Zim Minister says Harare ready to welcome its citizens as permits expire in SA

IOL – 12 Aug  2022

Pretoria - Zimbabwe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Frederick Shava, said the government led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa is ready to welcome back its citizens who have lived in South Africa under the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP).

“The Zimbabwe Exemption Permit will expire at the end of this year. Its expiry is naturally causing much anxiety to the holders of this permit,” Shava said in his opening remarks while co-chairing the mid-term review of the Bi-National Commission (BNC) with International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor.

“Our two governments must work closely in the implementation of this decision. We are ready to receive our nationals back home,” he said.

Among several senior officials from the two nations, the high-level meeting was also attended by Ambassador of South Africa to Zimbabwe, Thizwilondi Rejoice Mabudafhasi, and Ambassador of Zimbabwe to South Africa, David Hamadziripi.

Numerous Zimbabweans living in South Africa are in limbo, after the South African government announced that it would not be extending the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP), which ended on December 31, 2021.

The almost 200 000 permit-holders were given a 12-months grace period to regularise their stay with another category of permit.

Pandor told Shava that Pretoria is grateful for the supportive role played by Zimbabwe in arresting the scourge of illegal migration.

“Dear Minister (Shava), I’m sure you are aware that effective management of immigration has been an ongoing challenge for our government.

“We’ve recently established a border management agency and we hope it will vastly reduce illegal migration and improve efficiency. I must thank you and your government for the support you have given us in this endeavour,” she said.

Pandor said the review meeting gives the two neighbouring countries an opportunity to “reboot and reset our programmes, to better respond to the challenges that have emanated” from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I am pleased to recall that despite the constraints of the pandemic, total trade between South Africa increased from a quantum of R38billion in 2020 to R47.5bn in 2021. I trust that our delegations will align our planning to enhance this positive development and I note in the figures that the surplus lies with South Africa, and we would like to see greater benefit to Zimbabwe’s economic sectors as well.

“Of course, our cooperation and partnership is not only limited to bilateral relations. We also share common values on regional, continental and global governance issues of mutual interest,” she said.

Pandor also expressed gratitude to Zimbabwe for the support given to South Africa when it served on the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.

Shava, a seasoned diplomat, was appointed by Mnangagwa to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last year, following the death of the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo

www.samigration.com

 South African Citizenship

Citizenship Options

• South African Citizen by Descent
• South African Citizen by Naturalisation:
• Automatic loss of Citizenship
• Resumption of South African citizenship
• Deprivation of Citizenship
• South African Citizen by Naturalisation:
• Automatic loss 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.

South Africa Working Visas

South Africa seeks highly skilled individuals to live and work in SA.

SA Migration Services will provide professional assistance to arrange your work visa for you if you qualify.

Work Visas are regulated in terms of Section 19, Regulation 18 and items 18 (1), 19(2), 20, 21 and 22, of Schedule A.

There are three common types of Work Visas:

• General Work Visa
• Inter Company Transfer Visa
• Critical Skills Vis

  
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If you Are Coming to Canada, be ready! – Lady who goes to work by 5am tells Nigerians

Towngist – 11 August 2022

A Nigerian lady who resides in Canada has advised her countrymen who wish to relocate to be fully prepared for the hustle and bustle that comes with working in the North American country.

She documented a day in her life as a factory worker and revealed that as early as 4:50 am she is already on her way to work.

The young woman said that waking up that early was a huge struggle for her, so she said that anybody that is making plans to travel there should be ready to put in that level of commitment.

She said; ”It’s is about 10 minutes to 5 and I am heading to work. It was a struggle waking up this morning, a huge struggle. This is part of the things we go through, so be ready”

If you are coming to Canada, be ready just in case your journey is like mine.”

www.samigration.com

Huge blow to foreigners – No second chance for Asylum seekers as government tightens laws

Pretoria News – 11 August 2022

Foreign nationals whose applications for asylum in South Africa were rejected do not automatically have the right in law to reapply.

If they do, this will allow for a never-ending cycle of asylum applications, according to a judgment by the Western Cape High Court.

This followed an application by three Burundian nationals who applied for asylum in South Africa.

Their applications were rejected as being manifestly unfounded in terms of the Refugees Act.

The refusal was automatically reviewed by the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs, which confirmed the finding.

The women subsequently turned to court to obtain an order directing Home Affairs and its various arms dealing with asylum issues, to accept a second asylum seeker application made by each of them.

Their main objective to remain in South Africa was because they wanted to study and work here, while one of the women said she came here “to find her husband”.

According to them, the act makes provision for foreign nationals to reapply for refugee status after their first application has been turned down.

Each of them earlier applied for asylum status in South Africa, but their applications were turned down, as their reasons for wanting to stay in South Africa were said to be unfounded.

In terms of the Refugee Act, a person qualifies for refugee status if it is proven that their lives would be in danger if they were to be sent back to their country of origin.

But in this case, home affairs officials noted that peaceful elections were held in Burundi in 2020 and many Burundian refugees had voluntarily returned home, so the women were not in danger if they went back.

The women accepted the rejection of their first asylum applications and did not take it on review. But they said that they were entitled, in terms of the law, to reapply.

Judge Hayley Slingers said the women were told to leave the country when their asylum applications were turned down in 2014, yet they chose to remain illegally in the country.

They now wanted the court to force Home Affairs to accept their second application.

They want to base the second application on allegations that their lives would indeed be in danger if they were forced to return to Burundi due to the government there.

According to them, the act is “an open system designed for vulnerable people to apply for asylum”.

They also argued that their interpretation of the act is that it does not matter how any times someone applied for asylum status after being refused, and that while the application is pending, they may not be kicked out of the country.

But Judge Slingers said this interpretation is problematic, as it would mean an asylum seeker could keep on submitting applications if the previous ones were refused, while remaining in South Africa all the time.

“There would then be no need to be granted asylum as the asylum seeker need only continuously apply for asylum, to be granted the right to stay in the RSA.”

The judge turned down their application and said the act did not automatically give asylum seekers the right to reapply.

She said when their asylum applications were refused and this was confirmed by the committee, they reverted to the status of being illegally in the country.

Pretoria News

    www.samigration.com