Home Affairs thrusts looming ZEP expiration under the spotlight

EWN – 12 July 2022

Clement Manyathela spoke to Home Affairs minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi about the termination of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits and the establishment of the Border Management Authority.

The Department of Home Affairs is serious about introducing the Border Management Authority (BMA) in South Africa.

It has been almost twelve months since the expiry of the special Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) was announced.

In November, the government announced the decision to discontinue the ZEP.

The looming expiration of the ZEP has many Zimbabweans fearing deportation.

This will affect some 178 000 Zimbabwean immigrants in the country.

WHAT WILL THE BMA DO?

According to the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa has been facing challenges with border control.

He cited the country's porous borders as the reason for the special border authority being established.

The minister said the BMA sought to comprehensively control the country's borders with support from immigration control, customs control, the South African Police Service, the South African army, the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs, the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Health.

The BMA will, thus, will have these entities operate under a single structure controlled and monitored by an overall commander which Motsoaledi said would help with accountability issues at the border.

In terms of operations, what happens at the border every day, you'll now have a commissioner who's going to be bugging commands. That's the main difference we need the Border Management Authority, as against the multi-agency method which we are using, now... You'll know exactly who to go to. You're not thrown from pillar to post.

Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Minster of Home Affairs

THE FORMATION OF THE 1998 REFUGEE ACT

When the Refugee Act was established in 1998, Motsoaledi says that it was formed under misinformed assumptions about how the borders need to be managed based on the number calculated at the time of its formation.

This assumption came under scrutiny after the world went into a recession in 2008 with the Home Affairs minister estimating that the number of refugees surged from 16 000 in 1998 to upwards of 200 000 in 2008 and a further 200 000 in 2009 alone.

This prompted a reboot of the Refugee Act to accommodate the evolution of the situation to deal with the shock to the country's refugee apparatus, something Motsoaledi says has taken Parliament 10 years to pass the revised act.

It shocked the whole immigration system, the refugee apparatus, as I've called them. It shocked them. They were overwhelmed... The normal mechanism of dealing with refugees was overrun, it was overwhelmed... So, the Department of Home Affairs, then, said 'no, let's have a special dispensation outside the normal existing laws and mechanism to accommodate this present situation. It will give us time to reboot, re-plan afresh'.

Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Minster of Home Affairs

THE MISGUIDED IMPACT OF THE REFUGEE ACT

So why was the design of the Refugee Act so unsuccessful in controlling the country's borders?

Motsoaledi argues that this is due to the act being designed, not by South African conditions, but under the United Nations Convention of 1951 and the Organisation of African Unity Protocol of 1969. This act, he laments, was only designed four years after the establishment of democracy in the country.

The act divided incoming immigrants into separate permit sections:

• Section 23 of the permit says that refugees entering the country without a the necessary documents cannot be arrested where refugees have up to five days to produce the relevant documentation at the nearest refugee centre.
• Upon getting the documents, refugees will then begin a Section 22 permit which, then, gives them a document giving them three-to-six months to apply for a permit. This document is subject to renewal if the relevant documents cannot be provided within the application period.
• Once successful, refugees are granted a Section 24 permit - which provides immigrants with international protection as an official refugee of the country.

All those processes were designed four years after democracy when there was no thinking of an avalanche, or a large number of people who were economic migrants. That's why in the Immigration Act, in the Refugee Act, or even in the United Nations Convention, itself, the issue of economic migration was never mentioned. It doesn't appear.

Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Minster of Home Affairs

THE FUTURE FOR ZIMBABWEAN IMMIGRATION MOVING FORWARD

So what does this, ultimately, mean for Zimbabwean immigrants without legally documentation of their refugee status in the light of the ZEP?

This, according to Motsoaledi, is more complex than people may realise.

The minister laments that the ZEP is a specialised permit for Zimbabweans designed to legitimise their stay in the country.

The different conditions that may warrant a permit have seventeen different permits which provides immigrants with more than the scarce skills permit to apply for.

There are 17 different permits that home affairs can issue to immigrants. They include the scarce or critical skills visa, a study visa, a visitors visa, a relatives visa, a general work visa, a retirement visa, a temporary residency visa, and a permanent residency visa.

Motsoaledi said from January 2021 to December 2021, Zimbabwean immigrants account for 38% going to scare and critical skills visas, 25% going to study visas, 15% going to general working visas, and 14% going to relative visas.

This could possibly be the reason that the ZEP exists in the first place, which Motsoaledi advocates should give Zimbabwean immigrants something to ease their minds, particularly due to scarce skills not being the only condition for them to be granted legal immigration status.

You look at which [condition] is suitable for you... I mentioned, in January, that this is an advantage for certain people because when they were given a special permit [previously], there was a clear condition that you were not to apply for any other. Even if you get married, you can't apply for citizenship which is unfair

www.samigration.com

 

South African Permanent Residence

SA Migration – 12/July/2022

 

• SA Visa
• Permanent Residence

South African Permanent Residence

South Africa encourages permanent residency if you are serious about staying in South Africa on a long terms permanent basis there are many categories you can apply under.

• Hold a General Work Visa for five years and have a permanent job offer.
• Hold a Relative’s Visa sponsored by an immediate family member.
• Hold a Critical Skills Visa and have 5 years relevant work experience.
• Be in a proven life partner relationship for five years
• Be married to an SA Spouse for at least five years.
• Have held Refugee Asylum Status for five years.
• Hold a Business Visa.
• Receive a monthly income of R37,000 through Pension or Retirement Annuity
• Have a net asset worth of R12m and payment to Home Affairs of R120,000

www.samigration.com

 

 

 

Citizenship Options

12/July/2022

• 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.

 

www.samigration.com

 

Corruption inquiry into Government Printing Works gave Motsoaledi 'sleepless nights', parliament hears

12 July 2022 – Times Live

Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi has told parliament he wants strong action taken against anyone found to be  responsible for sabotaging the Government Printing Works.

The minister was briefing parliament’s committee on home affairs on Tuesday on the investigation into the loss of financial data and curriculum vitae (CVs), as well as investigations by the Hawks into allegations of corruption at the organisation.

“It worried me a lot because it can hold the economy of the country to ransom. I was even more worried because I appeared before this committee to announce to you the foothold that we had started to gain on the African continent in the manner of servicing it.

It gave me sleepless nights because that is a national key point where security is very important. You wouldn’t like to have people who make things collapse deliberately, for whatever motive and so, it was worrying.

Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, home affairs minister

“Namibia wants us to print important security documents for them and subsequent to my announcement about Namibia, Kenya came on board and at a high level. Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Uhuru Kenyatta, signed an agreement on behalf of the GPW for work that is going to be done,” said Motsoaledi.

“Since then many governments have come to the fore. Last week I had a meeting with the ambassador of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The amount of work they want us to do for the DRC is overwhelming.”

Motsoaledi said he asked himself if SA accepted offers made by these countries, “are we going to disappoint them, especially on security issues when they have put their trust in our hands, by virtue of some of the things that are happening there (GPW)?”

He said the matter had given him sleepless nights after the collapse of ICT systems at the GPW in February last year.

“There is a gentleman who has blown the whistle in an affidavit which was sent to the office of the speaker of parliament. He claimed that what happened there was not an accident, it is something that has been planned either by omission or by commission.”

Motsoaledi said the statement concerned him.

“It gave me sleepless nights because that is a national key point where security is very important. You wouldn’t like to have people who make things collapse deliberately, for whatever motive and so, it was worrying.”

Motsoaledi’s concerns grew when the legal profession was unable to finalise and execute estates because they could not get certain documents they needed.

This is the reason he approached President Ramaphosa to ask him to appoint an investigative tribunal into what was happening at the GPW.

Ramaphosa told him, that as a minister, he had “every right and power” to appoint such a tribunal or panel.

“That is why I chose to appoint the panel (which was initially chaired by advocate Mojankunyane Gumbi). The panel was to inspect the loss of data. Members of the committee were told when they were there, that there was a power surge (which damaged infrastructure) which they were supposed to investigate.”

The panel is now chaired by Papati Malavi.

Motsoaledi wants investigators to probe whether the lost data can be recovered and if so, how.

“They were also meant to look at security. The committee was told by the GPW about applications for jobs and CVs that were stolen. It will be discouraging for South Africans to apply for jobs, only to find that their CVs are selectively stolen.”

Motsoaledi said he too would not feel safe if he applied for a job at that institution.

Investigators were meant to come up with recommendations and consequence management.

“The most important recommendation was the issue of ICT governance, digital transformation and the corporate and physical governance of the whole institution by virtue of serving the countries I have mentioned.

“I wanted strong recommendations, so that when I come to you to boast about the number of countries that are using GPW, I am reassured there are no misdemeanours that will happen,” he said. 

www.samigration.com

 

Inter Company Transfer Visa

SA Migration – 12/ July/2022

An intra-company transfer work Visa may be issued by the Department to a foreigner who is employed abroad by a business operating in the Republic in a branch, subsidiary or affiliate relationship and who by reason of his or her employment is required to conduct work in the Republic.

An important factor is that the applicant has to have been employed with the company abroad for a period of not less than 6 months.

The Intra company transfer is not designed to be a long term visa. The idea is to bring in foreign workers employed by the company abroad with a branch or subsidiary branch here in South Africa; they work or conduct training for four years, and then return home.

This Visa does not require the hassle of proving the company could not find suitable applicants and it does not require the hassle of verifying an applicant’s formal qualifications. It is based purely on employment. If you are a company that needs to transfer in foreign employers, please contact us and we will make this go as smoothly as possible.

It is important to note that this category of work Visa cannot be granted for more than four (4) years and this type of Visa is not extendable.

www.samigration.com