Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi has appointed a team of experts to review several categories of permits and visas issued since May 2004, when the Immigration Act came into force, until December 2020 to determine if they were granted regularly.

All permanent residence permits, corporate permits (especially in the mining industry), study visas, work permits for professionals, citizen naturalisation and retirement visas issued over this period will be examined.

Motsoaledi told parliament’s home affairs committee on Friday that some of these permits had been granted under dubious circumstances.

The review was prompted by findings of the department’s anti-corruption unit and immigration branch, which Motsoaledi said raised “disturbing issues”.

The minister said it was offensive that wealthy individuals wanted certain favours from the permit section. “We want to pay attention to them, to see how they managed to obtain their permits,” Motsoaledi said.

The terms of reference for the team of experts, which includes forensic investigators, an advocate and a lawyer, have been developed and it has been given three months to produce a draft report of its findings. The investigation would also highlight system deficiencies in the department.

Motsoaledi also told MPs that the department was drafting guidelines on the use of discretion by the minister in approving the early naturalisation of people as instructed by public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. This was to ensure there was a uniform approach to exceptional circumstances such as granting the naturalisation to an investor who could help boost the economy, an academic or a sports star. The guidelines would be finalised by March 15.

Mkhwebane’s report was prompted by former home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba’s use of ministerial discretion to grant SA citizenship to members of the Gupta family in 2015. 

Mkhwebane found that Gigaba had not abused his powers in granting the Guptas early naturalisation but failed to declare this to parliament within the required period of 14 days. She also found that Gigaba granted the citizenship without proper validation of the requisite exceptional circumstances.

She found that the discretion given to ministers to grant early naturalisation was too wide and there needed to be guidelines. She also ruled that the minister not only inform parliament who had been granted early naturalisation but also provide all the documentation on which this decision was based to ensure transparency.

Motsoaledi said draft amendment regulations were also being developed to detail what information an applicant for early naturalisation needed to provide in a prescribed form to motivate their application. Normally a person becomes eligible for SA citizenship through naturalisation if they have held a permanent residence permit for at least five years, among other circumstances.

The draft regulations will be published for public comment and Motsoaledi expects the final regulations to be gazetted by June.

 

Home affairs director-general Livhuwani Makhode told MPs the department’s human resources unit was dealing with 10 of the 16 officials implicated in the Gupta saga, the other six having left the department. The officials allegedly failed to exercise due diligence in verifying the accuracy of the information in the motivation for the early naturalisation of the Guptas.

Samigration.com

Edwin Okey Chikata Ijeoma, a professor of public sector economics at the University of Fort Hare, had his citizenship revoked by the ministry of home affairs after he fraudulently relied on a bigamous marriage to a South African woman to obtain naturalisation and citizenship

Edwin Okey Chikata Ijeoma was no intellectual slouch when he arrived in SA from Nigeria on a study permit in 1998 to pursue academic studies at the University of Pretoria. His hard work saw him obtain a PhD in economics in 2003

However, the man who became professor of public sector economics at the University of Fort Hare (UFH) in the Eastern Cape had his citizenship revoked by the ministry of home affairs after he fraudulently relied on a bigamous marriage to a South African woman to obtain naturalisation and citizenship.

Ijeoma took home affairs on review to the Bhisho high court, but in a 2020 judgment the court held the minister had not erred in finding Ijeoma had made false representations about his marital status to the department or in determining his SA citizenship was null and void.

Acting judge Mickey Mfenyana has denied Ijeoma leave to appeal her ruling, stating another court will not differ from her finding that he was disingenuous, if not dishonest, and that there was no reason to interfere with the minister’s decision.

The confirmation of the home affairs action rendering him an undesirable inhabitant of the country means Ijeoma, who previously renounced his Nigerian citizenship, has nowhere else to go.

The head of the UFH school of public administration is under suspension by the university in connection with the illegal registration of axed health MEC Sindiswa Gomba for an honours degree in public administration when she was not entitled to register for postgraduate studies.

Ijeoma was granted permanent residence in SA in the same year he graduated from Tukkies, having been exempted from immigration restrictions due to his marriage to a local woman two years earlier. In 2005 he was granted SA citizenship through naturalisation but by 2007 he had divorced his South African wife, ostensibly because the couple was unable to conceive a child.

He was then joined in SA by a Nigerian woman, Anne Tomo. Home affairs officials were tipped off that Ijeoma had committed bigamy by marrying the SA woman after Tomo in her application for permanent residence, attached a copy of her 1993 marriage to him in Nigeria.

Officials said Ijeoma’s sole mission in marrying the SA woman was to acquire citizenship.

In her original judgment, Mfenyana found Ijeoma had presented contradictory reasons for his bigamous actions — that, as an African man, he believed he was entitled to marry more than one wife; and that he represented himself as single because he was not aware SA recognised customary marriages.

She said he failed to disclose the existence of his marriage in Nigeria on three occasions: when he applied for permanent residence in SA, when he got married in the country and when he applied for citizenship.

Slating the highly qualified academic “who by his own admission is of good and sound mind and an intellectual giant”, she said it was highly improbable that, throughout his stay in the country and his encounters with immigration matters, he remained ignorant of the implications of not disclosing his Nigerian marriage.

Ijeoma told the court he obtained a permanent residence permit because of his “good and sound character” rather than his marriage to the SA woman.

He said home affairs had failed to take into account his contribution to SA as a result of his work as an academic and within the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.

Mfenyana said the exemption certificate clearly indicated the marriage was the basis for his exemption and Ijeoma had also admitted during a 2015 plea for home affairs to have compassion on him, that he obtained citizenship by naturalisation as a result of the marriage.

Home affairs provided the court with the certificate for Ijeoma’s marriage in Nigeria to dispel the notion it was a customary marriage. In any case, the Nigeria Marriage Act prohibited marriage where one of the parties was already married to another person under customary law.

In two immigration submissions in SA, when he had to indicate an immediate family member still residing in Nigeria, Ijeoma listed Anne Ijeoma as his sister.

Officials also said Ijeoma would have remained a permanent resident for five years had he not been exempted because of his marriage to the SA citizen.

Mfenyana said the court’s role was not to reconsider the minister’s decision but to review it for legality and reasonableness. The court found the minister was bound by the law, which determined the misrepresentation which Ijeoma had committed was a criminal offence.

UFH spokesperson Thandi Mapukata said she would need time to check with the university’s human resources department what steps might be taken after the court’s finding against Ijeoma.

“The university wasn’t aware of this development until now. We will contact law enforcement agencies to obtain a full briefing.”

Mapukata declined to provide a reason for Ijeoma’s suspension, but Dispatch reported in October last year that it was related to Gomba’s illegal registration.

www.samigration.com

• The UK has announced stricter travel rules with harsher punishments for non-compliance, which will come into effect on Monday 15 February.
• This extends to travellers from South Africa, who will have to foot the bill for their mandatory quarantine stay at around R3,500 a day.
• UK nationals or residents, returning from South Africa, who lie about where they’re coming from or where they’ve been will be fined £10,000 [R203,199] and or up to ten years in prison.

The United Kingdom has tightened its travel regulations for ‘red list’ countries – which includes South Africa – by imposing mandatory quarantine for returning residents. The costs associated with the ten-day quarantine will need to be covered by the traveller, and misleading authorities to avoid self-isolation can lead to serious jailtime.

There are only two types of travellers currently permitted to enter the UK from South Africa and 32 other countries confined to the ‘red list’. British and Irish Nationals, or third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK, will be allowed to return but must submit to a series of stringent Covid-19 protocols.

From Monday 15 February, all residents returning to the UK from South Africa must present a negative Covid-19 test result, obtained within 72 hours of arrival, prior to boarding. Even with a negative PCR test result, UK nationals and residents will be forced to endure a ten-day quarantine period at a state-run hotel.

This mandatory stay will need to be paid for by the traveller prior to departure. The UK’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock has detailed aspects of this mandatory “quarantine package” which must be purchased via a dedicated online portal and includes:

• Assigned government transportation (from the airport to the quarantine site)
• Accommodation in a government-approved facility
• Food and drinks (while quarantined)
• Two follow-up Covid-19 tests (on day two and day eight of the ten-day quarantine)
• Security and welfare (observation by healthcare professionals)

This package will cost £1,750 (R35,540) per person. Hancock confirmed that 16 hotels, comprising of 4,600 rooms, had been contracted as quarantine sites. These quarantine hotels will be situated near key transit areas in Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen.

UK airport hotel chain Best Western confirmed that it had offered to assist with these quarantine packages but has yet to receive a detailed proposal from the government.

And for those travellers hoping to avoid the mandatory quarantine period, and the costs associated with it, by misleading government officials about their pervious travel itineraries, a host of hefty penalties await.

“Anyone attempting to conceal that they have travelled in a ‘red list’ country on their [passenger locator] form could face a £10,000 [R203,199] fine or prosecution and up to ten years in prison,” explained the UK’s department of health and social care.

This applies to any person who has travelled from or through South Africa in the last ten days. The passenger locator form, which needs to be completed before boarding, requires travellers to list their passport details, travel information, Covid-19 test results and address of self-isolation in the UK. Falsifying any of these details is a criminal offence, warns the department.

Travellers who abscond from a quarantine facility, without the health department’s approval or permission, could face a fine of between £5,000 (R101,680) and £10,000 (R203,199). Refusing to undergo the first test while in quarantine will result in a £1,000 (R20,336) penalty and rejecting the second test will be an additional £2,000 (R40,672) penalty.

Failure to comply with any of the UK’s quarantine measures will extended the mandatory isolation period.

Travellers from South Africa will have a hard time finding direct flights to the UK, following British Airways’ suspension of flights, which has since been extended to mid-April. Connecting flights are currently offered by Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Air France.

www.samigration.com

 

 

Kind Regards

 

Rod Maxwell IP(SA)
CEO
Sa Migration International

Tel No office   :      +27 (0) 82 373 8415

Tel No admin  :      +27 (0) 64 126 3073

Tel No sales     :      +27 (0) 74 036 6127
Fax No               :       086 579 0155

Email                  :      rod@sami.co.za
Web Sites        :      www.sami.co.za

                                    www.samigration.com

South Africa's critical skills list includes a long list of engineering jobs. Photo: Getty Images

• Government has compiled a new proposed list of critical skills, which should make it easier for some overseas workers to get visas to work and live in South Africa. 
• The list was last updated in 2014.
• New additions include jobs like general accountant, investment manager, digital artist, and chef.

On Thursday, South Africa finally released a proposed new list of critical skills that can make it easier for foreigners in certain jobs to work here.

Those who meet the requirements on the list can get easier access to a visa to work and live in South Africa.

The existing critical skills list was last updated in 2014, and the new list was gazetted for comment on Thursday.

The new document includes much of the long existing list of technology-focussed, as well as engineering, financial and medical critical skills.

New additions include university lecturer, general accountant, company secretary, management accountant and investment manager, fraud examiner, digital artist, chef, and carpenter.

But some of the jobs that were on the 2014 critical list were scrapped, including corporate general manager, millwright and pipefitter.

Some jobs require honours degrees for professionals to qualify for special immigration treatment but only one job – that of university lecturer – requires a master's degree.

Here is South Africa's new list of jobs that require critical skills:

Policy and planning manager (Membership in the Institute of Directors in South Africa “will be preferable”)

Sales and marketing manager

Research and development manager

Agricultural farm manager 

Manufacturer

Manufacturing operations manager

Engineering manager (requires registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa)

Construction project manager (requires registration with the South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professions)

Airport or harbour manager 

Chief information officer

ICT project manager (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Data management manager (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Application development manager (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Information technology manager (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable)

Information systems director (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable)

FET college principal (Requires registration with the South African Council for Educators)

Call or contact centre manager (Membership in the Contact Centre Management Group will be preferable)

Caravan park and camping ground manager

Dockmaster

Travel accommodation inspector

Travel agency manager (Membership in the Association of Southern African Travel Agents will be preferable)

Geologist (Requires registration with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions)

Geophysicist (Requires registration with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions)

Materials scientist (Requires registration with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions)

Mineralogist (Requires registration with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions)

Hydrologist (Requires registration with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions)

Oceanographer (Requires registration with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions)

Actuary (Requires registration with the Actuarial Society of South Africa)

Food and beverage scientist

Industrial engineer (Requires registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa)

Industrial engineering technologist (Requires registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa)

Civil engineer (Requires registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa)

Civil engineering technologist (Requires registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa)

Mechanical engineer (Requires registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa)

Mechanical engineering technologist (Requires registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa)

Aeronautical engineer (Requires registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa)

Aeronautical engineering technologist (Requires registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa)

Naval architect

Quantity surveyor (Requires registration with the South African Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession)

Agricultural engineer

Agricultural engineering technologist

Architect (Requires registration)

Digital artist

Multimedia designer

Web designer

General medical practitioner (Requires registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa)

Registered nurse (child and family health) (Requires registration with the South African Nursing Council)

Registered nurse (community health) (Requires registration with the South African Nursing Council)

Registered nurse (medical) (Requires registration with the South African Nursing Council)

Registered nurse (medical practice) (Requires registration with the South African Nursing Council)

Registered nurse (mental health) (Requires registration with the South African Nursing Council)

Nurse educator (Requires registration with the South African Nursing Council)

Hospital pharmacist (Requires registration with the South African Pharmacy Council)

Industrial pharmacist (Requires registration with the South African Pharmacy Council)

Retail pharmacist (Requires registration with the South African Pharmacy Council)

University lecturer (Requires at least a master's degree)

General accountant (“There are a number of professional bodies dealing with accounting; the person needs to register with one of those many bodies”)

Management accountant (Requires registration with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)

Tax professional (Requires registration with the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners)

External auditor (Requires registration with the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors)

Accountant in practice (“There are a number of professional bodies dealing with accounting; the person needs to register with one of those many bodies”)

Financial accountant (Requires registration with the Institute of Accounting and Commerce)

Forensic accountant (“There are a number of professional bodies dealing with accounting; the person needs to register with one of those many bodies”)

Investment analyst (Membership in the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa “will be preferable”)

Investment manager (Membership in the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa “will be preferable”)

Investment advisor (Membership in the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa “will be preferable”)

Financial investment advisor (Membership in the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa “will be preferable”)

Management consultant (Membership in the Institute of Management Consultants and Master Coaches of South Africa “will be preferable”)

Organisation and methods analyst

Business development officer

Policy analyst

Company secretary (Membership of a relevant body “will be preferable”)

Organisational risk manager

Accounting officer (“There are a number of professional bodies dealing with accounting; the person needs to register with one of those many bodies”)

Business administrator (Membership in the Institute of Management Consultants and Master Coaches of South Africa “will be preferable”)

Internal auditor (Requires registration with the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors)

Regulatory affairs officer

Intellectual property special advisor

Fraud examiner (Membership in the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners South Africa “will be preferable”)

Advertising specialist (Membership in the Marketing Association of South Africa” will be preferable”)

Market research analyst (Membership in the Southern African Marketing Research Association “will be preferable”)

Marketing practitioner (Membership in the Marketing Association of South Africa “will be preferable”)

Market campaign analyst (Membership in the Marketing Association of South Africa “will be preferable”)

Communication coordinator (Membership in the Marketing Association of South Africa “will be preferable”)

Communication strategist (Membership in the Marketing Association of South Africa “will be preferable”)

Corporate communication manager

ICT systems analyst (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Data scientist (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Software developer (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Programmer analyst (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Developer programmer (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Multimedia specialist (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Web developer (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Applications programmer (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Computers quality assurance analyst (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Database designer and administrator (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Network analyst (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

ICT security specialist (Membership in the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa “will be preferable”)

Information services manager (Requires registration with the Professional Librarian Library Association of South Africa)

Mechanical engineering technician

Pressure equipment inspector

Aeronautical engineering technician (Requires registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa)

Draughts-person (Requires registration with the South African Council for the Architectural Profession)

Production/operations supervisor (manufacturing)

Statistical and Mathematical Assistant

Property manager

Chef (Requires registration with the South African Chefs Association)

ICT communications assistant

Computer network technician 

Marine GIS technician

Contact centre resource planner 

Contact centre forecast analyst

Carpenter and joiner 

Carpenter

Joiner

Metal machinist

Fitter and turner

Industrial machinery mechanic 

Diesel mechanic

Mechatronics technician

Lift mechanic

Weapon systems mechanic

Electrical equipment mechanic

Armature winder

Transportation electrician

Quality controller (manufacturing)

* Several of the listed jobs require registration beyond that detailed here, but the exact requirements were not included in the draft list.

Here are full details of requirements, including the minimum educational qualifications needed for each job:

 

 

• End-to-end encryption is a security tool used by some apps and services — including WhatsApp, Signal and Facebook Messenger — to provide a greater level of privacy. 
• Messages sent using this tool are encrypted before they leave the sender’s phone or computer, with a key unique to the devices at either end of an exchange.

 

WhatsApp and Messenger are highly popular messaging apps.

The EU appears to be laying the groundwork for a move against data that has received end-to-end encryption after a spate of terrorist attacks in Paris, Vienna and Nice. 

In a joint statement released earlier this month, home affairs ministers from EU member states called on heads of state to “consider the matter of data encryption so that digital evidence can be lawfully collected and used by the competent authorities.” 

The statement comes after several EU internal documents on encryption were leaked. One, originally published by Politico, framed measures against end-to-end encryption as a way to fight child abuse, suggesting “the fight against this type of illegal content has been the least controversial.”

End-to-end encryption is a security tool used by some apps and services — including WhatsApp, Signal and Facebook Messenger — to provide a greater level of privacy. 

Messages sent using this tool are encrypted before they leave the sender’s phone or computer, with a key unique to the devices at either end of an exchange. Even if they are intercepted during transmission by a hacker or a government agency, the messages are unreadable, since the only devices able to decode them are those belonging to the sender and the intended recipient.

This secrecy poses a problem for state actors trying to monitor criminal communication: The ability to intercept illicit messages is only useful if you can actually read them.

EU lawmakers have long searched for a fairer balance between privacy and the ability of police agencies to do their jobs, an EU spokesperson told CNBC. 

Member states have, on multiple occasions, “called for solutions that allow law enforcement and other competent authorities to gain lawful access to digital evidence, without prohibiting or weakening encryption.”

As set out in July’s Security Union Strategy, the bloc is in favor of an approach which “both maintains the effectiveness of encryption in protecting privacy and security of communications, while also providing an effective response to serious crime and terrorism.” 

EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove has sought to do this by eschewing a “back-door” approach in favor of what he sees as its “front-door” counterpart, whereby a third party works with, rather than without, the consent of the encryption provider.

Ray Walsh, researcher for privacy education and review site ProPrivacy, says this approach is impossible. “No matter whether you choose to call a purposefully developed secondary access point a ‘front-door’ or a backdoor, the result is the elimination of data ownership and access control which inevitably results in a fundamental vulnerability,” he told CNBC.

“Ministers want to have their cake and eat it, and they don’t seem to understand, or want to acknowledge, that this is impossible and would result in vulnerability by design,” he added.

“If this kind of legislation came to pass it would be hugely detrimental to the general public.”

Alex Clarkson, a lecturer in German and European & international studies at King’s College London, points out that measures like those being discussed have “been an ongoing part of the agenda for governments for a while.” 

Both he and Walsh emphasize that they remain mere discussions at this stage.

Clarkson characterizes the proposals as simply “what bureaucracies do,” part of a political “wish list” made up of a whole range of options. “Some parts of these systems will have an impulse towards these things, and another part of the system will check against it, and balance against it,” he said.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that they choose those options.”

Still, Walsh is wary that the “back-door” approach is up for debate. “This stands to create problems for national security, and for data privacy, without actually reducing the likelihood that criminals will find covert ways to communicate, either through the dark web or via other encrypted means.” 

“Being able to communicate freely and privately is a fundamental human right in any free and open society,” he says. “Removing the ability for citizens to share information without being observed will lead to greater levels of self-censorship and the inability for people to exercise freedom of expression.”

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