`Leon Schreiber’s department has been celebrated for bold moves, but too often its officials remain ill-informed or indifferent. Throughout the second half of 2024 Leon Schreiber was one of the most observed and often praised GNU ministers. An expert on public sector reform, Schreiber could be the antidote to the institutional entropy from which the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has suffered for decades, or “dry rot” as a renowned organisational theorist called it.Schreiber has not been shy in adopting a proactive approach to the implementation of change within the department he heads. Nevertheless, the reality he will have to contend with internally in 2025 and beyond is that DHA remains systematically wanting of the necessary competency to perform its duties. Just administrative action and maladministrationSince the South African Constitution came into effect, followed by the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), the world of public administrators and their administrative actions has been redefined and reshaped within constitutionally and legislatively prescribed boundaries. Yet, to date, public administrators within the DHA continue to make themselves guilty of maladministration. Too often DHA officers and adjudicators are either ill-informed or indifferent to the legislative and judicial rules that prescribe their administrative conduct and decision-making.Maladministration and misgovernment can also be attributed to, among other issues, a disregard for the administrative law principles of just administrative action. Lawfulness and procedural and substantive fairness are the three cardinal pillars that sustain just administrative action. Not only absence of bias is vital from a procedural fairness standpoint; but paramount to the principle of lawfulness is that “any public administrator must be properly qualified for a specific administrative function in order to make decisions”. Bias, mistrust and inadequate reasonsBias extends to the culture of mistrust which permeates the decision-making of the DHA on visa and permit applications, which places an imbalanced burden of proof on applicants. Applicants are lambasted with rejection notices generically stating their failure to submit “adequate proof”, or are rejected on the basis of the DHA’s inability to verify documents or relationships. Most rejection notices fail to include adequate reasons as prescribed in terms of sections 5(1) and 5(2) of PAJA, frequently leading to unnecessary litigation as - even when placed on demand notice for adequate reasons - the DHA fails to comply with its mandate within the prescriptions of just administrative action.Spousal relationships are deemed to be for the majority “purported” rather than real good faith relationships - even in the presence of long-standing marriages and children. Applications made by lawful married spouses for visas and permits are being rejected on the grounds that the “applicant failed to submit sufficient proof of financial responsibility and cohabitation” - notwithstanding the fact that the regulations only require such documentation in support of applications made on the basis of life partnerships, not to spouses who have entered into civil marriages. The murky verification processFinancial and other documents included in applications frequently fail to satisfy the DHA’s adjudicators, to such an extent that there appears to be a parallel murky verification process which has no basis in law or statute. The DHA’s own inability to process applications within a reasonable time, as also prescribed by PAJA, seems to have derailed and hijacked the adjudication process through a self-assumed and self-empowered verification process that is cryptic and prima facie unlawful.Lawyers have successfully challenged in court the lawfulness of the DHA’s verification process and of the recurring absence of adequate reasons. Furthermore, and as repeatedly placed on record with the DHA, due to global banking secrecy laws, attempts by the DHA and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to verify banking account information directly with

financial institutions overseas is unlikely to succeed. The so-called consent forms sent to applicants for these purposes by the DHA have very little value outside South Africa - particularly when these contradict local and international legislation overseas. Institutional incompetenceIn a compelling 2022 judgment the Western Cape High Court endeavoured to obtain clarifications from the DHA and the state attorneys on what exactly the verification process entailed, what its purpose was and on the grounds of which regulations it was conducted, only to conclude that “it was apparent to the court that there appeared to be some uncertainty and confusion as to exactly what such process would entail” and that “these assertions by the respondents clearly indicate the failure to properly understand and appreciate the confines of the statute and Regulations which they themselves are bound by”. This ruling led to a substitution order on the grounds that the court found there to be on part of the DHA “delay, bias and [institutional] incompetence”.Yet, review after review, court order after court order, the DHA persists with the same unlawful patterns, reminding one of the malaise to which Einstein referred as insanity - “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. At the end of 2024, in the DHA’s bid to clear the backlog, an extraordinary volume of rejection notices flooded the system, reflecting a concerning pattern of inadequate, ill-informed and erroneous decisions while the verification process continued unaffected. These decisions fall wide of the mark of the test of the ratione personae or competency imposed on the public administrators responsible for those decisions which, failing the test of PAJA, are unlawful. Empowering provisionsNaturally, the volume of applications caught in the backlog would mean that there would be a corresponding rise in rejected applications - but a point of concern remains the poor quality of the decision-making involved. Moreover, as I had sadly anticipated, as VFS Global quickly reached its capacity limit and to accommodate the submission of appeals, in an unprecedented move, a directive signed by Director-General Livhuwani Makhode on 27 November 2024 was circulated, extending the legislatively prescribed deadline (of “10 working days from the date of receipt of the outcome”) to submit appeals until the end of March 2025.It is worth mentioning that this directive was initially leaked and circulated as Immigration Directive 12 of 2024, signed on 20 November 2024. In its original format, Directive 12 stated that the bottleneck was due to the backlog-addressing project: “As a result of the high number of visa and permit outcomes produced as part of the visa and permit backlog project, the appointment system at VFS Global for submission of appeals applications has been constrained”. Within a week, the DHA made a gaslit U-turn by silently replacing the directive and scapegoating VFS’s systems as responsible for this move, stating: “The Department has noted that the booking system, at VFS Global, has been experiencing problems… due to unavailability of dates.” More importantly, outside of a proclaimed state of disaster, we are, again, left questioning on the basis of what empowering provision any such directive can be effective in law.Abuse of powerIn our view, the risks of continuing to run an incompetent department and of outsourcing solutions outweigh by far the benefit of reporting the clearance of the backlog. As Professor W Erasmus once wrote: “The state administration has power, and concurrent with the possession of power, is the possibility to abuse this power… the violation of rights, through the abuse of power by the state administration is an actual reality.”` V.5986

`A number of human rights bodies are taking the Department of Home Affairs to court to stop the arrest of newcomer refugees at South African reception offices. (Photo: Leila Dougan) ``This case is fundamental to ensure that people are not returned to persecution, torture, violence or war,` said James Chapman, head of advocacy at the Scalabrini Centre. The Western Cape High Court has reserved judgment on a constitutional challenge by the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town - an immigrant organisation - and Lawyers for Human Rights to amendments to the Refugees Act that are used by Home Affairs officials to arrest and deport asylum seekers.The court also extended an interdict that prohibits the department from deporting any foreign national in SA if the foreign national has indicated an intention to apply for asylum.` V.5997
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`The Western Cape High Court ruled on Thursday that ‘screeners` at the Cape Town Home Affairs offices cannot refuse to accept the public`s application forms that they believe are defective. The Western Cape High Court has ruled that screeners at Home Affairs offices who turn people away and refuse to take applications that they deem to be defective are acting unlawfully and outside the scope of their jobs.The case before court was brought by De Saude Sadat Darbandi Immigration Attorneys and a number of their clients who were turned away from Home Affairs offices.The applicants challenged a practice by the Department of Home Affairs to screen and then bar access to people who wish to file applications in terms of the Citizenship Act and/or Births and Deaths Registration Act.The focus of the case was specifically on Cape Town Home Affairs, but in her ruling, Judge Constance Nziweni said the general question was whether the department`s screeners could turn people away if they believed their application was defective.Aggrieved members of the public, the lawyers and the Home Affairs officials all agreed that people are frequently turned away. The legal argument on behalf of the aggrieved members of the public was that Home Affairs screeners are not legally authorised to make any decisions on these applications.` V.5998
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`Although the Green Mamba has climbed a few places in global passport rankings, holders still need to overcome frustratingly high entry barriers to many sought-after destinations -While the South African passport has improved in global rankings, it still requires visas for most high-demand destinations.-For those without ancestral citizenship or familial options, several countries offer second passports through investment - at a significant cost.-Here are some countries that offer passports for purchase - and how much you can expect to pay.If there`s one thing South African travellers love to complain about, it`s visas. And with good reason.Although the Green Mamba has climbed a few places in global passport rankings, it still requires holders to overcome frustratingly high entry barriers for many sought-after destinations.For this reason, securing a passport from a country with greater visa-free access is the ultimate travel hack.The only catch? Unless you have ancestral ties to a country like the UK or, increasingly, Lithuania, your options are limited to marriage - or paying a significant sum of money.` V.5999
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`Clerical officers at the Cape Town Home Affairs Department have been described as ``gatekeepers” for turning away citizenship applicants with documentation that they perceived to be defective. Clerical officers at the Western Cape’s Home Affairs Department have been described as ``gatekeepers” who have acted unlawfully, as they refused to accept citizenship applications at the offices in Cape Town. De Saude Sadat Darbandi Immigration Attorneys (DSD Law) represented seven applicants who alleged they had problems associated with the submission of application forms in which Department of Home Affairs officials (screeners) refused to accept their applications, which they perceived to be defective. According to the applicants who have attempted to apply for citizenship, screeners insist on documents that are not prescribed by law; they are unreasonable, superfluous, or simply impossible to provide. ` V.6000
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`Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber says a security guard at the Randburg office has been ‘removed’ from his post after he allegedly pepper sprayed angry citizens this week.A video showing irate members of the public has since gone viral on social media, wherein a security guard is seen waving a pepper spray as he demands members of the public to go outside. This occurred as frustrations came to a head at the Home Affairs Randburg branch when the system went offline, causing undue frustration for the members of the public. Taking to X, Schreiber said he was horrified when he learnt about the video on Thursday morning and that action had since been taken against the security guard involved. “I was appalled upon receiving this video at 10:50 this morning. An investigation was launched immediately, and by 17:00 the individual in question was removed. ` V.5990
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`Amendments made to the Refugees Act in 2023 are unconstitutional because they allow asylum seekers to be deported before they are able to access the asylum system. This puts them in danger and at risk of persecution. This was the main argument made by the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, an immigration rights organisation, in the Western Cape High Court before a full bench on Thursday. The amendments, which Scalabrini wants the court to declare unconstitutional, allow for asylum seekers who have entered the country unlawfully and do not have a valid visa, to be denied full access to the asylum system after an initial “filtering” interview with an immigration officer.` V.5985
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`Certainly! The question “What is the investment amount that is required for a South African business visa application?” pertains to the financial requirements for obtaining a business visa in South Africa. This visa is designed for foreign nationals who wish to establish or invest in a business in South Africa. Below is a detailed explanation of the investment amount and related considerations:1. Purpose of the Business VisaThe South African business visa is intended to attract foreign investment and stimulate economic growth by allowing foreign entrepreneurs to establish or invest in businesses that will benefit the country. The visa is granted based on the applicant`s ability to contribute to the local economy, create jobs, and transfer skills.` V.5987
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`Registering a business in South Africa involves several steps, primarily handled through the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), the South African Revenue Service (SARS), and other regulatory bodies. Below is a step-by-step guide:Step 1: Choose a Business StructureBefore registering, you need to decide on the type of business entity. The common structures in South Africa include:1.Private Company (Pty) Ltd - Most common for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Limited liability for owners.2.Public Company (Ltd) - For businesses that plan to list on the stock exchange.3.Sole Proprietorship - Owned by one person, personally liable for debts.4.Partnership - Two or more people share ownership and liability.5.Co-operative (Co-op) - Member-owned business.6.Non-Profit Company (NPC) - Used for charities and social organizations.` V.5988
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`Investing into the Book Value of a Business for South African Immigration PurposesFor South African business visa and business-related residency applications, the term ``investing into the book value of the business`` refers to the financial commitment a foreign investor makes into a South African company. This investment is assessed based on the book value of the business, which represents its total assets minus liabilities, as recorded in its financial statements.1. Understanding ``Book Value``The book value of a business is the net worth of the company, calculated as:Book Value=Total Assetsâˆ`Total Liabilities\text{Book Value} = \text{Total Assets} - \text{Total Liabilities}Book Value=Total Assetsâˆ`Total LiabilitiesThis means that if a business owns R10 million in assets but has R2 million in liabilities, its book value is R8 million.For immigration purposes, an investor must inject capital that increases this book value, either by adding cash, assets, or investments into the business.` V.5989
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`Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s endorsement of the department’s digital transformation agenda. This initiative aims to digitise and automate all services, making them accessible to South Africans from the comfort of their homes.In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 6 February 2025, President Ramaphosa highlighted the importance of investing in digital public infrastructure. He announced plans to implement a digital identity system within the next 12 months to eliminate identity fraud, expand social and financial inclusion, and ensure seamless access to government services. The President also mentioned the launch of a modern Electronic Travel Authorisation system, driven by artificial intelligence, to automate tourist and short-stay visas. ` V.5991
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