannot be assumed to renounce their legal rights unless they have specifically stated.
Kollapen not only dismissed the application but also dismissed an application for leave to appeal, despite the effect Section 6(1) has on thousands of people’s lives.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), however, granted leave to appeal, and the appeal is reportedly set to be heard in court on 23 February 2023.
Should the SCA set aside Kollapen’s decision and declare Section 6(1) constitutionally invalid, that order will have to be subsequently confirmed by the Constitutional Court.

www.samigration.com 

Five ways tourism needs to improve to attract Chinese travellers

Five ways tourism needs to improve to attract Chinese travellers

 01 February 2023 – Business Day

Return of visitors from China can give global tourism and retail sectors the economic boost they need so badly

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, China was the world’s largest source of outbound tourists, who took 170-million trips and contributed $253bn to the global economy in 2019.

In 2023, Chinese travellers are projected to take 110-million international trips, two-thirds of the 2019 level, according to the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (Cotri), which provides consulting and training on the Chinese outbound market.

The return of Chinese travellers is the economic boost that the global tourism and retail sectors have been missing. According to a sentiment survey compiled in December by data and marketing agency Dragon Trail International, more than half of polled travellers from mainland China indicated they would be ready to travel as soon as restrictions were removed, and 32% planned to travel within two years; more than half indicated that they planned to spend more on travel over the next year than they did before Covid-19.

But there’s a caveat: destinations hoping to cash in again will need to take a fresh approach that speaks to the Chinese traveller who has spent three years away from the world.

“The Chinese outbound tourist will not be the same as they were before; you have to prepare and adapt for that,” says Wolfgang Georg Arlt, CEO at Cotri. “We have changed; China has changed.”

There’s time to prepare. Chinese tourists aren’t expected to travel far in large numbers until the second half of the year. China’s group tour package sales ban, enacted in the pandemic’s early days, has yet to lift. Prices are up — way up. Visa processing will be a bottleneck because foreign consulates reduced staff. Major airlines will also need time to resume flights.

“There may be pent-up demand that drives more flights, but the schedules into April and beyond are still quite speculative at this moment,” says Mike Arnot, a spokesperson for Cirium, an aviation analytics company. China state television reported that US and Chinese airlines have submitted applications to resume up to 700 flights per week from 34 countries.

Until then, here are five major adjustments that destinations and brands need to consider in connection with global tourism’s biggest market.

Serve Diverse Travellers

A mistake that will prove costly to destinations and businesses is to cling to the dated perception that all Chinese tourists are the same. “Any answer to the question, ‘What are the Chinese people doing?’ is wrong,” says Arlt. 

Sienna Parulis-Cook, director of communications at Dragon Trail International, agrees that the travel industry should better prepare for understanding that China’s outbound travel market is not monolithic. “It’s very segmented,” she says. The first wave of long-haul travellers in 2023 will be experienced independent travellers, including millennials, Gen-Z and luxury travellers, adds Parulis-Cook.

While some will visit neighbouring Asian countries because they’re easy to get to, inexpensive and familiar, others will seek new destinations. “The game is no longer to go where everybody goes, but to discover and find new places that not so many Chinese have visited before,” says Arlt.

Let go of mass tourism

Directly related to increasing market segmentation will be a diminished role for mass tourism. It won’t disappear entirely, but big group sightseeing tours will probably appeal only to Chinese travellers from smaller cities who’ve never travelled, says Arlt.

Residents from China’s largest cities won’t be impressed with the big tour approach; they will laugh at you, Arlt says. “They’ve had three years’ time to dream about places and read up and talk to people — and look on Mafengwo or Qyer [two Chinese travel-planning sites] for ideas of where to go.”

This is really a chance to make a new first impression. Those first travellers’ experiences may have more influence on the travellers that come after them. So it’s an important moment.

Sienna Parulis-Cook  Dragon Trail International

The Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (aka Little Red Book) has increasingly become tied up with tourism trends for the younger market. Red Book has 200-million active users with disposable income, mostly women 18 to 35 years old. “It’s aspirational — a little bit like Instagram, but luxury,” says Parulis-Cook.

Live streaming, while not new in China, has also emerged as a trend in tourism marketing, she says, so showing what life is like in prospective places will prove useful. Nearly two-thirds of Chinese travellers surveyed by Dragon Trail said their top two reasons to travel abroad are to experience local food and local life.

For less-travelled destinations, this presents an opportunity. For example, Papua New Guinea is working with Cotri to attract Chinese travellers interested in niche local experiences. Arlt says his firm is also in talks with Canada to create a First Nations programme targeting the Chinese market. “All this is moving towards special-interest tourism — smaller groups with a higher spending,” he says.

Communicate on safety

After pricing, destination safety ranks as second in importance for Chinese travellers (63%), according to Dragon Trail. That’s not surprising, given the horrific wave of anti-Asian hate attacks globally, including in the US, Canada, Italy, Brazil and New Zealand, since the pandemic.

The safety factor will be critical for the first wave of Chinese independent travellers before mass tours resume; the latter at least offer the ability to feel more secure in a crowd. 

More than two-thirds of Chinese travellers ranked the US in December as the destination they consider least safe to visit, according to Dragon Trail. Other bottom-rankers in the survey: Israel, Peru, Chile, the UK and Spain.

“Chinese people are very sensitive if they are welcomed or not, because they see themselves not as Mr Lee or Mrs Wong but as Chinese — and what you do to them, you do to the Chinese,” says Arlt.

Even a slight perception that Chinese travellers could be subjected to racial abuse in a place and treated badly because they are Chinese, Arlt says, will have consequences. Chinese visits to the US fell nearly 11% from 2017 to 2019 during the Trump administration, which was hostile to China.

Tourism boards know to lay out the welcome carpet, and hotel managers will have to be conscious about training frontline workers to receive Chinese travellers after such a long pause. But the average resident’s attitude towards Chinese people will be more critical now, Arlt says. Tourism boards will have to do more marketing and education to improve general host perceptions, in addition to communicating that they are happy to have Chinese visitors back and to factor in ways to prevent incidents.

“This is really a chance to make a new first impression,” says Parulis-Cook. “Those first travellers’ experiences may have more influence on the travellers that come after them. So it’s an important moment.”

Offer Value-Packed Experiences

Before the pandemic, bragging about big spending was considered impressive, Arlt says, but what’s deemed impressive now is spending on experiences and learning by having done something, not merely flashing wealth. Value for money has become important to Chinese travellers, especially considering the increased costs of travel and the absence of discount tour packages. 

Previously popular destinations such as Los Angeles are receiving a much greater percentage of families travelling with multiple children, as well as a shift in demand from millennials and members of Gen-Z, such as groups of friends planning independent travel. “What they’re looking for is the authentic LA,” says Adam Burke, CEO at Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, who adds that they look at what a local would do and seek to explore LA’s neighbourhoods in much more detail.

Travellers from China have also shown a greater willingness to pay more for greener choices than their European and American counterparts. Among Chinese travellers, 88% say they care about their impact on destinations and communities when travelling, according to Dragon Trail’s survey. For most Chinese travellers, the survey further reveals, sustainability could mean choosing a hotel with such environmentally friendly practices in place.

Reduce Visitor Visa Hurdles

Covid-19 testing is no issue for the Chinese, who are used to it. But simplifying the visa process — providing an e-visa, a visa on arrival or requiring none at all — would attract more Chinese travellers. Convenience ranked as the third-most-important factor in the Dragon Trail survey.

That makes destinations such as the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey and Ecuador, among other places, well positioned to receive Chinese visitors in 2023. South Korea and Japan, destinations popular among Chinese travellers, are in a pickle for having imposed severe entry restrictions on Chinese travellers; China has retaliated with visitor visa bans.  

“The visa wait times are going to be the single greatest impediment to the recovery of Chinese visitation to the US,” says Burke, who also sits on the US Travel Association’s board and was just named to the department of commerce’s US travel and tourism advisory board.

Despite the view that the US is least safe, America’s brand remains strong among Chinese travellers. Searches from China about visiting the US were among the highest in January, according to online travel agency Trip.com, though the average wait time for a visa is about 400 days for non-waiver countries, Burke says.

Still, as long as immigration and other entry impediments remain, Chinese travellers may choose to steer clear of those destinations. “One thing is the convenience,” says Parulis- Cook, “and one thing is the feeling of friendliness and welcome.”

Immigration Agents South Africa

Immigration Agents South Africa

 

What does an immigration consultant do?

Table of Contents

  • What does an immigration consultant do?
    • Does South African Immigration Consultants need to be registered to assist me?
    • Am I guaranteed a visa through a South African Immigration Agent?
    • What can a migration agent do for me?
    • Is it necessary to make use of a South African Immigration Consultant to apply for visas or permits?
    • I’ve Been Scammed Before and really don’t trust an Immigration Consultant?

South African Immigration Agents or South African immigration consultants are individuals who assist you in applying for any South African visa type or permit.

You may have used an immigration agency before or choose not to make use of one depending on the budget. The use of an immigration firm means you were assigned an immigration agent or immigration consultant to handle your visa application.

Before the Department of Home Affairs introduced the new immigration act in 2014, Immigration practitioners had to register and complete an exam in order to assist clients.

The new immigration act of 2014 saw section 46 repealed and amended. This means that DHA does not recognize Immigration practitioners any longer and that anyone can handle your application.

Does South African Immigration Consultants need to be registered to assist me?

No. The withdrawal of section 46 meant that DHA gave anyone the right to practice South African immigration.

An association was created out of the need to engage with DHA. This informal association called FIPSA (Forum of Immigration Practitioners of South Africa) now regulates South African immigration practitioners.

It’s not a requirement to register with them in order to practice SA immigration, however one may sign up out of free will and write an exam with them to be certified.

There are many immigration agents who are not registered, and this does not mean that their visa service is not up to a high standard.

You still need to do due diligence when making use of an immigration agent in South Africa or a South African immigration consultant.

Being registered with FIPSA means that all members need to adhere to their set of rules and regulations. Should they not live up to their standards, then you may lay a complaint with FIPSA.

Ultimately the decision lies with you as to whether you’d like to make use of a FIPSA registered immigration practitioner.

Am I guaranteed a visa through a South African Immigration Agent?

No. No one can guarantee you a South African visa if they do run as far as possible. Nothing in life is guaranteed other than death and taxes.
A visa application maybe 100% correct according to the requirements and DHA may reject your visa. This happens all the time and the only difference is that a South African immigration consultant will have the experience to handle the matter moving forward and get the desired result.

There are no tricks or special means to get your visa approved or fast-tracked.

What can a migration agent do for me?

The South African immigration agent can do the following for you:

  • Offer immigration advice
  • Be transparent about costs and visa processes
  • Prepare your visa application
  • Prepare you for the visa submission
  • Notify you of the outcome of your visa
  • Keep you updated with the latest news

What they are not allowed to do for you:

  • Forge visa documents for the desired result
  • Present inaccurate information
  • Use your personal information for personal gain or against you
  • Pay someone inside Home Affairs to get your visa

South African immigration consultants should always act in an ethical way with each person they offer advice to. Immigration consultants must always have your best interest at heart and must always be honest with their clients about the visa process.

Is it necessary to make use of a South African Immigration Consultant to apply for visas or permits?

No. You can apply for your South African visa on your own. There are many people who choose not to make use of migration agents when applying for a visa or permits.

The use of an immigration agent means spending more money which certain people do not have the budget for.

The drawbacks of not using one may lead to a negative visa outcome and time wasted. Many people end up submitting the wrong visa documents or applying for the wrong visa.

Through years of experience, a migration agent may have some ethical tricks up their sleeve for different visas and can keep you updated with the latest news.

If the budget allows you to make use of an immigration consultant, I recommend making use of one. This allows you to focus on the things you need to be focusing on whilst the immigration practitioner prepares your application for submission.

Which visas can a South Africa immigration agent assist you with?

  1. Business visa – Start a business in the Republic
  2. Critical skills work visa 
  3. General work visa
  4. Intra-company visa
  5. Corporate work visa
  6. Life partner visa
  7. Permanent residence
  8. Relatives visa
  9. Retirement visa
  10. Spousal visa
  11. Study visa
  12. Asylum – New and Abandoned ( pre Covid 19 expired )
  13. Refugee – Expired & Certification
  14. Asylum and Refugee Application – Rejected by Standing Committee

I’ve Been Scammed Before and really don’t trust an Immigration Consultant?

That’s always a shame when people take your hard-earned money and scam you when thinking you are applying for a visa.

There are a few things you could do before making use of an immigration agency:

  • Check that they are a registered company in South Africa?
  • Do they have testimonials?
  • Are they on social media?
  • Do they have any complaints on hellopeter?
  • Do they have a proper company email address and not a Gmail or Yahoo email account? 

If you have recently been scammed my best advice would be to make a case with the South African Police department and present them with all evidence and explain what services they were supposed to render to you.

Always apply due diligence when making use of any immigration practitioner’s services and asking as many questions about the different visas you’d like to apply for.

Keep in mind that a South African immigration consultant should never charge you a services fee to see if you qualify for a South African visa.

It’s unethical to charge an individual just to find out if they qualify for a visa.

There only a handful of specialist immigration companies that deal with Asylum and Refugee matters and we are one of them .

Often the question comes up asylum is free why would I need someone to help me .

Indeed it is free and the system for newcomers are online and if you don’t understand how the process works you can send email upon email and nothing will happen. In addition since you are going alone for an interview and if you give the incorrect information you will and be sent home .Do you want that ?

  1. Asylum – New and Abandoned ( pre Covid 19 expired )
  2. Refugee – Expired & Certification
  3. Asylum and Refugee Application – Rejected by Standing Committee

 

An ethical immigration agency or consultant will only charge once you decide if they should handle your application for you. They should have terms and conditions which you can request to read.

Another key point is how long it takes for them to reply to you. Communication is key in this game and taking forever to return calls or emails should be a red flag for you.

Completing your own visa process can be a blessing or a nightmare. There are many things you need to consider and using a South African immigration agent can ease the pressure.

They can educate a prospective employer on your behalf or keep your prospective employer in the loop for example.

Remember that Immigration agents are human too and from time to time make mistakes. What makes it worthwhile is knowing that they will still assist you even when you receive a negative outcome. An immigration agent should look to achieve that positive result for you.

SA Migration will offer you a free assessment and let you know if you qualify or not. We will not take on your case if we feel that you do not qualify. Use our website to fill in our free assessment form. We’ll make contact with you to discuss your options. 

Should you not qualify, we don’t mind taking that extra minute or two to tell you how you could possibly qualify in future. 

We hate pressuring people to come on board as clients, instead if we feel that we would have a great working relationship and you feel comfortable then we’ll be happy to take you on as a client after your assessment.

  1. Asylum – New and Abandoned ( pre Covid 19 expired )
  2. Refugee – Expired & Certification
  3. Asylum and Refugee Application – Rejected by Standing Committee 

Immigration Agents South Africa

 

What does an immigration consultant do?

Table of Contents

  • What does an immigration consultant do?
    • Does South African Immigration Consultants need to be registered to assist me?
    • Am I guaranteed a visa through a South African Immigration Agent?
    • What can a migration agent do for me?
    • Is it necessary to make use of a South African Immigration Consultant to apply for visas or permits?
    • I’ve Been Scammed Before and really don’t trust an Immigration Consultant?

South African Immigration Agents or South African immigration consultants are individuals who assist you in applying for any South African visa type or permit.

You may have used an immigration agency before or choose not to make use of one depending on the budget. The use of an immigration firm means you were assigned an immigration agent or immigration consultant to handle your visa application.

Before the Department of Home Affairs introduced the new immigration act in 2014, Immigration practitioners had to register and complete an exam in order to assist clients.

The new immigration act of 2014 saw section 46 repealed and amended. This means that DHA does not recognize Immigration practitioners any longer and that anyone can handle your application.

Does South African Immigration Consultants need to be registered to assist me?

No. The withdrawal of section 46 meant that DHA gave anyone the right to practice South African immigration.

An association was created out of the need to engage with DHA. This informal association called FIPSA (Forum of Immigration Practitioners of South Africa) now regulates South African immigration practitioners.

It’s not a requirement to register with them in order to practice SA immigration, however one may sign up out of free will and write an exam with them to be certified.

There are many immigration agents who are not registered, and this does not mean that their visa service is not up to a high standard.

You still need to do due diligence when making use of an immigration agent in South Africa or a South African immigration consultant.

Being registered with FIPSA means that all members need to adhere to their set of rules and regulations. Should they not live up to their standards, then you may lay a complaint with FIPSA.

Ultimately the decision lies with you as to whether you’d like to make use of a FIPSA registered immigration practitioner.

Am I guaranteed a visa through a South African Immigration Agent?

No. No one can guarantee you a South African visa if they do run as far as possible. Nothing in life is guaranteed other than death and taxes.
A visa application maybe 100% correct according to the requirements and DHA may reject your visa. This happens all the time and the only difference is that a South African immigration consultant will have the experience to handle the matter moving forward and get the desired result.

There are no tricks or special means to get your visa approved or fast-tracked.

What can a migration agent do for me?

The South African immigration agent can do the following for you:

  • Offer immigration advice
  • Be transparent about costs and visa processes
  • Prepare your visa application
  • Prepare you for the visa submission
  • Notify you of the outcome of your visa
  • Keep you updated with the latest news

What they are not allowed to do for you:

  • Forge visa documents for the desired result
  • Present inaccurate information
  • Use your personal information for personal gain or against you
  • Pay someone inside Home Affairs to get your visa

South African immigration consultants should always act in an ethical way with each person they offer advice to. Immigration consultants must always have your best interest at heart and must always be honest with their clients about the visa process.

Is it necessary to make use of a South African Immigration Consultant to apply for visas or permits?

No. You can apply for your South African visa on your own. There are many people who choose not to make use of migration agents when applying for a visa or permits.

The use of an immigration agent means spending more money which certain people do not have the budget for.

The drawbacks of not using one may lead to a negative visa outcome and time wasted. Many people end up submitting the wrong visa documents or applying for the wrong visa.

Through years of experience, a migration agent may have some ethical tricks up their sleeve for different visas and can keep you updated with the latest news.

If the budget allows you to make use of an immigration consultant, I recommend making use of one. This allows you to focus on the things you need to be focusing on whilst the immigration practitioner prepares your application for submission.

Which visas can a South Africa immigration agent assist you with?

  1. Business visa – Start a business in the Republic
  2. Critical skills work visa 
  3. General work visa
  4. Intra-company visa
  5. Corporate work visa
  6. Life partner visa
  7. Permanent residence
  8. Relatives visa
  9. Retirement visa
  10. Spousal visa
  11. Study visa
  12. Asylum – New and Abandoned ( pre Covid 19 expired )
  13. Refugee – Expired & Certification
  14. Asylum and Refugee Application – Rejected by Standing Committee

I’ve Been Scammed Before and really don’t trust an Immigration Consultant?

That’s always a shame when people take your hard-earned money and scam you when thinking you are applying for a visa.

There are a few things you could do before making use of an immigration agency:

  • Check that they are a registered company in South Africa?
  • Do they have testimonials?
  • Are they on social media?
  • Do they have any complaints on hellopeter?
  • Do they have a proper company email address and not a Gmail or Yahoo email account? 

If you have recently been scammed my best advice would be to make a case with the South African Police department and present them with all evidence and explain what services they were supposed to render to you.

Always apply due diligence when making use of any immigration practitioner’s services and asking as many questions about the different visas you’d like to apply for.

Keep in mind that a South African immigration consultant should never charge you a services fee to see if you qualify for a South African visa.

It’s unethical to charge an individual just to find out if they qualify for a visa.

There only a handful of specialist immigration companies that deal with Asylum and Refugee matters and we are one of them .

Often the question comes up asylum is free why would I need someone to help me .

Indeed it is free and the system for newcomers are online and if you don’t understand how the process works you can send email upon email and nothing will happen. In addition since you are going alone for an interview and if you give the incorrect information you will and be sent home .Do you want that ?

  1. Asylum – New and Abandoned ( pre Covid 19 expired )
  2. Refugee – Expired & Certification
  3. Asylum and Refugee Application – Rejected by Standing Committee

 

An ethical immigration agency or consultant will only charge once you decide if they should handle your application for you. They should have terms and conditions which you can request to read.

Another key point is how long it takes for them to reply to you. Communication is key in this game and taking forever to return calls or emails should be a red flag for you.

Completing your own visa process can be a blessing or a nightmare. There are many things you need to consider and using a South African immigration agent can ease the pressure.

They can educate a prospective employer on your behalf or keep your prospective employer in the loop for example.

Remember that Immigration agents are human too and from time to time make mistakes. What makes it worthwhile is knowing that they will still assist you even when you receive a negative outcome. An immigration agent should look to achieve that positive result for you.

SA Migration will offer you a free assessment and let you know if you qualify or not. We will not take on your case if we feel that you do not qualify. Use our website to fill in our free assessment form. We’ll make contact with you to discuss your options. 

Should you not qualify, we don’t mind taking that extra minute or two to tell you how you could possibly qualify in future. 

We hate pressuring people to come on board as clients, instead if we feel that we would have a great working relationship and you feel comfortable then we’ll be happy to take you on as a client after your assessment.

  1. Asylum – New and Abandoned ( pre Covid 19 expired )
  2. Refugee – Expired & Certification
  3. Asylum and Refugee Application – Rejected by Standing Committee 




Health minister must intervene now to stop care catastrophe

Health minister must intervene now to stop care catastrophe

31 January 2023 | Business Day

 The shortage of nurses in SA is projected to rise to up to 178,000 nurses by 2030

he nursing crisis has been deepening for years, and not even the ANC’s ambitions for National Health Insurance (NHI) seem enough of an incentive to awaken a sense of urgency in health minister Joe Phaala. NHI, the government’s plan for universal health coverage, rests heavily on nurse-led care. Yet where these nurses will come from is a mystery.

The figures are horrifying. SA had 186,000 practising nurses in 2019 and was already short by as many as 62,000 nurses, according to a report by the Hospital Association of SA and McKinsey. By 2030, the gap was projected to widen to up to 178,000 nurses, as the supply of new nurses from training institutions failed to offset the effects of an ageing workforce and meet the demands of a growing population enduring a worsening burden of disease. Almost half the registered nurses are set to retire in the next 15 years, according to SA Nursing Council statistics.

Even private-sector patients, usually buffered from the worst of SA’s state-led crises, are feeling the effects of the nursing shortage. Thousands of specialist nursing posts in private hospitals stand empty, hobbling the sector’s ability to provide care. At best, the shortfall means patients wait longer for elective surgery and must travel further for routine procedures. At worst, it puts their lives at risk: when neonatal intensive care units are understaffed, babies die.

Nurses the world over are highly sought after, and the government cannot stand in the way of locally trained nurses seeking better paid jobs in wealthier countries. The government does, however, hold huge sway over the supply of nurses, since it controls how many are trained and determines the regulations governing foreign-qualified professionals who wish to work in SA.

The government is deleterious on both counts.

Nurse training has been disrupted severely by the ham-fisted implementation of new qualifications, which came into effect in 2000. Since then, institutions have been prohibited from enrolling students on the old qualifications. But despite the pressing need for new nurses, the various government agencies involved in approving education institutions and their training programmes created such a tortuous path to accreditation that they triggered a two-year hiatus in which no students could start training in specialist nursing fields such as theatre, ICU and midwifery, and only a handful will do so in 2023.

Universities and public nursing colleges have been given the green light to train just 70 nurses seeking postgraduate qualifications in emergency care, 200 in critical care, and a mere handful more for oncology, nephrology and midwifery. These are scandalous figures.

The new qualifications fail inexplicably to include postgraduate specialist training in neonatal ICU, and require all nurses who wish to specialise at postgraduate level to have a midwifery qualification, creating a barrier to thousands of nurses with non-university legacy qualifications, who must now do an extra course in midwifery before they specialise.

The crisis is amplified by the nursing council’s antipathy to the private sector. Without providing a coherent reason, it has spurned the efforts of private hospitals to train more nurses, undermining a hospital association proposal at the presidential jobs summit in 2019 that it train 50,000 nurses to help tackle the unemployment crisis. Private hospitals previously trained thousands of nurses a year, but SANC inexplicably slashed their numbers and they are now permitted to train a  fraction of what they once did. There is no shortage of interest: this newspaper previously reported that on one occasion Netcare said it had received more than 23,000 applications for 130 places.

To compound this appalling situation, the nursing council, which is accountable to the health minister, appears to have no interest in removing the obstacles private hospitals face in recruiting specialist nurses from overseas, despite their inclusion in the critical skills list published by the department of home affairs last August. The credentials required of nurses who wish to enter SA on a scarce-skills visa mean private hospitals can no longer readily recruit nurses from India, the key foreign market from which they have historically hired staff for their specialist units.  

The health minister is responsible for tackling the nursing crisis, but there is little sign of his being interested in the human tragedy his inaction will create. The underperformance of state hospitals is no doubt embarrassing, but that should not stop the minister from intervening to allow the private sector to train the nurses the country needs so desperately. Need we remind him that lives are at stake?

 www.samigration.com

Home affairs stuck in costly legal limbo, worsened by Covid

Home affairs stuck in costly legal limbo, worsened by Covid

Business Day | 31 January 2023

The Covid-19 pandemic has proven to be yet another stick in the spokes for the department of home affairs, further delaying processes that were already slow and inconsistent, and causing despair and disruption for thousands of people and businesses. In addition, an apparent lack of will to rectify the situation is costing the state millions in unnecessary legal fees as unsuccessful applicants head to the courts to appeal.

For years our practice has noted that SA loses skills, business capital and jobs by apparently regarding all foreigners with suspicion, making visa, residency and citizenship applications a complex nightmare that deters foreigners. The pandemic has worsened the problem. Indeed, it would appear that the department is not well equipped to adapt to change: in 2010, when adjudication was centralised to a hub, services collapsed. In 2014, when the law changed, we saw more court cases and further delays. Covid has forced significant change across society and the economy, and again services have ground to a halt.

Racking up costs to the state

As we warned  in 2021, the pandemic has further delayed and derailed immigration processes and caused a backlog that could take years to clear – particularly in permanent residence and citizenship-related services. We have noted an increase in rejections of critical skills visa applications, freelance work applications by foreign spouses of South Africans, and work authorisations for foreigners with a retired persons visa.

This situation has not changed, forcing applicants to go to court to appeal against their rejections. These cases may be escalated several times — each time at a legal cost to the state. As a seasoned immigration expert I have never litigated so much in my life as I have in recent years. In most cases a court case relates to a delay, which is easy to prove and results in the state losing, with cost orders against it.

One gets the impression that the state often appeals as a delaying tactic. With the services of an attorney and a junior advocate costing anywhere from R30,000 to R200,000 per case — before the case has even been referred to the Supreme Court or Constitutional Court — these delays can cost the state a substantial amount.

Exactly how much this may be costing is difficult to pinpoint. According to the department’s 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 annual reports immigration affairs management is the third programme within the department of home affairs.  The line item for legal services records that in 2018-2019 it spent about R32m on legal services, and in 2019-2020 R43m. Unfortunately, there is no further information on how exactly this total is broken down. Both years also record some R2bn in contingent legal liabilities, but “contingent” means the liability may not occur. In other words, the department is being sued for R2bn, but those suits have not yet been concluded.

There is a statement that “claims in immigration services arise mainly from the unlawful arrest and detention of illegal foreigners, and damages arising from the department’s failure to make timely decisions on visas and permits. Of the total claims, 11 major claims (R5m and above) amounting to R696m, reside under the branch.”  But this may refer to damages, not legal costs, and such damages claims are likely to fail.

Home Affairs at a standstill

Efficiency and consistency would clearly be a more cost-effective approach, yet home affairs remains at a standstill, even though the wheels of business are starting to turn again. Thousands of people have been in limbo for about a year as they await outcomes.

Among our clients is a German film director and corporate general manager who has applied for a critical skills work visa and is experiencing lengthy delays in the process. This businessman has companies in SA with the capacity to create jobs and drive investment into the country. On top of this, he has invested over R5m in NGOs and NPOs benefiting children.

Another client is a Ghanaian ICT professional who studied in SA and has applied for a critical skills work visa. He has been informed his application was rejected because he is on a visa restricted “V List”, while simultaneously another home affairs division states that he is not on the V List.

Home affairs recognised in its 2021 budget  that “the  timeous issuing  of  permits and visas enables economic growth and removes impediments to foreign investment” and said it aimed to maintain the percentage of business  and general work visa applications per year that are adjudicated within eight weeks at 90% over the medium term, and targeted an increase in the  percentage of critical skills visa applications per year adjudicated within four weeks from 82% in 2021/2022 to 95% in 2023/2024. 

The department also recently announced that it was resuming the processing of applications for permanent residency after a hiatus of nearly two years and an estimated backlog of up to 50,000 applications. It is commendable that the department recognises that there is a problem, but it should be noted that service delivery cannot be achieved when offices are closed or manned by a skeleton staff, and that rushing through adjudication is not enough: adjudication needs to be done consistently, fairly, and in line with the relevant acts.

By improving efficiencies and eliminating poor and inconsistent processing of immigration and work visas the department of home affairs could not only slash the costs and time wasted in legal challenges; it could also support the government’s efforts to encourage foreign investment and create more jobs.

www.samigration.com