Elsewhere around the world, larger numbers of irregular migrants have been regularised.

Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi during a press briefing at the Department of International Affairs in Pretoria on 16 March 2020. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi recently lost a court case that anyone could have anticipated was unwinnable. He probably expected to lose it too. He lost it on humanitarian and technical grounds.
It prevents him from terminating the South African government’s concession to refugees from neighbouring Zimbabwe nearly 15 years ago.
In April 2009, SA provided legalised shelter for Zimbabweans hit by economic and political crisis in their country across the Limpopo River. The Zimbabwe Dispensation Project was the first form of a policy to temporarily accommodate Zimbabwean refugees.
It became the Zimbabwean special permit in 2014 and after 2017 it was known as the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP). Zimbabweans who had arrived during the crisis period of 2008-2009 had full freedoms, but no rights to citizenship even for their children, for as long as the permits allowed.
In 2021, home affairs decided to end the special dispensation after a period of grace lasting till the end of 2022 to allow Zimbabweans to regularise their circumstances. Some were expected to be able to obtain residence and work rights based on their skills and occupations, and others were to return to Zimbabwe.
The number of people affected by the ruling is estimated at around 178 000 who remained on their ZEPs. Children born in SA were expected to obtain Zimbabwean citizenship and were not allowed SA citizenship.
The number of 178 000 is relatively small number with the total number of immigrants in South Africa, estimated at 3.96 million by Statistics SA.
Many of the registered Zimbabweans are educated and skilled. Most have been successfully living in SA for 15 years. Why not simply regularise all the law-abiding Zimbabweans living under the permit? Elsewhere around the world, larger numbers of irregular migrants have been regularised.
In SA, Mozambican refugees were regularised after the end of the Mozambican civil war. But the current anti-migrant sentiment in SA made such a course difficult for the minister of home affairs. This is why he opposed a court action he pretty much knew he would lose.
I have been studying migration policy on the continent, including the African Union’s adoption of a protocol on the free movement of people in 2018, which I have argued could facilitate economic growth and trade integration.
Migration policy in SA seems to be constantly in flux. Most of the Immigration Policy White Paper passed by Cabinet in 2017 has never been implemented. Policy documents and a law amendment on labour migration published a year and a half ago are

still in limbo. A promised new White Paper on immigration has not yet been published.
Some of the proposals could have simplified migration rules, such as a proposal to replace the critical skills list with a points system, while others such as the quota system proposed in the draft law would have added further complexities.
Will any reforms be implemented before the general election of 2024? Probably not. This is the fundamental problem.
Immigration policy is so highly politicised that the government seems afraid to move. While politicians frequently voice sentiments hostile to migration and migrants, sensible policies in practice and on the table are shrouded in camouflage and occasionally sneaked through.
One example is the corporate labour permit, another is the rising number of African countries with visa-free access to SA. Access to skilled employees needed from beyond our borders is being simplified. Reforms will be hidden behind a veil of hostility to foreigners.
A textbook on migration warns us, when it comes to migration policies, “not to equate political rhetoric with policy practice”.
It is not surprising that in many countries migration policies seem confused or incomprehensible. Migration policy reform seems elusive in the context of such opacity. And yet, effective African economic development depends on economic integration.
Most countries are pretty small, especially economically, and effective integration entails the movement of persons across borders without excessive hindrances. Not all African governments, even of richer countries, have been as hesitant as SA to reform migration policies.
Members of both the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) have made greater progress than regions at the southern and northern ends of the continent. Countries in Africa can learn not only from experiences in the EU or in South America, but also from other African countries.
The New South Institute is running the Migration Governance Reform in Africa project. We are studying migration policy and practice in four African countries: SA, Mozambique, Kenya and Nigeria, and in four regional organisations, SADC, the EAC, Ecowas and the African Union. There are some exciting examples of reform on the African continent.
In east and west Africa, there are many ways to allow cross-border migrants access for different periods and reasons. Even in southern Africa, the recent agreement between Namibia and Botswana on travel by citizens of the two countries across their common border with identity documents alone shows what progress is possible. V.4928

Australia’s plan to cap the number of new international students to 270,000 starting in 2025 has sparked widespread concern within the education sector. However, the proposal, which still needs parliamentary approval, is unlikely to have a significant impact on students from African countries planning to study in Australia. The National Planning Level (NPL) for 2025, which includes the limit on the number of international student enrolments, aims to reduce overall migration to pre-pandemic levels. V.5595
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Bethuel Ngobeni, Dumisa Moyo, Nhlanhla Magwaca, Moseki Sechele, Thabo Sechele and Khudzai Mashaya appear in court to face illicit gold mining charges. Image: Thapelo Morebudi An investigation into illicit gold mining has uncovered how one of the accused obtained a fraudulent identity document, 12 years after arriving in SA. V.5594
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• Lesotho has rekindled moves to implement localisation rules for certain types of businesses dominated by foreigners. • Indians, Chinese and South Africans dominate the 47 reserved businesses. • SA firms will be under pressure to use local distributors, and not contract Basotho labour via SA-based agents. V.5587
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Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said that plans were underway for the Department of Home Affairs to switch from working manually to digitally. CAPE TOWN - Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said that long queues, off-line systems, and paper-based applications at department offices would soon be a thing of the past. Schreiber said that plans were underway for the Department of Home Affairs to switch from working manually to digitally. V.5588
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‘There are various pathways and provisions in the law that recognise that people should not be stateless, and we are failing to ensure that these people have papers,’ says Global Movement Against Statelessness’ Christy Chitengu. Christy Chitengu was born in South Africa and regards herself as a South African, despite her parents being Zimbabwean. V.5589
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Inspection at workplaces set to increase Newly appointed home affairs minister Leon Schreiber will increase inspections at restaurants, spaza shops, farms and mines to heighten the crackdown on undocumented workers in these industries. Schreiber said while SA welcomes those who contribute to the country legally through skills, investments and as tourists, it needed to do more to combat illegal immigration. V.5592
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CAPE TOWN - Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber says since March, his department already reported 109 cases of document fraud to its counter corruption unit. Three officials have been convicted and sentenced during this same period. V.5593
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Key Takeaways • As of August 28, Canada has banned temporary residents on visitor visas from applying for work permits within the country. • The policy`s early termination is part of IRCC`s efforts to manage the influx of temporary residents and combat immigration fraud. • Starting September 26, 2024, Canada will cut the number of temporary foreign workers by about 65,000. Canada has recently launched a new policy that prohibits temporary residents on visitor visas from applying for work permits within the country, a decision that significantly impacts their ability to work and stay in Canada. V.5583
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The United Kingdom has long been a favoured destination for South Africans seeking work or residency, thanks to shared language, time zones, and historical ties. However, according to JP Breytenbach from Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants, the profile of South African migrants is changing. “There is a significant increase in business migration, with companies aiming to expand into the UK as a gateway to Europe or the US,” he shared in an interview with Biznews. Many of these South Africans businesses feel they have reached a ceiling in their local markets or are tech entrepreneurs who believe their products are not yet viable in South Africa. This year, new UK immigration rules are set to take effect as the country seeks to limit net migration. V.5584
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Applicants who prefer hard copies of ZEP waiver letters will still be able to collect them at branches. Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs, during the swearing-in ceremony of the new national executive members at Cape Town International Convention Centre on 3 July, 2024 in Cape Town. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has announced that the first batch of Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) waiver applications has been processed. ZEP holders will no longer need to go to Home Affairs branches to find out the outcome of their applications. The department will be sending them out digitally. V.5585
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