we are now a week into March, backlogged applications are still outstanding and the department (Pretoria Hub) is not talking to the public/attorneys....
Home affairs backlog ‘over soon’. Home Affairs gives assurance that bulk of backlog in work will be cleared by end of February.
LINDA ENSOR
Published: 2011/02/21 06:22:52 AM
CAPE TOWN — Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini- Zuma has given an assurance that the bulk of the backlog in work and other permits would be cleared before the end of this month and that no further backlogs were expected , because of new systems in place.
The permit system for foreign workers and students would be streamlined significantly to make the process easier, she said.
The Department of Home Affairs is facing a number of class- action lawsuits by frustrated applicants for permits who have waited for an official response to their applications for a long time, in some cases as much as a year.
The minister told journalists during a parliamentary briefing on the governance and administration cluster on Friday the department would maintain the current centralised system of processing applications sent up from regional offices, but would keep a close and daily tab on the numbers received and dispatched.
This would eliminate the delays in getting the applications to Pretoria.
She said the government was committed to easing the entry of people with critical skills, students and tourists. For example, the requirement that businesses provide a police clearance for their prospective employees for the previous 20 years would be waived, with this being left to the discretion of the credible companies that employed them.
Also, instead of granting work or study permits for only a year , longer permits would be issued to cover the length of the critical skills work contract or the period of study so that people would be able to plan their lives.
This would reduce the burden on the department and remove opportunities for corruption .
"We are developing a system that is going to make it very easy to get a permit. At the same time we are going to put (in place) quite strong measures for those who are high risk, for those … abusing our system," Ms Dlamini-Zuma said.
"We are cleaning up all these things. When we are ready we will announce it, but it is going to be a very easy system for genuine business people, critical skills people and students. But we are going to get very tough with those who abuse our system."
A meeting in Pretoria today and tomorrow with the Zimbabwean ministers of home affairs, responsible for the issuance of passports, will try to sort out the delays in the finalisation of the permit applications by Zimbabwean nationals living in SA.
A total of 275762 applications had been received.
Yesterday, home affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said this would be the third meeting between Ms Dlamini-Zuma and the Zimbabwean m inisters , Kembo Mohadi and Theresa Makone.
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=134879
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