Judge tells Home Affairs to get house in order, stop wasting taxpayers’ money

IOL – 28 December 2022

Pretoria - A judge gave the Department of Home Affairs a tongue lashing for wasting taxpayers’ money by not doing its work and ignoring applications made by the public.

He said these ended up in the courts, usually with the taxpayers footing the legal bill on behalf of the department.

Judge MP Phooko, sitting in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, said it was time “Home Affairs got its house in order”.

He pointed out the courts were flooded with applications from people who could not get any answers from the department, regarding their legal status in the country.

In the latest such application, British citizen Jonathan Firth applied nearly four years ago for permanent residency with the department. After he did not receive any response from the department two years later, he instructed a lawyer to assist him.

The lawyer wrote letters to the department requesting information regarding the status of Firth’s application, but there was no response.

Even after this application was served, Home Affairs did not respond, and did not attend court either to defend the matter.

It was silence from its side and it adopted a no-response attitude, the judge said.

Firth turned to the court in desperation for an order compelling the department to decide whether he should be granted permanent residency in South Africa or not.

He is in South Africa under a temporary residence visa that was issued to him by the department in August, 2017.

Firth applied for a permanent residency permit in June 2018 through a VFS Global Office in Johannesburg. He was subsequently issued with a reference number.

The records from VFS Global indicate Firth’s application for a permanent residency permit was received by the department on June 6, 2018.

He had subsequently not heard from Home Affairs.

The processing period for an application for a permanent residence permit is not stipulated in the immigration laws of South Africa.

The minimum processing time of eight to 10 months is stipulated on the VFS Global website, but is not legislated.

However, precedent informs that eight months is considered to be a reasonable period for the outcome of a permanent residence application.

The judge said the importance of one knowing the outcome of their application could not be gainsaid, given the significance of a permanent residence permit and the impact it had on one’s life.

Judge Phooko said Home Affairs was under a duty to take decisions, otherwise failure to do so would render immigration laws meaningless.

“It is, therefore, clear that waiting for extended periods for a permanent residence permit application to be finalised without any update whatsoever, is unlawful.”

He added the Constitution mandated public servants to promote and maintain a high standard of professional ethics when executing their duties.

“The Department of Home Affairs is a core government department that produces important documents regarding peoples’ status and access to services in South Africa.

“The department is needed by any person who enters, lives in and/or exits South Africa. Therefore, a crucial department like Home Affairs needs to put the interest of those who approach it for any documentation first,” he said.

He remarked that, at the very least when people approached state institutions, they expected a certain level of service and care, not indifference.

“If the department continues with its non-responsive stance, cases such as this are nowhere near the end. The public purse is also going to be severely affected,” the judge warned.

He gave the department 10 days in which to decide on Firth’s request for permanent residency.

www.samigration.com

Life Partner Visa

SA Migration | 29 Dec 2022

Life Partner visa is issued to someone in a long term relationship.

This type of South Africa life partner visa is available to people in either heterosexual or same-sex relationships and can apply for a life partner temporary residence visa or a permanent residence depending on the length of the relationship in question.

An application for temporary residence life partner visa requires that the partners are in a proven relationship for 2 years. Foreigners who are life partners of South African citizens or permanent resident holders may apply for permanent residence if they have been together for 5 years or more in terms the Immigration Act.

To obtain permanent residence, you would have to have been living with your partner for more than 5 years. This came about with the new regulations.

The life partner visa is very similar to the spousal visa but accommodates same sex partnerships. You will have to prove financial and emotional support and may be called upon to be interviewed by the department.

SA Migration Intl will guide you through the entire process and make sure that your application is fully compliant with the immigration law to ensure a successful outcome. Once your application has been submitted we ensure you will be able to track the progress of said application either directly via VFS or via our followup processes via our application tracking system and be kept fully up to date with the progress of your application.

Once we confirm that you will qualify for the visa we will ensure you have a successful application.

Zimbabwe Exemption Permit: Six months before expiry, Zimbabweans in SA have mixed feelings

News24 | 28 Dec 2022

• Zimbabwe Exemption Permit holders are left with six months before the extension expiry.
• With a low uptake of other visa facilities, some Zimbabweans are looking for jobs abroad as caregivers and elementary school teachers.
• On average, more than 12 000 people are entering Zimbabwe through Beitbridge daily during the festive season.

With just six months before the time is up for those in South Africa living under the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP), there are mixed feelings among Zimbabweans, with some wishing for a further extension, while others contemplate going abroad.

The government announced that it would terminate the ZEP on 30 June 2023, a decision that will affect about 180 000 Zimbabweans residing in South Africa.

As early as October, the Zimbabwean government announced that it was prepared for its nationals who were coming home to start a new life and would assist them with transport and other logistics.

While there has been no sign of it backing its words with action, there has been an influx of travellers from South Africa into Zimbabwe.

Between 5-10 December, 62 770 people entered Zimbabwe through the Beitbridge border.

The head of immigration at the border, Cannie Magaya, said although they had no figures yet, on the days leading up to Christmas, there had been an increase in traffic.

She said it could stay like that until early January when people start returning to South Africa.

Brian Moyo, a Zimbabwean working as a teacher in SA, didn't apply for the special skills visa because he felt it was a waste of time.

While he is going back home in early January, he has set his sights on jobs in China.

He said: "I teach English and that's not a special skill. I stood a chance as a science or mathematics teacher, as such, applying for other visas was a waste of time for me."

Moyo, before migrating to South Africa, taught at some private schools back home.

He feels his experience there could help him in China.

"There is a demand for teachers in early education in China, and English language is one of the subjects with vacancies. So I am applying for those jobs, and one advantage I have is understanding children's psychomotor skills and capacity to learn," he said.

An online search by News24 discovered that salaries for teaching jobs in China range from R70 000 to R120 000, depending on the type of school and level of experience.

In comparison to teaching jobs in southern Africa, Chinese teaching jobs pay way better.

Another opportunity will come into effect in March when the United Kingdom opens up for teachers from South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

But Moyo said he had not considered that option yet, since it was yet to be offered.

Working in South Africa has also become very difficult for those spending their money in Zimbabwe because of the rand's volatility against the US dollar, the preferred currency of trade.

During the festive season, R100 is the equivalent of $5.80, but most shops or businesses only value it at $5.

"It's robbery," said Steven Tshuma, another Zimbabwean based in South Africa.

He added: "They don't respect this (rand) currency. One is better off coming from Europe or elsewhere."

'I hope my boss comes up with a plan'

With the impending ZEP expiry, he is setting his eyes on the UK, Canada or Australia.

"I am starting a nurse aid course with the Red Cross (in SA) early next year. When done, I will apply for jobs abroad. Many have done it. It works," he said.

Tshuma works at a restaurant and has come face to face with members of Operation Dudula – a vigilante group that intimidates migrants.

By the end of October, fewer than 10% of ZEP holders had applied for the available mainstream visas.

An estimated 180 000 ZEP holders will be affected by the 30 June 2023 deadline set by the government.

Shiela Ncube, a domestic worker in Johannesburg, has no plans of leaving the country.

She hopes her boss will find a way around the system to keep her in SA.

He is worried that, a few months before permits expire, xenophobic attacks could resurface, and that by then they would be extreme, because they would be targeting people who had been outlawed by the government but chose to stay on illegally.

She has been with the family for close to a decade.

"I just don't know. I hope my boss comes up with a plan. We haven't spoken about it, but I trust she intends to keep me on.

"When I came this December, she gave me part of her old furniture which I sent home, and she even said she would do the same next year, so I'm thinking she sees us together for a long time," Ncube said.

Asked about looking for housekeeping jobs abroad, she replied: "No way.".

www.samigration.com

SA Visa /Citizenship

SA Migration | 28 Dec 2022

Citizenship Options

•     South African Citizen by Descent
•     South African Citizen by Naturalisation:
•     Automatic loss of Citizenship
•     Resumption of South African citizenship
•     Deprivation of Citizenship
•     Resumption of South African citizenship
•     Acquisition of the citizenship or nationality of another country

South African Citizen by Descent:

Anybody who was born outside of South Africa to a South African citizen. His or her birth has to be registered in line with the births and deaths registration act 51 of 1992.

South African Citizen by Naturalisation:

Permanent Resident holders of 5 or more years can apply for citizenship. Anybody married to a South African citizen qualifies for naturalisation, two years after receiving his or her permanent residence at the time of marriage. A child under 21 who has permanent residence Visa qualifies for naturalization immediately after the Visa is issued.

Automatic loss of Citizenship.

This occurs when a South African citizen:

• Obtains citizenship of another country by a voluntary and formal act, other than marriage, or;
• Serves in the armed forces of another country, where he or she is also a citizen, while is at war with South Africa.

Deprivation of Citizenship:

A South African citizen by naturalization can be deprived of his citizenship if;

• The certificate of naturalisation was obtained fraudulently or false information was supplied.
• He or she holds the citizenship of another country and has, at any time, been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in any country for an offence that also would have been an offence in South Africa.

Judgment ensures kids are at school - documented or not

African News Agency (ANA) | 28 December 2022

Pretoria - Come Wednesday when the country’s schools open for the 2020 academic year, no school may turn a pupil away - local or foreign - if they do not have IDs, permits or passports.

This is after a judgment delivered on December 12 by the high court in Grahamstown in which it declared the admission policy of the Department of Basic Education unconstitutional where it barred undocumented children - both South African and non-national children - from attending school because they were undocumented.

The judge president of that division, Judge Selby Mbenenge, ruled that the department acted unconstitutionally in not permitting children to continue receiving education in public schools, purely because they lacked ID documents.

While the judgment was sparked by an application launched on behalf of undocumented pupils in the Eastern Cape, the Centre for Child Law, which challenged the provisions barring these children from the education system, said the order, in no uncertain terms, prevents the removal or exclusion from schools of children by reason that they do not have identity document numbers, permits or passports.

In his ruling, Judge Mbenenge ordered that the schools in the Eastern Cape, which barred these undocumented children because they could not provide a birth certificate, had to accept an alternative form of identification.

This may include an affidavit or a sworn statement from the parents or guardians in which the pupil is fully identified.

The Centre for Child Law last month said this monumental finding had positive implications for the rights of thousands of undocumented children across South Africa.

It said that this judgment affected both South African children as well as non-national children.

The judgment noted the importance of education and it quoted the Constitutional Court where it held that “basic education is an important socio-economic right directed, among others, at promoting and developing a child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to his or her fullest potential”.

The judge said some of the affidavits handed to court by these children who were denied education by no fault of their own, unleashed a horrifying picture of their hardships.

Some described their embarrassment and depression due to the fact that other children their age who were in school could perform tasks which they could not.

It was earlier argued that almost one million children could be denied access to public schools unless they obtain birth certificates as a matter of urgency, which Home Affairs was unable to provide due to a host of reasons.

The Department of Basic Education said during the court hearing there were 998 433 undocumented children enrolled in public schools - many of whom were without birth certificates.

Of these children, the majority (880 968) are South African citizens.

They were mostly provisionally accepted in the past, provided that their parents or guardians could within 12 months provide a birth certificate to the school.

The court was told that due to the circumstances of many of these children, there was no end in sight for them to receive the relevant documents on time, or at all.

Many of these children have been abandoned and left with guardians or family members who struggled for several reasons to obtain these documents.

www.samigration.com