Life in SA through the lens of a Zimbabwean

Life in SA through the lens of a Zimbabwean 

City Press – 18 January  2023

For 12 years, Zimbabwean Martha Muhamba* has had to find a way to ensure that she remains in South Africa because, when she moved to the country in 2010, her mission was to "find work, make money" and send her child "to a decent school".

While Muhamba has been able to find employment since her first year in South Africa, the 42-year-old tells City Press that she has never been in possession of a work permit and the only documentation she has is her Zimbabwean passport – which she has managed to keep valid with border post stamps, even though she has not left South Africa for more than a decade.

The mother of two explained: 

I give my passport to bus or taxi drivers who travel between South Africa and Zimbabwe and when they get to the border, they present the passport where it is stamped for it to go to Zimbabwe and, on their return, it is stamped again for it to slip back into South Africa, giving me another three or six months in South Africa each time.

She tells City Press that she forks out between R400 and R500 for this service.

The spokesperson for the minister of the department of home affairs, Siyabulela Qoza, tells City Press that, while Muhamba's passport is still valid and allows her to be in South Africa, as she has been able to acquire a stamp at the border, and any person owning such a stamp is in the country illegally.

However, Muhamba said this was worth it, adding: "I came here seeking employment because back home in Zimbabwe, things had reached a stage beyond deterioration.

"There are no jobs. There is no money and no life in general. Things were terrible when I made the decision to come to South Africa and I could not just sit and do nothing."

At the time, Muhamba had one child and her mother to take care of.

She emphasised: 

I came [to South Africa] to survive and feed my family.

She told City Press that, while the passport she had used to enter South Africa in 2010 had expired in 2013, she had been able to renew it at the Consulate of the Republic of Zimbabwe in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, with her new passport set to expire "after 10 years or so".

Living in fear

Muhamba, who is employed by a cleaning company in Sandton, said that, while she was grateful for the job she had, life in South Africa had not been smooth sailing, as she constantly lived in fear and had been discriminated against because she was a foreign national.

Difficulty accessing healthcare and education for her son, threats to her life and being underpaid compared with her South African counterparts are just some of the struggles Muhamba says she has had to grapple with.

She shared with City Press how, after months of searching for employment on her arrival in South Africa, she was subsequently hired as a domestic worker.

"Before my employment, they asked me if I had the proper documentation and I told them I had a passport. They then told me how much they could pay me and that was a lot and it was better than nothing," she said.

"I was paid R1 000 for the first three months, but, after that, I began experiencing problems. They started giving me less money every month and it continued to decrease over time with no explanation."

Job conditions

"I started looking for another job and, after a month of searching, I was hired at Pep Stores as a cleaner. They then found out that I did not have a work permit and they fired me."

Muhamba expressed how not being able to obtain a work permit or acquire South African citizenship has left her in the trenches, unable to climb out to "credible and better-paying employment".

"I tried applying for a permit in 2017, but, when I went to home affairs, I was told that Zimbabweans were no longer allowed to apply for work permits.

"The reason I was only able to do this in 2017 was that I needed about R1 000, I think, to be able to acquire it. I know this amount might not seem like a lot of money to a lot of people, but to a foreigner who had nothing, this was an amount I could not afford.

As a foreign national without proper documentation, finding a proper job is difficult and I will always take whatever work I am offered, just to survive.

"I currently work at a place where my colleagues are South African and there is a clear distinction, not just in terms of our salaries – where I am paid much less than my counterparts – but also in terms of how South Africans are given preferential treatment in terms of time off and sick leave, while I am unable to take it, for instance.

"I now earn R3 000 per month."

Qoza explained that South Africa had at least four identifiable ways of getting citizenship.


"The first one is in terms of the Citizenship Act of 1995 where, regardless of where you were born, if both or any one of your parents is a South African, then you are a South African citizen. This includes adopted children," he told City Press.


"The second can be acquired through various routes in the immigration process. For instance, acquiring permanent residence through a particular visa and then qualifying to apply for citizenship." 

He said another way of getting citizenship was by naturalisation through merit: "This is when a country values something about you, be it science, culture, sport or investment."


The fourth one is by marriage to a South African citizen.

The revealing accent

Born and bred in Bulawayo, the Ndebele native said she was well aware of how her accent made her "a target for insults by South Africans" whenever she spoke in public.

I had never heard the word 'kwerekwere' – a derogatory term used to refer to foreigners – until I came to South Africa.

"I am aware that the languages spoken in South Africa are foreign to me and that would always make me very wary because, whenever I try to speak, my accent immediately alerts people that I’m a foreigner and I will be called names, but there’s nothing I can do about those insults.

"On the streets, a random person will hear you speak and, even though they do not say it to your face, they will randomly make untoward comments about 'amakwerekwere' but, because of fear, I keep quiet and don't respond. Where I am from, there are a lot of South Africans, but we never ill-treat them."

She added that this was also the case at healthcare facilities. "Even when I go to a clinic, medical practitioners would say things like 'amakwerekwere are filling up our health facilities and they should go back home', but I keep quiet, even though it hurts."

"Being in a country that is not of my origin, I’ve learnt to take it on the chin because I don’t want to lose my life."

Access to education

When her son was born in 2012, Muhamba, who has lived in Yeoville, Johannesburg, since arriving in South Africa, was ecstatic at the prospect of her second-born child accessing the country’s education system.

"I have a 10-year-old son who was born here and getting him into a school proved difficult because I do not have the necessary documentation and paperwork," Muhamba explained. "Eventually, I found a school where the principal was understanding and allowed him to enrol – even without the necessary paperwork."

Death by association

"I think the other dilemma we are faced with is that, as Zimbabweans, we are all painted with one brush.

"We hear of some of our brothers and sisters taking part in criminal activities and, because I too am Zimbabwean, I will be ostracised. This has also affected our chances of getting employment because people will immediately assume that we will steal from them just because we’re Zimbabwean."

Asked if she would consider returning to her country of origin, Muhamba told City Press that she could and would never deny her country of origin.

"The problem is, how will I survive when I get there?" she asked, drifting into deep thought.

www.samigration.com

German government seeks to ease rules for naturalization

German government seeks to ease rules for naturalization

ABC News – 18 January 2023

BERLIN -- Germany's socially liberal government is moving ahead with plans to ease the rules for obtaining citizenship in the European Union's most populous country, a drive that is being assailed by the conservative opposition.

Chancellor OIaf Scholz said in a video message Saturday that Germany has long since become “the country of hope” for many, and it's a good thing when people who have put down roots in the country decide to take citizenship. 

“Germany needs better rules for the naturalization of all these great women and men,” Scholz said.

Germany’s socially liberal government is moving ahead with plans to ease the rules for obtaining citizenship in the European Union’s most populous country, a drive that is being assailed by the conservative opposition

The overhaul of citizenship rules is one of a series of modernizing reforms that the three-party coalition of Scholz's center-left Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats agreed to tackle when it took office last December. The Interior Ministry said on Friday that draft legislation is "as good as ready."

Last year's coalition agreement calls for people to be eligible for German citizenship after five years, or three in case of “special integration accomplishments,” rather than eight or six years at present. German-born children would automatically become citizens if one parent has been a legal resident for five years.

The government also wants to drop restrictions on holding dual citizenship. In principle, most people from countries other than European Union members and Switzerland currently have to give up their previous nationality when they gain German citizenship, though there are some exemptions.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser argued that reducing the waiting time to be eligible for citizenship is “an incentive for integration.” 

The aim is to reflect reality, she said Friday. “We are a diverse, modern country of immigration, and I think legislation must reflect that.”

Official statistics show that about 131,600 people took German citizenship last year, a quarter of them citizens of other EU countries. The number was 20% higher than the previous year, in part because an increasing number of Syrians were naturalized. Germany's total population is around 84 million.

The main center-right opposition Union bloc rejects the plans to liberalize naturalization laws. 

“Selling off German citizenship cheap doesn't encourage integration — it aims for exactly the opposite and will trigger additional ‘pull effects’ for illegal migration,” senior conservative lawmaker Alexander Dobrindt told Saturday's edition of the Bild daily. 

“Five years is a very, very short time” for people to be eligible for citizenship, Union chief whip Thorsten Frei told ZDF television.

Among other liberalizing plans, the government has removed from Germany’s criminal code a ban on doctors “advertising” abortion services. It has reduced the minimum age for voting in European Parliament elections from 18 to 16 and wants to do the same for national elections.

It also wants to scrap 40-year-old legislation that requires transsexual people to get a psychological assessment and a court decision before officially changing gender, and replace that with a new “self-determination law.” And it aims to decriminalize the possession of limited quantities of cannabis and allow its sale to adults for recreational purposes in a controlled market.

Some of the plans may run into difficulty in parliament's upper house, which represents Germany's 16 state governments and where Scholz's coalition doesn't control a majority. It had to water down elements of an overhaul of unemployment benefits to get that passed this week.

www.samigration.com

Nigerians explore Egypt, Morocco, others after Dubai visa ban

Nigerians explore Egypt, Morocco, others after Dubai visa ban

Daily Trust Saturday – 18 January 2023

Hundreds of Nigerians are now exploring other destinations after Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) slammed a total visa ban on them in October.  

Daily Trust Saturday reports that before the ban on Nigerian businessmen, Dubai had first tightened visa requirements for applicants from Nigeria.

For now, only Nigerians with diplomatic passports and few others have easy access to Dubai.

Dubai was hitherto the destination of choice for many Nigerians for many purposes, including business,

www.samigration.com

Legalising yourself from within South Africa

Legalising yourself from within South Africa

SA Migration – 16 January 2023

In the past, prior to the amendments to the Immigration Act, it was possible for an illegal foreigner to “legalise” or “regularise” him/herself from within South Africa by making payment of the requisite fine. This is no longer the case and we are constantly encountering foreigners who find themselves illegally in South Africa with little hope of rectifying their situation.

The current dilemma

In many cases, these illegal foreigners elect to depart South Africa and contest any ban issued to them from outside of the country. This involves the submission of an overstay appeal to the Department of Home Affairs (“DHA”). A number of foreigners, however, simply have too much invested in South Africa and are unwilling to depart the country for fear of incurring a ban that may or may not be overturned.

What your options are

Where an illegal foreigner wishes to “legalise” him/herself from within South Africa, he/she must meet certain criteria in order to do so. For the sake of clarity, “legalising” a foreigner entails applying to DHA for authorisation for the foreigner to remain in South Africa whilst submitting a visa application and awaiting the subsequent outcome. The “legalisation” does not provide the foreigner with the rights attributed to the holder of a specific visa until such visa has actually been issued to the foreigner.

How to get started

In order to qualify for “legalisation”, an illegal foreigner must satisfy DHA that: he/she was unable to submit a visa application timeously for reasons beyond his/her control and; that he/she is now in a position to do so. The latter requirement will be met by providing DHA with proof of a completed visa application containing all the requisite documents. The former requirement, however, is slightly more problematic.

The question of what the phrase “for reasons beyond his/her control” refers to is not clearly answered in the Immigration Act, but it is generally accepted that these reasons include medical grounds and errors on the part of DHA. For example, where an Applicant has applied for a visa timeously, but DHA have subsequently lost the application and the foreigner’s visa has expired in the interim. All of this information will need to be provided to DHA in the form of written representations called an authorisation application. Such applications are commonly referred to as “good cause applications” by DHA officials.

Authorisation applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis and there is a degree of discretion applied by DHA in considering whether additional factors should be taken into consideration. A prominent factor taken into consideration will be whether the foreigner in question is married to a South Africa citizen or has South African children.

A Successful application

If such an application is successful, the foreigner will be provided with a Form 20 (also known as a letter of good cause) which authorises the foreigner to submit a visa application by a prescribed date. This authorisation lapses as soon as an outcome is received in the visa application. If the outcome is negative, the foreigner will need to depart South Africa immediately.

If you require assistance with submitting an authorisation application or would like additional information, kindly contact our offices.

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Relative Visa

Relative Visa

SA Migration | 16 Jan 2023

Family members of a South African citizen or permanent resident can apply for a temporary residence Relative Visa if they fall within the first or second line of kinship.

This visa applies to the following:

• Spouses

• Life partners

• Parents

• Children

• Siblings

Life partners (heterosexual or same-sex) of a South African citizen or permanent resident must provide comprehensive and satisfactory evidence that their relationship is at least two years in length to apply for the Relative’s Visa.

Read more about the relative permit and spousal visa

Spouses or partners who want to work, study, or conduct business must apply for a Visitor’s Visa 11.6 (Reside with SAC and work). Notably, this visa is not available to any other relatives.

In the case of dependent family members, the South African citizen or permanent resident must prove their ability to financially care for the applicant. Furthermore, the applicant is not allowed to work and must prove kinship via a birth certificate. For spouses, a financial requirement is not necessary. However, they may be subject to an interview to demonstrate the authenticity of the relationship. You can read a full list of required documents on the visa facilitation website. 

Relatives’ permits are valid for two years and can be extended. For certain immediate family members – such as a spouse or dependent children – the permits are issued free of charge (except for the VFS fee). That said, there is still an additional application fee and different conditions for extended family members wishing to visit South Africa.

Processing time for the Relative Visa is up to 60 working days from the date of submission. The costs depend on the relationship between the applicant and the South African resident or citizen.

Medical Visa

A Medical Visa is required if you enter South Africa on the grounds of seeking medical treatment. The DHA issues this visa for a maximum of six months and only if specific visa requirements are met. Notably, the permit holder is not permitted to work or look for work during this period.

Apart from the typical supporting documents, the applicant must provide a letter from their registered medical practitioner or institution stating:

• The available space in the medical facility

• Estimated costs of the treatment

• The treatment schedule and period of intended treatment in South Africa

• The prognosis

Additional documents include:

• Proof of financial means or health insurance to cover all the medical costs

• Proof of economic independence to cover living costs

• A valid return air ticket

• The particulars of the applicant’s companions (if applicable)

The processing time for a Medical Visa is up to 60 working days from the date of submission, and the costs are R425 for the application fee and R1,350 for the service fee.

Retired Person’s Visa

The Retired Person’s Visa is a temporary residence visa for any person, regardless of age, who intends to retire in South Africa. To qualify for this visa, the applicant must show that they have sufficient financial means to support themselves in South Africa.

To meet the necessary financial requirements, the applicant will need to show that they receive a monthly income of at least R37,000 per month through specific means; such as a pension fund, an irrevocable retirement annuity, a net worth, or a combination of assets.