Motsoaledi vows to clean up home affairs

City Press – 31 January 2022

 

The minister said he and Makhode were keeping a close eye on all cases of alleged fraud, corruption and maladministration.

 

A full-scale operation targeting senior officials suspected of corruption and gross negligence costing taxpayers millions of rands is under way at the home affairs department.

This was confirmed to City Press by Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi in an interview following the recent suspension of three senior officials accused of failing to execute court orders, resulting in three warrants of arrest being issued to Motsoaledi and his director-general, Livhuwani Makhode.

“A cleaning up operation in the department has started; this is not the end.” Motsoaledi said: 

We need to clean up the department, where negligence and corruption are in every corner.

The minister said he and Makhode were keeping a close eye on all cases of alleged fraud, corruption and maladministration, with the sole intention of making sure that consequence management was imposed on those officials found guilty of wrongdoing, following disciplinary hearings.

“The message that must get out is that I, as the minister, together with my director-general, am serious about consequence management. There will be consequence management for every action by a public servant, especially those in home affairs.

“I am putting my foot down on this. If anything wrong happens in home affairs because of a public servant, there will be consequences,” said Motsoaledi.

On December 21, Makhode issued suspension letters to deputy director-general of human resources Nkidi Mohoboko, labour relations director Ditsoanelo Mosikili and Sello Malaka, the department’s chief director of employee services.

The three are accused of gross negligence that cost home affairs R11 million in payouts to junior employees who were supposed to be fired from the department.

Insiders who are at close proximity to investigations into the senior officials told City Press that the millions of rands that the department purportedly unduly paid to junior employees – who were facing dismissal – were just the tip of the iceberg.

One insider painted a bleak and worrying picture of the implications of the gross negligence by the suspended senior officials, saying the reputational risk was immense.

The information emerging, said the insider, “shows that government officials have been systematically breaking down the department’s systems”.

“What is most concerning is that, where things were supposed to be fixed in order to keep the department from further operational deterioration, people simply didn’t act.

The insider said: 

We may very well find that what happened was in fact deliberate.

Another department insider with intimate knowledge of the forensic investigation was more direct about what investigations were unearthing regarding Malaka’s modus operandi.

“The chief director is accused of throwing away cases. He is the one who must set up and hand over charges. He prepares the director-general and makes sure everyone concerned, as it relates to a case at hand, is on the same page, especially when dealing with such cases where actual taxpayer money was handed over unduly, without any good reason,” said the insider.

Disciplinary charges are being formulated and will be handed to the three senior officials over the next few weeks.

The investigation of gross negligence, which covers labour relations and governance-related matters, was triggered when three warrants of arrest for Motsoaledi and Makhode were issued for their failure to execute court orders.

“People take us to court and say the department is not implementing [court orders] ... So, for myself and the director-general, in this particular case, the warrant came out three times,” said Motsoaledi.

It has since emerged that the minister and his director-general did not know about the court orders, as the information was never filtered through to them for action from the department officials who are currently on suspension.

“The main thing is that they are charged with gross negligence. The department is losing money because they ignored obvious court orders. The department has lost R11 million and, on top of that, warrants of arrest have been issued against me as the minister and the director-general for being in contempt of court over these cases.

“The warrant is for our arrest because we are the leaders of the department. But can you now imagine an official not doing their job and you getting a warrant of arrest without knowing?

“This happened without myself and the director-general knowing that we were in contempt of court. We were not aware that there was an official here who was sitting and defying a court order by not carrying it out,” Motsoaledi explained.

“For these warrants against the minister and the director-general, someone is going to have to account.”

High-profile suspensions are likely to become a disturbingly common feature in the department over the coming months and years if Motsoaledi and Makhode’s determination to flush out the wanton criminality and gross misconduct by senior officials is anything to go by.

City Press was told that, apart from the recent suspensions, the heat is being turned up on pending disciplinary cases against senior immigration officials believed to have facilitated the illegal issuing of permanent residency permits to fugitive priest Shepherd Bushiri and his family.

The officials, who are believed to have been instrumental in ensuring that Bushiri and his wife unduly received their permits, are facing serious disciplinary charges after home affairs internal investigations revealed a sophisticated network that allegedly went as far as manipulating and altering information contained in immigration application forms.

“These fraudulent documents are so prevalent, where people [such as] the Bushiris of this world don’t do it alone, they do it with home affairs officials.

“The cleaning up of home affairs has started. If it means suspending and arresting the whole department, so be it. A stern Motsoaledi: 

I am not going to concentrate on the small fish, I am going for the big fish in the department.

“Someone apparently once said: ‘If this minister wants to get rid of corruption at home affairs, he will have to get rid of two-thirds of the staff.’

“If that’s what it takes to clean the department, so be it!

“So, if we have to get rid of two-thirds of the department’s officials to clean it up from what it is, then so be it. And that process has started.”

www.samigration.com

 

Corrupt Home Affairs Officials Panick as Police Arrest Lady with 14 New Asylum Papers and R67,000.

Opera – 31-01-2022

Despite the warning issued to corrupt Home Affairs Officials on daily basis with respect to issuing South African documents to unqualified individuals, it seems these scrupulous elements are hell bent on engaging in criminal activities. View pictures in App save up to 80% data.

In an emerging report, Police in Pretoria West have successfully arrested a lady who was in possession of 14 ready-to-be-issued asylum documents gotten directly from Home Affairs on Thursday.

The suspect was apprehended in Maltzan Street near Luttig Street.

Constable Sibongile Vuma who is the police spokesperson, during his statement said that when the woman was interrogated on what she was doing with the documents and blank home affairs papers, she allegedly admitted that they were fraudulent.

Vuma added that the lady said that foreign nationals, who are already on the home affairs database, pay the sum of R600 to get the documents,while those who are not yet on the database pay R1, 200 or more to get theirs.

Vuma further stated that the police could not confirm whether the documents were authentic as at the time of gathering this information.

“Home affairs will have to confirm their authenticity. The suspect was also found in possession of R67 700, which was also confiscated as evidence. The money was booked for further investigation."

Vuma said the suspect will be arraigned in Pretoria magistrate court on one count charge of fraud.

Police appealed to the community to inform them of any illegal dealings in their policing area.

“There is no place for criminals to do their criminal activities in our precinct. We will no stone unturned.”

www.samigration.com

 

 

From quotas to critical skills exchange — four changes proposed for foreign workers in SA

Timeslive - 28 January 2022

 

Employment and labour minister Thulas Nxesi has raised concerns around illegal recruitment practices, including the hiring of foreign workers who are in the country unlawfully.
Image: Jairus Mmutle

Amid the labour department’s “mega-blitz inspections” at hospitality venues in the Western Cape this week, minister Thulas Nxesi has announced new rules aimed at foreign workers in SA.

Nxesi, who joined a team of inspectors in Sea Point, Cape Town, on Tuesday, raised concerns about illegal recruitment practices, including the hiring of foreign workers who are in the country unlawfully.

He said some employers were subjecting undocumented foreign nationals to inferior labour standards and not covering them in terms of existing social protection measures such as the Unemployment Insurance Fund , Pension Fund and Compensation Fund. 

“These practices are illegal. They are unacceptable and it is something that is preoccupying us daily in the department,” said Nxesi.

The department said the inspections led to extensive research on other aspects relating to migration management, and the department has since developed a new national labour migration policy and proposed amendments to the existing Employment Services Act. 

The proposals will be released for a three-month public comment process before the end of February/March if cabinet approves the department’s submission. 

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Social partners at the national economic development and labour council (Nedlac) will also be afforded the opportunity to adjust the policy and bill during May/June before making a submission to parliament.

The proposals will focus on four major areas which will introduce significant changes to the country’s national labour migration policy (NLMP).

These four major areas are:

Quotas

The department noted SA’s population expectations regarding access to work for South Africans, given worsening unemployment and perceptions that foreign nationals, especially those who are undocumented, are distorting labour market access. 

This practice is promoted by some employers who do not comply with existing labour legislation and continue to undermine existing minimum standards.

“The employment and labour NLMP will introduce maximum quotas on the total number of documented foreign nationals with work visas that can be employed in major economic sectors such as agriculture, hospitality and tourism, construction, to name a few,” it said. 

“The NLMP will be complemented by small business intervention and enforcement of a list of undesirable sectors where foreign nationals cannot be allocated business visas and amendments to the Small Business Act to limit foreign nationals establishing SMMEs and trading in some sectors of our economy.”

Immigration act changes

The department of home affairs is reviewing the Immigration Act, the Citizenship Act and the Refugees Act to ensure more alignment. 

“The home affairs and border management authority are also getting into action to secure porous borders and allow for the orderly movement of people and other nationals across ports of entry only,” said the department. 

Protection of migrant workers and their families

The department said it will ensure the protection of migrant workers and their families in accordance with international standards and guidelines.

“SA will also implement these initiatives within the context of its regional integration and co-operation imperatives that have already been agreed to at the Southern African Development Community and AU levels,” it said

Critical skills

The higher education and training department has released scarce and critical skills in high demand to provide guidance to all institutions to prioritise education and training interventions in those areas. 

“The list will be used as a last resort to allow foreign nationals in possession of the listed skills the economy requires, and where job offers have been made, to be allocated work visas. 

“The government will also impose obligations on both the employer and the foreign national to transfer skills to locals and permits will be limited to specific durations,” said the department. 

www,samigration.com

Home Affairs signs deal with UN refugee agency to deal with asylum seekers backlog

News24 – 28-01-2022

• As of the 2019/20 financial year, the Refugee Appeal Authority of SA says the backlog stood at more than 153 000.
• The new deal with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will see around R147 million given to RAASA and technical support to eliminate this backlog.
• The number of people now who must be cleared via this backlog is 163 000. 

The Department of Home Affairs has signed an agreement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR ) to eliminate delays and a backlog in decisions for asylum seekers.

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said: "I am happy that the UNHCR is partnering with the government and people of South Africa in eliminating the backlog in the asylum seeker system.

"The start of this backlog coincided with the year 2008 when there was a global financial crisis. Up until then, the department was able to clear asylum applications which it was receiving each year from 1998, the year in which the Refugee Act of South Africa was enacted."

As of the 2019/20 financial year, the Refugee Appeal Authority of SA (RAASA), an independent statutory administrative tribunal tasked with ensuring that appeal cases are dealt with efficiently, said the backlog stood at more than 153 000. The Auditor-General said, if nothing changed, it would take 68 years to clear the backlog, without taking new cases.

"The partnership we are launching brings in financial and technical support to help RAASA eliminate the backlog and establish a robust asylum appeals management programme going into the future. Over the next four years, the UNHCR will make available US$9.6 million or around R147 million to RAASA and technical support to eliminate this backlog,” Motsoaledi said.

Motsoaledi said the agreement would see the UNHCR pay for 36 new members of Raasa, including their training and equipment. The number of people now who must be cleared via this backlogs is 163 000.

Currently in Cape Town, thousands of refugees are displaced after they fled their homes due to xenophobia fears. They have been relocated to two temporary sites - one in Bellville Paint City and the others at Wingfield Military site in Goodwood.

Parliament's home affairs portfolio committee has since intervened to either repatriate people back to their home countries or to reintegrate the refugees back into their communities.

The committee had set March 15 as the deadline for the UNHCR, the City and the Department of Home Affairs together to come up with a plan for the former Greenmarket Square refugees.

www.samigration.com

 

 

Home Affairs says it will clear 68-year backlog in refugee applications in four years

28 January 2022 -  Groundup 

The UNHCR and Home Affairs have announced a US$9.6 million asylum seeker backlog project

On Monday, The Department of Home Affairs, the Refugee Appeals Authority and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched a US$9.6 million asylum seeker backlog project.

The UNHCR said: “Problems in the asylum system led to some claims being stuck for over a decade waiting to be heard. Of the 266,694 refugees and asylum-seekers in South Africa, two-thirds of them do not have access to the full rights and privileges of refugee status.”

In a previous statement the UNHCR said: “The project will eliminate the backlog over the next four years, and strengthen the system to ensure another one does not form. During the time frame, the appeals of 153,391 people will be heard.”

In his address, Minister Of Home Affairs Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said that up until 2008 the department was able to clear asylum applications which it was receiving each year. In 1998 it received 11,135 applications; in 2006, it processed 53,361. But not after 2008, when the number of applications shot up nearly fourfold to 207,206. Another 223,324 applications were received in 2009.

“These numbers overwhelmed a system which was functional in dealing with 53,000 applications a year. Suddenly, the system had to process over 400,000 applications which came in just two years,” he said.

“The Auditor General of South Africa said if nothing changed, it would take 68 years to clear the backlog without taking new cases. Since the Auditor General’s pronouncements in February 2020, a lot of things have changed to help us deal with the backlog.”

For many asylum seekers news that the backlog may be cleared will be welcome news.

Francine Nduwimana, a Burundian asylum seeker, told GroundUp about her ordeal fleeing from militia in her home country. She said she was separated from her six-year-old child in Tanzania en route to South Africa in 2011. Since then she has repeatedly had to relate her story to Home Affairs officials, renewing her document every three to six months. She is still waiting for her case to be determined.

Nduwimana is currently in the Bellville refugee camp with other asylum seekers who protested outside the UNHCR in 2019, demanding to leave South Africa.

Zainabu Safi, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said she fled war in Kivu and has been in limbo in South Africa since 2012. Every time she has to renew her papers she has to travel to Musina. She has to take her children with her since Home Affairs requires them to be present in person. She says the process usually takes her a week in Musina.

“This is the reason why I joined the protest and why I am here at the [Bellville] camp. I have nothing. The little money I made from piece jobs I used to travel to Musina. Without a proper document, I can’t study, find a job or start a business. We had a spaza shop in Marikana informal settlement but it was burnt down during a protest.”

“Ten years I am still an asylum seeker … Every time you are told we will give you a refugee status when you come back,” said Safi.

www.samigration.com