We don’t have the capacity and resources, says Home Affairs Gauteng manager

IOL – 17 Apr 2022

Johannesburg - Department of Home Affairs Gauteng provincial manager Mamokubung Moroke admitted during the DA’s visit today to the Home Affairs office in the Johannesburg CBD that they lacked resources and capacity to handle the large number of people coming to the department.

This comes after DA leader John Steenhuisen led a DA delegation on an oversight inspection of the Home Affairs office in the Johannesburg CBD.

During the inspection, Steenhuisen said the department’s systems were broken, and they were not serving residents or immigrants who were trying to sort out their legal documents.

“The problem is with the Home Affairs Department. You can see the dysfunctionality, and I am glad the DA gets things done. We have two trucks here today that they sent because they knew we were coming,” he said.

While chatting to the individuals in the queue, the DA leader said he discovered that the queue usually runs down the street with no shelter and people have to pay up to R100 just to secure a place in the queue.

However, Gauteng DA leader Solly Msimanga said he was shocked to see the department’s trucks outside the building because normally there is nothing when he passes by.

“We were talking to a lady in a queue who has been here from 4am. Why does it have to take us coming here for her to get assistance, why does it have to be that way?

"We cannot live in a country where people only do their job because there is somebody else sitting in their background or watching them. People need to do their job each and every single day and take pride in that. This is why we have a country that is falling apart,” he maintained.

He also explained that they were going to reach the minister and find out the step that can be taken to ensure that the system does not go off-line.

According to the DA, their inspection today was to check if the systems were operating well and if people were being assisted in a good manner.

Philisiwe Khumalo, one of the people in the queue, said she had come to the department numerous times and still did not get the help she needed. “The problem is my ID, and when I come here, they say it’s not on the system and I should have had it for several months,” she said.

Addressing the media after meeting with the management, Steenhuisen said electronic systems should be introduced at Home Affairs, so that they would know who could enter the country and who could not.

“Our sympathies are with the Zimbabwean national who was killed last week in Diepsloot. That is the ultimate end where you misdirect the anger.

"The anger should be here at Home Affairs, outside the Union Buildings and Parliament because its government ministers are falling so fundamentally,” he said.

He said Operation Dudula and other operations would have devastating and dangerous consequences for South Africa.

www.samigration.com

Refugees hope the end of state of disaster will ease their problems with Home Affairs

Weekend Argus 17 Apr 2022

Cape Town - The termination of the National State of Disaster is a light at the end of the tunnel for refugees and asylum seekers struggling with the online extension system implemented by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

Following the president’s announcement of the end of the national state of disaster last week, head of strategic litigation and advocacy at the UCT Refugee Rights clinic Sally Gandar said this was good news for refugees and asylum seekers as the termination would enable refugee reception offices (RROs) across the country to promptly resume the full services that were on halt for the past two years.

Despite the online renewal system that enabled refugees and asylum seekers to renew their documentation, the UCT Refugee Rights Clinic continued to see individuals on a daily basis who were experiencing issues with the system.

The lack of a full range of services at RROs across the country became a concern as no new asylum applications were able to be lodged during that period, as well as services for those whose documentation expired prior to the national state of disaster being declared. This created barriers for those trying to access rights and services such as accessing bank accounts, traffic/vehicle registration services and in some incidences, employers insisted on a renewed document in order for the individual to continue working.

With various challenges experienced, refugee status holder Alfonse Ilunga said till this day, he is waiting for DHA to get back to him on his request for renewal.

“I sent my application for renewal since November last year and till this day, I’ve yet to receive a response. This has been a tough time for me at my family because my boss let me go in January this year due to this. In order to make some sort of money, I turned to the e-haling business in order to put some food on the table.

“I know and understand that we are not South Africans, and to be quite honest, I know we will never be treated with the same dignity as a citizen, however I think it is important to understand and remember that we are all Africans first before we are anything else. Such nonchalant efforts to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers are legalised in the country gives birth to the man xenophobic fears and attacks we saw last week. This creates several issues and it feeds into the notion that there are several undocumented regress in South Africa, when the truth is, the people who suppose to give us the documentation that we need are staring at our emails, plea, outcry and complaints and are not addressing it.”

“I really hope that the termination the national state of disaster can bear fruit, and that there could be a light at the end of tunnel for various of refugees and asylum seekers who are trying to make an honest living in South Africa,” said Ilunga.

Gandar said: “We welcome the termination of the national state of disaster by the president, and hope that it will mean that all refugee reception centres across the country promptly resume a full suite of services as were offered prior to the declaration of the national state of disaster more than two years ago. This will go a long way to ensuring that asylum seekers and refugees can access effective protection and documentation in South Africa – which the SA government should be providing in terms of international law. We note that the civic services Home Affairs offices have been open to in-person services and mostly offer all services and have done so for many months even during the lockdown.It may also be prudent for the department to offer additional services or longer hours initially, as there may be some backlogs as a result of the closure of the offices for over two years.

“As there is likely a backlog in respect of new applicants as well as other services, we believe additional capacity and additional hours of service would be a useful way to start assisting persons who need services at RROs. We are aware that sometimes this could result in a systems overload at the Department – as has also been the case with civic Home Affairs at times – and so if there is a way to ensure that the systems are always online and or that there is a formal an official document that can be issued immediately to persons seeking assistance at RROs, while waiting for other processes to take place, we would highly recommend that such contingency measures are implemented.”

“In addition, the department needs to communicate broadly and effectively to all government and other stakeholders, including the general public, that there is a backlog which has resulted in people not having access to documentation or renewal services and such persons should not be penalised or arrested for this. The department should also communicated progress regularly so that all stakeholders are aware of the backlog and the department’s efforts to ensure those in such backlogs are assisted efficiently and effectively,” said Gandar.

While the department has not yet set a date on the reopening of the the RROs, spokesperson for Minister of Home Affairs Siya Qoza said that efforts are being made to resume full services.

“The DHA started with plans to resume full services at the Refugee Reception Centres before the president’s announcement.”

“At the heart of planning are the efforts to avoid overcrowding and stampede on the first few days, a careful approach is required to protect the clients. Once all necessary preparations are made, the department will communicate with the clients,” said Qoza.

www,samigration.com

Man arrested for running ‘home affairs’ office from flat in Hillbrow

The Citizen – 17 April 2022

Documents found included more than 95 South African ID books, birth certificates and passports.

A 47-year-old Zimbabwean man was arrested after police found a fully functioning “department of home affairs” in his flat in Hillbrow, Johannesburg.

Gauteng provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela said police were patrolling the streets of Hillbrow when a community member tipped them off about a man producing fraudulent identity documents and passports.

When police searched the man’s flat they found documents that include more than 95 South African identity documents, birth certificates, smart identity cards, passports, bank statements, Covid-19 certificates, work permits, police firearm licence competency certificates, Sassa cards, bank cards and other essential documents.

“The suspect was immediately arrested and charged with fraud. There is a possibility that more charges will be added pending the investigation,” said Mawela.

Mawela also thanked the community for providing the information that led to the arrest.

“I would like to thank the community members who continue to be the eyes and ears of the police. As much as we have intensified police visibility on the streets, we still rely on information from the community about the crimes taking place indoors,” he said.

“This arrest is attributed to community members who would not allow crime to be committed under their watch,” he added.

Immigration officer nabbed

The arrest in Hillbrow comes after Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed earlier this week that an immigration officer at OR Tambo International Airport was arrested for allegedly helping Bangladeshi illegal foreign nationals get into South Africa without legal documents.

Motsoaledi told eNCA the syndicate involves a runner who recruits Bangladeshi nationals who do not qualify to visit South Africa, and also members of an airline, to help them enter the country illegally.

He said the operation is coordinated by a kingpin, who charges foreign nationals R110,000.

An airline employee then smuggles the foreign nationals by either providing false names of the passengers or excluding them from the list of travellers, Motsoaledi said.

www.samigration.com

Hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested at Beitbridge Border Post

ENCA - 17 Apr 2022

Government is waging a war against illegal immigrants coming into the country. Over 200 Zimbabwean nationals were arrested at the Beitbridge Border Post. This is as Home Affairs cracks down on illegal crossings between South Africa and Zimbabwe. eNCA's Manqoba Mchunu was there.

Courtesy #DStv403

www.samigration.com

Home Affairs beset with an array of challenges

Iol.co.za -17-04-2022

The website of the Department of Home Affairs should stop giving the misleading impression (similar to other government departments) of a department under control, says the writer.

The outcry from miscellaneous members of the South African public against the lacklustre services by officials of the Department of Home Affairs is amplifying.

The list of grievances includes disheartening queues, which commence beyond entrances of the majority of the branches of Home Affairs, key machinery being intermittently offline, fallible plenipotentiaries prone to bribery, and most recently, the growing calls for the resignation of Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

In my view, Motsoaledi is among the few performing ministers in an obsolete ANC-led government. He is, sadly, let down in his present ministry by inept and corrupt plenipotentiaries. Removing him alone instead of the entire ANC Cabinet will be similar to playing the man instead of the ball.

In sum, such a move will not change anything. The aforesaid concerns, however, about the Department of Home Affairs, under his watch as the incumbent minister more than hints at a government department beset with obstinate challenges.

The latest mega bust by the Hawks of a fake passport syndicate, arrested on March 24, is among a string of sagas serving as evidence to support claims of corrupt activities apropos the Department of Home Affairs. Motsoaledi confirmed that 29 suspects, including an alleged kingpin, who was the mastermind behind the operation of selling fraudulent passports, were arrested in the Home Affairs office in Krugersdorp.

More arrests were imminent at other branches of the Department of Home Affairs. Details of the modus operandi of this syndicate confirmed the deep rot of maladministration, which disregarded all the immigration laws of South Africa.

Bribery of vulnerable South African victims and officials of the Department of Home Affairs was exposed. The aforesaid case reminded the public of almost similar exposures among others in the High-Level Panel Report on the State Security Agency (SSA), chaired by former minister of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi (released in December 2018) and the Report on State Capture, chaired by the then deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo (released in early 2022).

Effectiveness of the Department of Home Affairs continues to be raised amid the furore caused by infamous skirmishes led by “Operation Dudula” in Gauteng. The latter justify their operations in the guise of “Putting South Africans first”, a salvo directed against Africans they criticise as “undocumented foreign nationals”.

Such categorisation of fellow Africans must be rejected. As an Afrocentrist (explicated by Molefi Asante as one who subscribes to an ideology that Africans must be at the centre of their own experiences) which must not be confused with Pan-Africanists (members of a movement, not an ideology calling for African unity worldwide) I vehemently take exception with a historic derogatory references to any group of Africans, as this notably manifests self-inferiority.

Predictably, members of the public, unimpressed with Operation Dudula, have problematically slated them as xenophobic. For the record, xenophobia is a dislike of people from other countries, but it implies that those people are of multiple races.

Consistent with my Afrocentric stance, I opine that the latter charge is erroneous, in our local context. It must appropriately be replaced with Afrophobia, as the attacks are taking place only between indigenous Africans. In a recent interview, Motsoaledi found himself compelled to side with his political principal, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who went as far as labelling Operation Dudula as a “vigilante-like force”.

Such demeaning name-calling by the State President was unnecessary. Ironically, the “vigilantes” argue that they are helping government, especially the Department of Home Affairs and Police, by weeding out “undocumented foreign nationals”.

Motsoaledi inflexibly refutes any association between the Department of Home Affairs and Operation Dudula. Home Affairs has seemingly been in a quagmire for some time.

Unlike their counterparts, the Department of Police, led by the obdurate Minister Bheki Cele, Motsoaledi must not be in denial of the reality that his department must confront by sketching out plans to overcome identified problems.

For starters, the website of the Department of Home Affairs should stop giving the misleading impression (similar to other government departments) of a department under control. In the wake of ongoing exposés related Home Affairs, any claim(s) of being under control ought to be read as preposterous.

The listed concerns at the commencement of this article certainly challenge any denial of the Department of Home Affairs being in any purported position that may support wishful thinking of being under control.

Denialism will not solve anything. In reality, when one considers the malfeasance by an array of rogue individuals with proximity to politicians, in cahoots with government officials, then maladministration and corruption at Home Affairs (as elsewhere) should not astonish anyone.

Required solution(s) must begin from the premise that more than enough documents capturing rules and regulations of running government departments exist. What has always lacked is enough ethical plenipotentiaries with the political will to adhere to and implement rules.

www,samigration.com