The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has lost another battle over blocking South African IDs arbitrarily after the South Gauteng High Court ordered the department to unblock the identity numbers belonging to a man residing in Eikenhoff, south of Johannesburg. The 42-year-old said it had affected his life as the banks suspended his accounts into which his salary was deposited.

The blocking of IDs began in May 2012 when the department started a campaign to address the issue of duplicate IDs on the National Population Register. What started as 29 000 identity documents having markers placed against them quickly escalated to over one million by 2020.

However, this was challenged by Lawyers for Human Rights who said no law allows this.

The lawyers, in September last year, also said the criteria behind the blocking of some of these IDs had become increasingly arbitrary.

The North Gauteng High Court then declared that the department’s practice of blocking IDs was an unjust and irregular administrative action that was inconsistent with the country’s Constitution.

In the case brought by Monyake on March 2, last year, the DHA was the first respondent and Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi was the second respondent.

DHA spokesperson Siya Qoza did not respond to questions sent on Tuesday.

Monyake told the court that after his bank accounts were closed, his children were unable to go to school because he could not access his salary.

“If this matter is not adjudicated on urgent court roll this will cause unrepairable harm to my children’s future and to me too as I stand the chance of losing my job, and my children will have to quit schooling,” said Monyake.

He said he received his ID book in May 2005 and has been using it for various transactions without experiencing any problems.

Monyake said he became aware that his ID had been blocked after he applied for a personal loan and was told that his ID had been blocked and he should enquire with the DHA.

He then visited

the DHA offices but was told to bring his mother for the interview. Monyake said he hasn’t been able to trace his mother’s whereabouts for years, and he informed the DHA about it, but did not get any joy.

“I have tried several times to get even my uncle to go and witness or give evidence but no help still,” said Monyake, who added that he did not receive his salary on February 26.

He said when he asked his employer, he was told to check with his bank.

Monyake said the bank told him that all his accounts had been suspended until his ID book was sorted. He said this caused great frustration in his life.

On Mach 8, the court declared the blocking of his ID irrational and unconstitutional and ordered the department to unblock the ID.

Bishop Marothi Mashashane, representing the South African National Christian Forum (SANCF), who approached the court on behalf of Monyake, said the blocking effectively stripped affected individuals of their citizenship and dignity. He said many became ghosts in the system and were unable to obtain passports or driver`s licenses, vote, open bank accounts or obtain marriage, birth or even death certificates.

“They are rendered undocumented and vulnerable to unlawful arrest and deportation. The Constitutional Court itself emphasised that ‘the systematic act of stripping millions of black South Africans of their citizenship was one of the most pernicious policies of the apartheid regime, which left many as foreigners in the land of their birth’,” he said.

Mashashane said the SANCF approached the court to order the DHA to ensure a just and fair process that was in line with the Constitution, and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) was applied in the case. He said what worried him the most was that only blacks were subjected to this “unlawful” ID blocking. V.5248

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

• 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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

‘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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article