Legal grievances against the South African Department of Home Affairs, including contempt of court cases, are depressingly common.

Too frequently the minister has to apologise to a court, or to ask for more time, on behalf of the department.Most of the court cases involve the operations of the department regarding visas and permits for foreign visitors, immigrants and prospective refugees.Just a few months ago home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi said, in legal papers: “I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere apology to the Chief Justice, all judges of the high court and Constitutional Court, the President of South Africa, Minister of Finance, Lawyers for Human Rights and its legal representatives and the people of South Africa for the mess created by officials of the Department of Home Affairs.”

This particular mess was triggered by the minister’s failure to amend an unconstitutional law which allowed for the detention of irregular migrants for 120 days. The rotten state of the department is widely known. Two reports released in the last three years, commissioned by the minister and the presidency and led by senior and seasoned individuals, set out the problems in detail.

One, released in 2022, chronicled a backlog of visa, permit and status applications, evidence of fraudulent applications being first rejected, then accepted, and the system being used illegally.

The other found multiple failures in the provision of visas to senior business managers and experts.The issue of migration policy and its implementation has never been more pressing for South Africa. Immigration has grown relatively rapidly in the past 20 years.

The proportion of migrants to local people more than doubled from a relatively low level of 2.1% in 2000 to a moderate level of 4.8% in 2020, according to a study drawing on UN data.

The global average immigrant population is around 3.5% but countries like the US (nearly 16% in 2019), Australia and New Zealand are much higher. Côte d’Ivoire is the only country on the continent with a considerably higher percentage of immigrants than South Africa.Migration policy is likely to be a key issue in South Africa’s forthcoming elections. A leading journalist has argued that 2024 will be an “immigration election”.

Populist parties are expected to mobilise around people’s fears, while the government will continue to use immigration as an excuse for poor service delivery and joblessness.The reality is that the impact of migrants on the circumstances of poor South Africans is marginal, and far less important than the very poor performance of the economy and many governmental institutions.In a paper just published I examine the recent history of immigration policy in South Africa.

I argue that the challenges would best be addressed by improvement in the operations of the Department of Home Affairs.This should be accompanied by some modernisation of migration law to encourage the use of regular migration channels and discourage irregularity.The problems,The first of the two investigations initiated by the minister was headed by Cassius Lubisi, former secretary of the cabinet. The second was headed by anti-apartheid struggle stalwart Mavuso Msimang.

Their main findings were as follows.

Fraudulent documentation was used in 36,647 applications for visas, permits or status over a 16-year period. Of these, 880 were approved and 288 were pending. 4,160 of the fraudulent applications were first rejected, and then accepted after reconsideration.Systems that had been replaced were still being used illegally from time to time. The outcomes of such activities were suspicious.

In some cases applications were processed in zero days. The investigation found visa expiry dates issued beyond the legal limit.

The department’s databases for naturalisation and population registration didn’t correlate with each other.

The list identifying undesirable immigrants was “fatally flawed due to incomplete and missing crucial data”.

In some cases, files had been inserted illegally into the information system. This process would require “a highly skilled IT user with administrator rights to execute”.

There were multiple cases of “forum-shopping” by applicants. This is when an applicant applies for a range of unrelated permits in the hope that one of them will get through.

The department did not have systems that could identify multiple applications by the same person.
Possible fixes

The Department of Home Affairs recently issued a draft white paper which it said was aimed at addressing the problems that had been identified.

It proposed severely curtailing the rights of prospective refugees, restricting paths to citizenship, and strengthening the Border Management Authority and supportive institutions.

But, based on my findings, it is clear that these changes won’t solve the problems. Experts show that tighter restrictions lead to greater illegality, not less migration.

The most disappointing element of

the draft white paper is that it makes no reference to recommendations made in the two reports on the problems at the department.

Recommendations of the reports included:

major investment in and reorganisation of information systems
the integration of the various population databases
further forensic investigations to root out corruption
hiring and training staff with skills and integrity.

The draft white paper also does not mention the need to modernise the colonial-style bilateral labour agreements which South Africa maintains with five regional neighbours Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini, Malawi and Botswana.

These countries, and Zimbabwe, are the greatest source of regular and irregular migration.

These agreements are no longer fit for purpose. Firstly, they impose tight restrictions on the rights of contracted migrants from other countries.

Secondly, they are based on patterns of migrant labour developed during the colonial period to support farming and mining. In some cases applications were processed in zero days. The investigation found visa expiry dates issued beyond the legal limit.

The department’s databases for naturalisation and population registration didn’t correlate with each other.

The list identifying undesirable immigrants was “fatally flawed due to incomplete and missing crucial data”.

In some cases, files had been inserted illegally into the information system. This process would require “a highly skilled IT user with administrator rights to execute”.

There were multiple cases of “forum-shopping” by applicants. This is when an applicant applies for a range of unrelated permits in the hope that one of them will get through.

The department did not have systems that could identify multiple applications by the same person.
Possible fixes

The Department of Home Affairs recently issued a draft white paper which it said was aimed at addressing the problems that had been identified.

It proposed severely curtailing the rights of prospective refugees, restricting paths to citizenship, and strengthening the Border Management Authority and supportive institutions.

But, based on my findings, it is clear that these changes won’t solve the problems. Experts show that tighter restrictions lead to greater illegality, not less migration.

The most disappointing element of the draft white paper is that it makes no reference to recommendations made in the two reports on the problems at the department.

Recommendations of the reports included:

major investment in and reorganisation of information systems
the integration of the various population databases
further forensic investigations to root out corruption
hiring and training staff with skills and integrity.

The draft white paper also does not mention the need to modernise the colonial-style bilateral labour agreements which South Africa maintains with five regional neighbours Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini, Malawi and Botswana.

These countries, and Zimbabwe, are the greatest source of regular and irregular migration.

These agreements are no longer fit for purpose. Firstly, they impose tight restrictions on the rights of contracted migrants from other countries.

Secondly, they are based on patterns of migrant labour developed during the colonial period to support farming and mining.
Thirdly, they’re written up on the basis of an unequal relationship between countries of the southern African region.

Modern bilateral labour agreements have been developed. An example is the Canadian system.

It provides for long term arrangements with full labour and social rights for the duration of the multiyear contract, but no right to permanent residence for the workers or their families.

Modern Canadian-style migrant labour agreements would encourage more migrants to choose regular migration routes and fewer would try to evade or abuse the law.

The draft white paper gives the impression that the challenge of migration policy can be solved with tighter laws on refugees and citizenship.

In fact the fundamental problem is the corruption and inefficiency in the permits and visa section of the department, which the white paper hardly mentions.

The unfortunate conclusion that can be drawn from a reading of the draft white paper is that it was designed primarily to give the ruling party a narrative for the upcoming election, rather than to reform the migration governance regime.

This article, written by Alan Hirsch, was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here. V.5225

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is cracking down on corruption within its ranks and finalised 31 disciplinary cases between July and September 2024, some of which resulted in criminal prosecution and dismissal.One such individual, Mogale Raseone is set to have his trial start on 6 November. He is facing charges of fraud after being dismissed from the DHA in 2023 for manipulating department systems to fraudulently administer immigration for foreign nationals V.5655
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South Africa may be its own worst enemy when dealing with foreign nationals, says an ActionSA parliamentarian.Lerato Ngobeni held a series of oversight visits last week, with a keen focus on the Department of Home Affairs.In showcasing the successes of their first 100 days in parliament, Ngobeni gave an update on her observations from the previous year. V.5654
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Cape Town comes out tops in Long Haul Holiday Report 2024Cape Town has reclaimed its position as the best-value long haul destination for British tourists, according to the 2024 Long Haul Holiday Report from Post Office.Every year, the Post Office Travel Money Long Haul Holiday Report highlights the top destinations where UK travellers can get the best value for their money.They researched 32 faraway destinations worldwide and compared the costs of common holiday items like a cup of coffee, a bottle of water, and a three-course meal for two to find out which destinations offer the best value for money. V.5652
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Eight of these cases came from the Free State, while six came from KwaZulu-Natal. Between July and September 2024, the Department of Home Affairs finalised 31 disciplinary cases against its officials.According to spokesperson Siya Qoza, the disciplinary cases resulted in a range of sanctions. These include criminal prosecution, dismissal, suspension without pay and final written warnings. The officials faced transgressions relating to irregular recruitment, violation of the Citizenship Act and the violation of the Immigration Act. Eight of these cases came from the Free State, while six came from KwaZulu-Natal. Home Affairs officials nabbedOne of the includes that of an official who failed to abide by the required standards of ethical conduct. His trial is set to start on 6 November, facing fraud charges. The official was dismissed from the department last year after the conclusion of disciplinary processes. V.5653
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The Citizen tried Home Affairs services on wheels and found it to be disorganised. Residents have been using the mobile services provided by the Home Affairs trucks. Temperatures were soaring, with no chairs in sight and a long line ahead. This was the experience of a reporter when they lined up to try Home Affairs mobile services. The outreach programme sends trucks to areas to help make the department’s services more accessible to residents who find it difficult to reach their offices. V.5648
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The BMA has confirmed the new switch-over system, installed to expedite data capture and to prevent future disruptions.The glitches that recently interrupted the flow of international flights at the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) in KwaZulu-Natal have been sorted out, according to Mmemme Mogotsi, the deputy assistant commissioner for communications and marketing at the Border Management Authority (BMA). V.5649
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The Groblersbrug bridge across the Limpopo River is too narrow, many say, to handle the high volumes of traffic into Botswana. Source: SA Truckerorder transporters are waiting up to three days to pass through South Africas Groblersbrug border into Botswana because of a double whammy ` a new biometrics system implemented by the Border Management Authority (BMA), and ongoing barriers to entry at Beitbridge.Mike Fitzmaurice of the Transit Assistance Bureau explained that the BMA had implemented a new system whereby the biometrics of everyone, travellers and truck drivers alike, were recorded by immigration officials. Although it only takes about 15 minutes, the problem at Groblersbrug is there are only four immigration officers on duty during each shift.Compounding matters are existing impediments at Beitbridge forcing long-distance hauliers serving mines in the Copperbelt to drive around Zimbabwe.Unfortunately, Groblersbrug cant cope with the volume of traffic. V.5650
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The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has granted an unemployed woman permission to relocate to Australia with her children where she got a job. An unemployed woman has been granted permission to relocate to Australia with her two children, where she has secured a job, following her ex-husband`s refusal to allow them to leave the country. She sought relief from the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg after her ex-husband declined to sign the consent forms needed for her to apply for visas for herself and their children. V.5651
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Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber has gazetted far-reaching reforms for South Africa’s visa regime.The gazetting of the Remote Work Visitor Visa and the new Points-Based System for Work Visas on 9 October is said to remove bureaucratic hurdles which have hampered South Africa’s visa regime.Schreiber said that the “fit-for-purpose and market-friendly reforms would reposition South Africa as a world-class destination for investment and tourism to create thousands of new jobs. V.5642
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Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber has gazetted far-reaching reforms for South Africa’s visa regime.The gazetting of the Remote Work Visitor Visa and the new Points-Based System for Work Visas on 9 October is said to remove bureaucratic hurdles which have hampered South Africa’s visa regime.Schreiber said that the “fit-for-purpose and market-friendly reforms would reposition South Africa as a world-class destination for investment and tourism to create thousands of new jobs. V.5643
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