1. The Minister of Home Affairs (“Minister”) has considered the Full Court judgment (Gauteng Division, Pretoria) on the application for leave to appeal in the Helen Suzman Foundation (“HSF”) v Minister of Home Affairs (“Minister”) and Another (ZEP matter) dismissing the application for leave to appeal lodged by him.

2. The Minister has also taken legal advice on the judgment. The Minister has decided to exhaust the legal remedies available to him. To this end, he has already instructed his legal representatives to lodge an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”) without any delay.

3. The Minister believes that the matter is of such great public importance to deserve the attention of a higher court.

4. The Minister is encouraged by the increased number of waiver and visa applications lodged by the affected Zimbabwean nationals. The Minister is considering and approving an average of 2 000 waiver applications every week.

5. The Minister would like to assure the public that the Department of Home Affairs (“DHA”) will continue to enforce the immigration laws without fear or favour. Hence the very successful two-day immigration workshop held on 16 and 17 October 2023 at Birchwood Hotel, in Gauteng, attended by representatives of the National House of Traditional Leaders and Khoi and San Leaders and all provincial houses of traditional leaders, Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (“CONTRALESA”), National Khoi and San Council, Royal Leaders of South Africa (“ROLESA”), South African Local Government Association (“SALGA”), Mayors or Speakers of Metros and Districts, Ministers of Human Settlements, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Small Business Development, Deputy Ministers of Home Affairs and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Leaders and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. A full statement on the workshop will be released in due course.

In an exclusive interview, Anitta Hipper, Spokesperson for the European Commission (home affairs) elaborates upon the reasons for delays, what the European Commission is doing to resolve the issue and the much-awaited digitisation of the Schengen visa

Since the resumption of international travel post Covid-19, long wait to get a visa appointment & delay in processing of Schengen visas has irked travellers worldwide 

Since the resumption of international travel post Covid-19, long wait to get a visa appointment & delay in processing of Schengen visas has irked travellers worldwide. In an exclusive interview, Anitta Hipper, Spokesperson for the European Commission (home affairs) elaborates upon the reasons for delays, what the European Commission is doing to resolve the issue and the much-awaited digitisation of the Schengen visa which will be issued in digital format, as a 2D barcode, cryptographically signed.

Worldwide, travellers are unhappy with the delay in Schengen visa processing times that is impacting their personal and professional travel plans. What’s the big reason for this delay?  In India, people are complaining that scheduling an appointment ‘takes forever’. How can this be expedited? 

This is not a specific situation to India. The European Commission has received numerous reports from visa applicants who, in various geographical locations, have difficulties obtaining an appointment for the submission of a visa application at Member States` consular offices.

Travel restrictions related to COVID-19 have forced some Member States to reduce the number of staff engaged in consular offices or have had to cancel their contractual arrangements with external service providers. In a context of resumption of international travel and increase in visa applications, the pressure in some places creates difficulties for service providers and consulates in processing an increasing number of visa applications in a timely manner.

In addition, intermediaries use sophisticated IT tools to book appointments on behalf of visa applicants as soon as they are released, making extremely difficult for applicants not using their services to book an appointment on their own.

The Commission regularly calls on the Member States` visa authorities to improve their operational capacities and address this issue by releasing more appointments. As for the decisions on visa application, the decisions in this matter are the exclusive competence of Member States.

According to a few news reports, in 2022, India was the second country with the highest rejection rates; nearly 18% of total Schengen visa applications submitted by Indians were rejected. What is the big reason? Financial stability? Background check?  

This is not factually correct. The refusal rate for visas applied in Member States consulates corresponds to the refusal rate global average. There are almost 60 visa-required third countries who have worse refusal rate (almost up to 50% for few of them).

The main reason for rejection is the documentation justifying the purpose and conditions of the intended stay. In particular, the use of forged or fake documents has been identified by Member States as an issue (this is not specific to India).

Are there accelerated visa processing options?

There is no accelerated/emergency procedure which can be invoked for tourism-related travels. Member States are making efforts to increase their processing capacity to deal with the increase in visa applications.

In June this year, the Parliament and the Council of the European Union agreed on rules to digitalise the procedure for Schengen visas. What`s the current status of the proposal?  When will digitisation be fully adopted? 

Once the European Parliament and the Council adopt the initiative, work will start on the implementation of the regulation. After the start of operation of the common application platform and the introduction of the digital visa (not before 2028), Member States will have then seven years to switch to the common online visa platform.

Will the digitised visa be a 2D barcode cryptographically signed?  Will it be a single-window platform for all Member states? 

The Regulation proposed by the Commission aims to modernise the visa procedure by introducing two key changes: digitalisation of the visa sticker and digitalization of the visa application.

This will be achieved through the establishment of an European Union (EU) online Visa application platform, where applicants can apply online for a Schengen visa, regardless of the country they wish to visit and make the visa fee payment. The platform will offer a secure account for applicants to apply and receive the decision on their application. It will also provide up-to-date information on visa requirements, procedures, and a chatbot for user queries.

Additionally, under the proposed rules, visas will be issued in digital format, as a 2D barcode, cryptographically signed. This will reduce security risks related to counterfeit and stolen visa.

South Africa is set to briefly overtake Nigeria and Egypt as the continent’s largest economy next year, International Monetary Fund forecasts show.

The IMF’s World Economic Outlook envisions South Africa’s gross domestic product reaching $401 billion based on current prices in 2024, compared with Nigeria’s $395 billion and Egypt’s $358 billion. South Africa is expected to only hold the top spot for a year before it once again lags Nigeria, and then fall to third place behind Egypt in 2026, according to the report, which was released last week.   

While IMF data shows Nigeria’s economy has eclipsed South Africa’s since 2018, its fortunes have dimmed along with a decline in production of oil and it has been grappling with runaway inflation and a plunge in the value of the naira.

Bola Tinubu has announced significant policy changes aimed at getting the state’s finances back on track since he became president of the West African nation at the end of May, including revamping the foreign-exchange system, scrapping costly gasoline subsidies and taking steps to address dollar shortages and boost tax revenue. 

Those measures are causing initial pain in Africa’s most populous nation, but are expected to increasingly pay dividends going forward. The IMF sees GDP expanding 3.1% next year, compared with 2.9% in 2023. 

The reforms should lead to “stronger and more inclusive growth,” Daniel Leigh, division chief in the IMF’s research department, told reporters at the fund’s annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco, last week.

`We believe the IMF’s projections reflects where it believes meaningful reforms will take place. South Africa’s transient emergence as Africa’s largest economy in 2024 is mainly due to the shrinking of Nigeria and Egypt’s GDP in dollar terms, following sharp currency devaluations,` says Yvonne Mhango, Bloomberg`s Africa economist. `However, the long-term trajectory shows Nigeria and Egypt regaining their top spots, with the former taking a strong lead. For Nigeria to realise the GDP expansion projected by the IMF, we think oil output must be restored to its potential; insecurity needs tackled; and the bottlenecks in the power sector addressed.`

Egypt has devalued its currency three times since early 2022 as it confronts a foreign-exchange crunch, with the pound losing almost half its value against the dollar. 

The government secured a $3 billion IMF package last year that requires a more flexible exchange rate, a move it’s only likely to undertake after December elections in which President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is seeking to extend his rule until 2030. 

The delay has stalled IMF reviews that were initially scheduled for March and September. Successful appraisals could unlock about $700 million in postponed loan tranches, give Egypt access to a $1.3 billion resilience fund and potentially spur major Gulf investments.

The government is meanwhile in talks with the IMF on boosting its rescue package to more than $5 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions, confident it can overcome the hurdles preventing it from accessing support, including addressing concerns over its currency policy. The implementation of a reform agenda could underpin an economic growth rate of 5% or more from 2026, according to the IMF.

Unlike Nigeria’s naira and Egypt’s pound, the rand is free floating, and has lost about 10% of its value against the dollar this year. 

Currency weakness has been stoked by concerns that the National Treasury will miss its budget deficit and debt-to-GDP targets for the fiscal year through March due to increased demands on the state for support and revenue shortfalls, as a fraying transport network and record power cuts curtail economic growth.

The IMF sees South Africa’s economy expanding 0.9% this year and 1.8% in 2024, with the potential to expand 2.5% to 3% faster should it improve the power situation, tackle logistic bottlenecks and institute other reforms.

• State Information Technology Agency employees, as part of the Public Servants` Association of South Africa, are planning a nationwide shutdown on 18 October after salary negotiations reached a deadlock.  

• The shutdown is aimed to create `inconvenience` for government departments, which will be without technical support, and impact government services, including hospitals and grant payments.

• The PSA said workers will not return to work unless their demands of above-inflation salary increases are met. 

Government services, including hospitals, Home Affairs and grant payments across the country could be without technical support on Wednesday as thousands of State Information Technology Agency (SITA) employees down tools.

SITA employees who are members of the Public Servants` Association of SA (PSA) handed over a strike notice last week, indicating their intention to participate in a national shutdown after holding a number of lunchtime pickets.

The shutdown will continue indefinitely until workers` demands are met, a spokesperson for the union told News24.

This comes as negotiations between SITA and the PSA over salary increases for the 2023/24 financial year reached a deadlock in June.

Talks have been ongoing since February, with the PSA demanding an above-inflation increase of 7.5%. SITA`s latest offer was 5%.

`The PSA is concerned about SITA’s attitude towards collective bargaining and the progress in concluding salary negotiations for the 2022/23 financial year [...] The PSA urges the [Communication and Technologies] Minister [Mondi Gungubele] to intervene and instruct the SITA board of directors to improve the salary offer to 7.5%,` the PSA said in a statement.  

PSA general manager Reuben Maleka said leadership changes also impacted salary negotiations. 

`Between June and July this year, Minister [Gungubele] changed the SITA board at a time when we would also have salary negotiations, which also delayed negotiations. Over 10 members left the board,` he said. 

Salary negotiations were previously referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration in September this year, but no settlement was reached. 

The PSA is a key union in the sector, representing over 230 000 employees in the public service overall. It also represents the majority of SITA employees. 

Maleka said the shutdown aimed to create `inconvenience` for government departments because there will a lack of employees to restore any system that experiences technical glitches or shuts down. 

Maleka told News24: `Employees are up in arms [...] The cost of living is too high, and with petrol prices increasing, all prices will increase, including food.`

`Workers want an increase because they want to live,` he added.

Meanwhile, SITA is confident that the planned shutdown will be averted and said it was intent on breaking the deadlock between itself and PSA. 

`We have invested effort and energy towards finding lasting solution to this impasse. We have reached out to the union on a number of occasions and presented options which both sides could explore aimed at enabling us to move beyond the disputed issues,` said SITA spokesperson Tlali Tlali, adding that SITA`s wage offer of 5% was `gaining traction and resonates favourably with many employees`. 

Tlali said the industrial action would not affect its IT systems. `SITA activated its contingency plans to mitigate the impact of the industrial action on service delivery to government. The plans include reconstituting structures responsible for operational oversight and business continuity. To date, there has not been any service delivery failure occasioned by the industrial action,` said Tlali.

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria dismissed Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi`s application for leave to appeal its ZEP ruling.

• The court ruled in June that Motsoaledi`s failure to consult with ZEP holders, interested NGOs and the public was `unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid`.

• The court dismissed his application with costs. 

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has dismissed Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi`s application for leave to appeal against a ruling on his decision to terminate Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEPs).

The court ruled in June that Motsoaledi`s failure to consult with ZEP holders, interested NGOs and the public was `unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid`.

At the time, the court extended the permits for 12 months from 28 June, pending the conclusion of a `fair process` that includes an adequate public participation process the court found had not been done before the 7 June gazette for the ZEP termination.

The court ordered that ZEP holders must be allowed to leave or enter South Africa and may not be dealt with in terms of sections 29, 30 and 32 of the Immigration Act on the basis that they are ZEP holders. 

The department said those were the findings of the court on the applicability of certain sections of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), which the Department of Home Affairs said was `highly questionable, particularly the requirement for public participation when a decision of this nature is taken, affecting a specified category of persons only. In this instance, the affected Zimbabwean nationals.`

Motsoaledi also appealed because he believed the matter dealt with the separation of powers, to which the court ruled his grounds for application for leave to appeal were flawed.

In its judgment on Monday, the High Court said Motsoaledi`s application was `destined for failure` because he did not depose an answering affidavit in the review proceedings.

`Only the minister, as the decision maker, could give evidence as to what passed through his mind and how his mind was exercised,` the judgment read.

`The rest of the minister`s grounds for leave to appeal are not necessary to traverse. It is enough to conclude by pointing out that the court was at pains to explain that its order under Section 8 (1)(e) of PAJA was temporary relief, which is distinct from a substitution order under section (8)(1)(c)(ii)(aa) of PAJA and is just and equitable remedy in terms of Section 172 (1)(b) of the Constitution.`

The court dismissed the minister`s application with costs.