Why South Africa is closing its doors to migrants it once welcomed

Yahoo – 14 August 2022

When Petunia Sibanda came to South Africa from Zimbabwe in 2003, she arrived the way most people she knew did in those days – late at night, crossing over a dry patch of the Limpopo River that slices the two countries from each other, pretending not to see the crocodiles in the distance.

For several years, she lived her life in South Africa on the margins, constantly afraid her lack of legal status would be found out and she would be sent back home to a country where the economy was in free fall.

Then Ms. Sibanda found a lifeline. In 2011, she heard about a special visa for Zimbabweans, which would allow them to live and work in South Africa legally.

“I could live freely for the first time,” she says.

But the reprieve was always temporary. Last November, the South African government confirmed that it would no longer renew the 178,000 so-called Zimbabwe Exemption Permits it had issued. All ZEP holders, including Ms. Sibanda, had until the end of 2022 to get a different visa, or leave the country permanently.

Ms. Sibanda and tens of thousands of others in her position now face an existential question. Do they stay in the country where they have made their lives for the last decade, starting families and businesses, and become undocumented? Or do they return to the country they fled all those years ago, where conditions are perhaps even worse than a decade ago? How South Africa handles the issue in the coming months will set the tone in a region that, like elsewhere in the world, is grappling with growing xenophobia amid shrinking resources.

“We love our country, but we have nothing to go back to,” says Ms. Sibanda, whose four children were all born in South Africa.

Political points

Immigration has long been a hot-button political issue in South Africa. The country’s relative wealth, developed industries, and expansive legal rights for foreigners – at least on paper

www.samigration.com

Airbnb enters deal with Cape Town to attract more remote workers

Businesstech – 15 August 2022

Accommodation-sharing service Airbnb has announced a new partnership deal with 20 destinations around the world to make it easier to live and work anywhere, including Cape Town, Bali, Lisbon, and the Caribbean.

The deal is an extension of Airbnb’s ‘live and work anywhere initiative’ to identify some of the most remote worker-friendly destinations in the world, and support governments in helping to revive tourism and provide economic support to communities after two-plus years of travel restrictions.

The 20 destinations Airbnb will spotlight include:

• Baja California Sur, Mexico
• Bali, Indonesia
• Brindisi, Puglia, Italy
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Caribbean
• Canary Islands, Spain
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Colombia
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Malta
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Palm Springs, California, USA
• Queensland, Australia
• Rural France
• Salzkammergut, Austria
• Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
• Thailand
• Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Cape Town 

Airbnb said it will work closely with Cape Town Tourism on a range of initiatives, including building a dedicated custom-built hub for Cape Town that will showcase top local long-term stay listings as well as important information relating to entry requirements and visa policies to attract remote workers.

Airbnb will also partner with the city on educational campaigns to promote responsible hosting and travelling as a remote worker. The Cape Town hub is expected to launch later this year.

Cape Town and other tourism destinations in South Africa are also set to benefit from the introduction of a ‘Remote Working Visa’ for South Africa. The visa is aimed at attracting ‘digital nomads’ – people who will live in and work remotely from cities such as Cape Town.

Visas for digital nomads are travel permits that legalise the status of travelling professionals. Like tourist visas, they are easy to obtain and do not require long paperwork and a work contract. However, they allow for longer stays.

The city’s mayoral committee member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, James Vos, said with people working from home during the pandemic, the digital nomads concept has become a much-needed escape and great opportunity to take work on a holiday.

“We are seeing innovation within the tourism sector to accommodate the changed behaviour of remote working by offering affordable long-term stays, including other benefits required to work remotely and we will expand this message through the broad range of products and businesses who can use a leg up in this challenging time.

“An abundance of natural beauty and wide-open spaces makes Cape Town an ideal location to live and work with solid fibre infrastructure and top-class hospitality services and products.”

www.samigration.com

Operation Vulindlela's economic reforms hits nine benchmarks

City Press – 15 August 2022

Government is set to announce a new date for the analogue switch-off, after delays caused by legal action.

It says the auction of high-demand spectrum was completed and analogue switch-off has already been completed in five provinces. It’s hoped that migrating households in remaining provinces to a digital signal will be completed soon.

This is one of 26 key reforms that government has introduced as part of Operation Vulindlela.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said:

To facilitate faster deployment of telecommunications infrastructure, the rapid deployment policy and policy direction have been finalised for approval by Cabinet and we anticipate that a standard draft by-law for wayleave approvals will be adopted for roll-out in municipalities by October 2022.

Operation Vulindlela, which was established in October 2020 to bring about economic reforms, is a joint structure that has reached five milestones this year, according to government.

The joint structure between National Treasury and the presidency focuses on 26 structural reforms in various sectors of the economy, such as transport, energy, telecommunication and water. In its second quarter report, it stated that nine reforms had been completed, while 11 were on track.

Among its achievements mentioned in the latest report is the establishment of the national energy crisis committee, formed to lead the implementation of recently announced measures to reform the electricity sector and bring load shedding to an end. But this seems to be the main achievement in as far as energy reforms are concerned; government is yet to provide additional power to the grid and improve the energy availability factor to over 70%, as envisaged in the reforms.

On Monday, government said it would do away with red tape to enable the quick reform of the electricity sector and add more power to the grid. This included the reduction of the requirement for photovoltaic solar panels to be acquired locally to 35% for bid window 5.

A comprehensive review of the work visa system has been completed, with detailed recommendations to attract skilled immigrants and investment.

The finance minister said the recommendations of the review report would be implemented by March 2023: 

Attracting skills that the economy needs could have the second-highest impact on economic growth after resolving the energy shortfall.

“Significant progress has been made, and is being made, to implement these reforms and to address the urgent challenges that our economy faces.”

Transnet was said to be slowly improving its performance and its financial position. Last month, Transnet group chief executive Portia Derby reported a R5 billion net profit, despite ongoing challenges in its operations.

But Godongwana said: 

There have been significant challenges with both the ports and rail infrastructure, as a result of security issues, inadequate investment in equipment, procurement processes that were tainted by state capture and poor operational performance.

“However, Transnet is steadily improving its performance and has made progress in improving its financial position to enable greater investment. Requests for proposals in respect of private sector participation in rail are due this month for 16 slots made available by Transnet on the Durban-City Deep and Pretoria and East London lines.

“We anticipate the passage of the Economic Regulation of Transport Bill in the coming months, which will establish an independent transport economic regulator and enable properly regulated, nondiscriminatory access to the network beyond these initial slots.”

www.samigration.com

Schengen Visa Slots in South Africa Fully Booked Until October

SchengenVisainfo – 15 August 2022

Travellers from South Africa who were planning to take a trip to Schengen Area countries in August and September will not be able to do so as there are no Schengen visa appointments available.

Most embassies in South Africa have said that they have no appointment slots available until mid-October, meaning that South Africans will not be able to travel to Schengen Area countries anytime soon, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

Embassies in South Africa, as well as those located in other third countries, have been unable to meet the high demand, which has caused many people to change their travel plans.

The demand for a Schengen visa especially increased in the last months as the majority of the EU/Schengen Area countries dropped all of their COVID rules and decided to permit restriction-free entry to all travellers.

However, since the Schengen Area countries have a fixed number of visas that they can issue, they have been unable to meet the high demand, causing dissatisfaction.

Since there are no appointments until mid-October, the travel agencies have emphasised that travellers might choose to visit other destinations rather than wait for an appointment to obtain a Schengen visa.

A Schengen visa permits a person to travel to any Schengen Area country for stays of up to 90 days and is needed by all nationals of third countries that have not yet reached a visa liberalisation agreement with the Schengen states.

There are different types of Schengen visas. However, those planning to enter a Schengen country for tourism purposes need to apply for a tourist Schengen visa.

All South Africans who hold a valid passport, as well as third-country nationals who live in South Africa and who are required to obtain a visa to enter Europe, can apply for a Schengen visa in South Africa.

Those applying for a Schengen visa in South Africa need to submit a visa application form, a South African valid passport or another equivalent document, a photo taken in the last three months, evidence of legal residence in South Africa, a cover letter, round-trip flight itinerary, proof of accommodation, means of subsistence, and health insurance.

Previously, SchengenVisaInfo.com answered the most recently asked question concerning Schengen visas. Travellers asked whether they could enter a Schengen country with a visa that was issued by another country. The answer is yes, as long as the traveller applies at the visa processing centre of the country in which the same will spend more days.

www.samigration.com

Home Affairs tightening rules around passport issuance to avoid fraud

News24 – 12 August 2022

• The Department of Home Affairs is making changes to passport applications and collections to avoid fraud.
• Only the person who applied for a passport can collect it and activate it with fingerprints.  
• The department has also introduced a transit visa for Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals. 

The Department of Home Affairs says it is tightening rules around passport applications and collections to stop fraud.

On Thursday, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said fraud linked to South African passports was causing it to lose its integrity. 

"In recent months, the South African passport has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Firstly, on 24 March 2022, in our Krugersdorp office, the nation saw us apprehending a Pakistani national and arresting him with some South African citizens and corrupt Home Affairs officials. All these people were working together to defraud the SA passport.

"Secondly and immediately thereafter, the story of 'Lebogang from Bangladesh' made headlines all over the media, including on social media," he said.  

Motsoaledi added locals implicated in the two corruption cases were out on bail.

"They are on bail; most of them are our citizens. We, unfortunately, can't disown them. They were outright stupid," he said.  

He said fraud involving the passport had consequences for the country. 

Motsoaledi said: 

What people don't realise are the serious consequences and hardships that the country suffers when its passports are defrauded in this manner.

"The main one being that the integrity of the South African passport will be put into question, causing many hardships for South African travellers. It is for this reason that this state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue," he said.  

Motsoaledi added that the department was implementing several steps to secure the passport, saying it was changing the rules around passport issuance. 

Passports can now only be collected from the office they were applied at and only by the person who applied for them.

He said this was so the document could be activated by the applicants' fingerprints. Parents who apply for their children will be the only ones allowed to pick up the passport and activate them with their fingerprints.  

"We must strongly warn that any passport collected using whatever method other than the ones announced today will not be activated and hence will be of no use to the holder.

"We are aware that this will inconvenience some frequent travellers and some busy people who might not have time, but we are appealing that everybody has to be prepared to readily pay this price for the integrity of our passports," he said. 

Motsoaledi added the department would not be announcing the internal steps it was taking so as not to alert corrupt officials, saying it would be making an announcement related to the technology soon.

Transit visas 

The minister said because of fraud and corruption linked to Pakistani and Bangladeshi travellers' transit through South Africa, the department would enforce a transit visa on them.  

"The decision was informed by recent incidents wherein passengers from the two countries were caught attempting to enter into South Africa illegally by sneaking in through fire hydrant passages at the airport while on the way to the transit lounge to continue to other countries.   

"In so doing, they try to evade immigration and other law enforcement officers at the port of entry, thus undermining the security and sovereignty of the state," he said. 

Motsoaledi added transit visas were a way "to stop people from undermining our systems".

www.samigration.com