Home Affairs HQ Relocation

THE RELOCATION OF HOME AFFAIRS HEADQUARTERS TO HALLMARK IN THE CITY CENTRE

In line with government's view that government offices should be located within the city centre as part of efforts of building confidence in the city centre while encouraging economic investment into the city, the Department of Home Affairs Headquarters will soon be relocated from Waltloo to Hallmark in the city centre.

The Home Affairs Department Headquarters was originally located at Civitas in the city centre until 2004. This was occasioned by alleged structural problems with the building which necessitated the need to find a temporary location for the Home Affairs Headquarters. This was found in Waltloo, East of Pretoria. We have so far negotiated a new lease for a new Headquarters at Hallmark in Pretoria.

The relocation of the Headquarters to Hallmark will indeed help bring the Home Affairs Headquarters services more nearer to the people, particularly those who reside in and including those who work in the city centre.

Plans for the movement from Waltloo to Hallmark have been finalised and will take place in phases to accommodate the various branches of the Department. In this regard, the relocation will begin in earnest from 17 November 2011 and we hope to conclude the process by 22 December 2011.

Issued by Department of Home Affairs

Arcadia House

909 Arcadia Street, Pretoria, 0001

4 November 2011
www.dha.gov.za

Home affairs HQ to move

2011-11-04 19:45

Pretoria - The home affairs department is set to relocate its headquarters back to Pretoria city centre, director general Mkuseli Apleni said on Friday.

"We will soon be relocating from Waltloo [east of Pretoria] to Hallmark building in the city," he told reporters in Pretoria.
He said the location of the new building, in the city centre, would make the department's head office more accessible.
The building had been leased for the next seven years, and the rent was the same the department was paying at present.
"Plans for the move have been finalised and it will take place in phases, from November 17 to December 22. Arrangements are in place to minimise disruption of service."
Apleni did not reveal the cost of the lease or from whom the building had been leased. He said the lease had been signed by the department of public works.
Details of the lease could not immediately be obtained from this department.
The department of home affairs also announced that its Port Elizabeth refugee reception centre would be relocated.
Local businesses, who viewed the centre "as a nuisance factor", obtained a court order ordering the existing facility's closure.
Apleni said the department was looking for a new location for the refugee centre.
He could not say when the existing centre would close.

- SAPA
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Home-affairs-HQ-to-move-20111104

Home Affairs celebrates unqualified audit

Minister cleans up Home Affairs

September 30 2011 at 10:30am
By GAYE DAVIS


INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

Home Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Director-General of Home Affairs Mkuseli Apleni celebrate the achievements of the Department's Turnaround strategy since her appointment in May 2009. Photo: Phill Magakoe



In a major turnaround, the Department of Home Affairs has received its first unqualified audit in 16 years – an achievement reflecting tight internal controls and senior staff appointments driven by minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

The department has for years been labelled as “chaotic” and poorly managed – a situation Dlamini-Zuma promised to address when she took over the portfolio in May, 2009.

She pledged during her budget vote in June of that year to tackle revenue management and other areas of concern repeatedly raised by the Auditor-General – and committed the department to a clean audit within two years.

At a briefing in Pretoria on Thursday, Dlamini-Zuma paid tribute to “the solid and hard work” by senior management staff who had “toiled night and day” to ensure the department met its obligations under the Public Finances Management Act and Treasury Regulations, in its “long walk” to a clean bill of financial health.

“The department has become a normal department, simultaneously achieving improved levels of service delivery,” she said. “We hope that all our officials, across the length and breadth of our country, are proud of this achievement and are inspired to do more… towards building a new Home Affairs. “We would like to express our unreserved appreciation for their support.”

She cautioned, however, that the clean audit for the 2010/11 financial year “poses a greater responsibility upon us all to maintain unqualified audit opinions in future (and to) do even better in years to come”.

Dlamini-Zuma singled out the leadership of director-general Mkuseli Apleni and chief financial officer Rudzani Rasikhinya, She also thanked the National Treasury, the department’s audit committee and the National Assembly’s home affairs oversight committee for “support and guidance”.

Dlamini-Zuma said on Thursday the clean audit had been achieved by implementing effective internal controls, including “weekly follow-ups” on issues raised by the A-G in his previous audit, especially in regard to managing finances, the supply chain, revenue, budgets and assets.



The DA congratulated the minister for “a significant achievement for a department that had been plagued with corruption, inefficiency and poor service to the public”.

The party’s home affairs spokesman, Mazisole Mnqasela, said, however, the department still “has a way to go” to providing efficient customer service. - Political Bureau




http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/minister-cleans-up-home-affairs-1.1148025

Ghanaian arrested for fake everything

Ghanaian arrested for fake everything

Jun 20, 2011 | VUSI XABA and FRANK MAPONYA
A Ghanaian has been arrested for allegedly setting up his own Department of Home Affairs.



He was taken into custody in an operation involving the police's crime intelligence unit and the Johannesburg metro police after being found in possession of Department of Home Affairs equipment.

He allegedly used it to produce fraudulent documents, including passports, visas, identity documents, driver's licences, marriage, birth and death certificates - and US dollars.

The 44-year-old, who was arrested in Yeoville, Johannesburg, on Friday, was expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court today.

Johannesburg police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said the man would face charges of fraud, malicious damage to property, contravening the Counterfeit Act and bribery. He allegedly tried to pay the officers on the scene a R3000 bribe.

Other charges include possession of Home Affairs property and impersonating a department official.

Dlamini alleged that the man removed bar-codes and identity numbers from genuine identity books and pasted them into fraudulent ones.

Also found on his property were blank visas, security tapes for new passports, blank Lesotho passports, original Home Affairs documents, traffic department documents and rubber stamps for the Johannesburg and Germiston offices of Home Affairs.

Credit cards and driver's licences from countries that included Zambia, Angola, Brazil and Namibia were also found at the premises.

Dlamini said more people were likely to be arrested.
Three Home Affairs officials are expected to appear in the Lebowakgomo Magistrate's Court, near Polokwane, today on charges of fraud.

They were arrested in a joint operation by the Department of Home Affairs and the Hawks.

~ o O o ~

Hayibo! Home Affairs

****a piece of satire****

DIY Home Affairs man worked too hard to be mistaken for real thing


PRETORIA. The Ghanaian man arrested in Yeoville for setting up his own Department of Home Affairs office, complete with rubber stamps and men who stood outside and sold pens, says he is confident he will escape charges. “They have accused me of impersonating an official but I was awake and working when they busted me,” he said, “I am not sure how they see any resemblance.”

The man, who has yet to be named, was reportedly making good money by offering a faster and more user-friendly service than the one available through official channels, a task described by experts as ‘one in which it was impossible to fail’.

Senior officials at the real Department of Home Affairs say they have asked detectives interrogating the suspect to find out how he was able to process a passport within a day or produce a marriage certificate within a week.

“We suspect his claims are baseless,” said department spokesperson Edblow Sithole. “In our experience it takes a team of eight people a minimum of six months to process one residency application, so if he is churning out ten in a day then he is clearly a fake.

“Or he really enjoys his work – in which case we will give him a crash course on our procedures and formally ask him to run our office in Arcadia.”

Asked what training was required to work at Home Affairs, Sithole said it could be summed up by three simple rules. “When in charge, blame; when there’s work involved, delegate; and when spoken to, grunt and gesture.”

Sithole said it was no surprise that the arrested man came from Ghana. “That’s the problem with foreigners,” he said. “They do everything faster and cheaper and they end up making South Africans look bad.”

He added that he wouldn’t be surprised if the weekend’s arrest was the first of many. “We suspect the Ghanaians will seek to own the fake ID market in the same way Somalians found their niche with spaza shops, Nigerians as 419 scammers and South Africans as loafers.”

He said it was no surprise that so many South Africans were forced to live and work in England as it was one of the few countries where people were even lazier than here.

Meanwhile a lawyer for the detained man, Atticus Ndlovu, said he was doing his best to get the trial date moved forward.

“The Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court has postponed proceedings until the 28th of June,” he confirmed. “But we are doing our best to get the matter switched to an earlier date.”

He added that he was also trying to get the matter moved to a ‘court’ run by a Rwandan magistrate from his bedroom in Observatory.

http://www.hayibo.com/diy-home-affairs-man-worked-too-hard-to-be-mistaken-real-thing/

Residence Permit System in Chaos

SA residence permit system 'in chaos'

By: Amanda Visser2011-05-22 13:19
Pretoria - The department of home affairs' residence permit system is in total disarray.

That is the principal reason for an urgent application lodged against the department, its minister and its director general in the Western Cape High Court.

The application has been submitted by a Cape firm of attorneys, Eisenberg & Associates, two individuals and another immigration company, Visa One.

Gary Eisenberg from the firm of attorneys said the application was being submitted on behalf of 108 applicants who had all been waiting for longer than six months for their permanent residence permits to be processed.

In the court papers he said that applications had previously always been handled within six months. Now they simply disappeared or were never heard of again.

In February this year Eisenberg had also turned to the court because of delays with temporary residence permits.

That action had been instituted after it had come to light that 70% of more than 400 applications for temporary permits had vanished.

In a sworn statement Eisenberg said that the department appeared to be either unwilling or unable to do anything to trace the applications.

Some of the applications had been submitted five years ago. That was, he said, with respect, a travesty of justice and an embarrassment for South Africa.

In the court documents Eisenberg said that the struggle with permanent residence permits had been characterised by a total lack of support or even simple interest.

The court documents state that, from July 2010 to the present, innumerable email messages and other correspondence, as well as several telephone messages, had failed to elicit any reaction.

A total of 108 outstanding applications for permanent residence made up the court application.

The two individuals who have joined the court application are Yung-Li Yen from Taiwan and Fokelina Wijngaarden from Holland.

Yen is a fisherman who first came to South Africa in 1974. In October 1992 he married his South African bride, Narriman, from Cape Town.

The first of their three daughters was born in 1986. In 2007 he applied for his permanent residence permit after being advised by department staff to do so.

Wijngaarden and her life partner, Jan Koornneef, had opted for retirement in South Africa. Koornneef’s application (which was basically the same as hers) was processed six months after submission, but Wijngaarden has been waiting for two years.

The court papers ask the court to set a deadline for the processing of the outstanding applications.

The applicants claim an application unprocessed after six months is “unreasonably overdue”.

Eisenberg and the other applicants have asked for their application to be heard on June 28.

Leon Isaacson, chairperson of the Forum for Immigration Practitioners (Fipsa), told Sake24 that there had been a definite increase in overdue applications.

- Sake24

http://m.news24.com/fin24/Economy/SA-residence-permit-system-in-chaos-20110522

Home Affairs Update

IMCOSA August Newsletter
Home Affairs Update


The Department of Home Affairs’ backlog, as far as IMCOSA’s submissions are concerned, has been largely cleared. The general processing time for temporary residence applications submitted within South Africa is currently 3-4 months (plus minus a month), provided that the application itself is unflawed and a tight follow-up process is applied.

Major problems are caused through the large number of applications going missing in the system, i.e. not being logged onto the Department’s electronic “track & trace” system correctly. Again, a complex set of steps has to be followed to ensure that these applications are processed and finalized correctly.


Another major headache is the large percentage of errors found in the permits that are being issued. Across the industry, the general consent seems to be that over 50% of permits are issued incorrectly, with errors ranging from incorrectly spelt names, wrong employer names being inserted, incorrect categories of permits being used, permit types being confused amongst family members (e.g. the father receives a study permit, whilst the 5-year-old daughter receives a permit to work as the CEO of company XYZ), permits being given incorrect validity periods, etc. We are finding that the process to rectify these errors regularly takes significantly longer than the original applications.


A serious concern is the fact that in early July 300 contract staff who had been assisting with the permitting process at the Department of Home Affairs’ head office, were released from their duties at once, presumably because their contracts ended. Due to this sudden and enormous drop in capacity, substantial backlogs are expected to build up in the coming weeks and months.

For the moment, the process has however become more predictable and the situation has somewhat stabilized, but whether this trend continues remains to be seen.


http://imcosa.co.za/en/news/147-immigration-news-aug-2011.html

FICA and Freezing of bank accounts

IMCOSA AUGUST NEWSLETTER
Fica and the Freezing of Bank Accounts


More and more foreigners with local bank accounts are experiencing problems when they apply for an extension or change of permit and do not receive their new permits before expiry of the original one. Certain banks have started, systematically and as a matter of policy, to freeze the bank accounts of foreigners on the day that their permits expire. The freezing is done irrespective of whether applications for extensions have been made to Home Affairs, and whether such applications were made well in advance of the expiry date. No intervention has been found to stop or reverse this and letters issued by the regional office of Home Affairs acknowledging responsibility for the delay, or even written support by the Banking Council, have fallen on deaf ears.





The effect of this is that law-abiding persons, apart from having to endure the stress of their new permits not arriving in time and them not being allowed to continue their work or other activity, now have the added pleasure of not being able to access their own funds, of debit orders not being processed, etc.





Fortunately, there are alternatives to this scenario and there are respectable banks who very well understand the problems caused by Home Affairs delays. The freezing of your bank account is therefore avoidable, provided that the necessary steps are taken in advance. Please approach our team if you have questions in this regard or require assistance.






http://imcosa.co.za/en/news/147-immigration-news-aug-2011.html

Serious about tackling corruption

Officials ‘hit in full view of public’

August 27 2011 at 01:31pm
By SHAUN SMILLIE

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INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

A convoy of Home Affairs and police vehicles rolled into the border post at just after 8am. Photo: Doctor Ngcobo

They hit them in full view of the public.

On Friday, 13 Home Affairs officials and six policemen were arrested in raids across Mpumalanga – handcuffed and arrested, while travellers and those wanting to cross the border watched. All were charged with corruption.

“They all co-operated and no one gave us problems,” said police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Hlathi.

These were just the latest successes of Operation Mahlabandlovu.

In the early hours yesterday, police and Home Affairs officials gathered at the remote Tonga police station.

At 8am the operation got under way, with some investigators travelling as far as 200km to make their arrests.

One of the raids focused on the Lebombo Border Post on the Mozambique Border.

A convoy of Home Affairs and police vehicles rolled into the border post at just after 8am yesterday. To the surprise of everyone working at the post, the first woman to be arrested was processing passports.

She went quietly. Another woman burst into tears.

Those who had been waiting in her line had to find other queues. As in the case of others who were arrested, investigators seized her cellphone, documents and passports. Cars were also searched.

Investigators recovered several passports and fingerprint-capturing equipment – including ink pads and rollers – in the vehicle of one suspect.

Home Affairs director of investigative services Connie Moitse said yesterday at the scene officials were not supposed to have individuals’ passports in their vehicles.

Another suspect was found with a bundle of Pakistani passports.

Investigators suspect those they arrested yesterday were taking bribes from foreigners entering South Africa without proper entry visas.

It appears to be a lucrative source of income. One Home Affairs investigator said they made as much as R10 000 a day.

A total of 15 people were arrested at the border post. Over the past couple of years Lebombo has gained a reputation for corruption.

“Several of our staff were detained in an ongoing operation. This shows we are really serious about fighting corruption,” said Moitse.

The arrested Home Affairs officials were suspended from the department, pending an investigation. Those arrested will probably appear on corruption charges in the Komatipoort Magistrate’s Court on Monday.. - Saturday Star 

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/mpumalanga/officials-hit-in-full-view-of-public-1.1126178

Sexual favours for an ID

South Africa: Intomboxolo Nyendwana's Home Affairs Torment

Mandy De Waal

14 September 2011

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analysis

A Port Elizabeth seamstress living in a poverty stricken squatter camp in KwaNoxolo in the Eastern Cape city speaks out about the years of suffering she's had to endure after trading sexual favours to a Home Affairs official in order to get an ID document she hoped would enable a better life.
Ntomboxolo Nyendwana has always dreamed of being a teacher, studying at college, and getting a paying job so she could create a better life for herself and her children. The 41-year-old seamstress currently exists on social grants and what she makes from sewing and selling pillows. She also does needle work and clothing repairs for cash.
"In 1991, I was studying Matric and went to Home Affairs to make my first application. After that I got a letter to say I didn't write my postal address (on the forms). I went back. They said I must apply again. They told me I must pay again. But when I went back they had scratched my ID number out and told me that my number was wrong," says Nyendwana.
The seamstress was contacted by Home Affairs once more, and they told her that her fingerprints on the documentation had changed. By this time Nyendwana had gone back and forth to Home Affairs many times, but it was only in 1993 when she was at the government offices that she was advised that she was one of two people with the same ID number.
"Home Affairs called me and said that there is a person posing as myself. Or I am posing as her. They said I must bring my birth certificate. By that time I was studying for a BA in Education and the university told me if I didn't get my ID sorted out I will be expelled. I wouldn't get my degree."
When Nyendwana went back to Home Affairs she was standing in a queue when a government official said he could help her. She says she knew this man as a child, and that he knew her family. The official told Nyendwana he had powerful connections in Pretoria that would quickly help resolve the mess. "I spoke to this man. He said he knew people where the IDs were made and that he would sort everything out if I slept with him. I was afraid and I was desperate. I didn't want to sleep with him, but I didn't want to be expelled."
"He said to me I must come with him. I followed him and he took me to the toilet and there he slept with me. He just gave me a toilet paper to wipe myself. After that we moved back to the queue. Instead of calling my name to help me he called someone else. I was so angry and frustrated with myself. I stood up, walked out and went home."
Feeling ashamed, Nyendwana never went back to Home Affairs for a while, even though 1994 brought democracy to South Africa and enabled her to vote for the first time. "I had to vote with a temporary ID because I had no ID book."
Eventually Nyendwana went back to Home Affairs where the same official told her she shouldn't have her photographs taken outside, but inside.
As she was having her photographs taken the official again asked her for sex, saying he would assist her with her ID process. "He kept asking me why I did not want to sleep with him again. I said I was asking other people to help me instead. I said to myself I would not sleep with him again. But I didn't get any help with my ID, so I did sleep with him again a second time. But it hurt me."
A year later in 1995, Nyendwana still had no ID book. She returned to Home Affairs where another official told her to go to her elders and slaughter a goat. "This person said there was so much darkness on me. I took it as an insult. Another lady working at Home Affairs asked me to bring her Coke. She said I was such a regular I was supposed to bring something for her." Each time Nyendwana returned to Home Affairs, the same official that she alleges was trading sex for favours, pestered her for sex.
In 1996, Nyendwana returned to Home Affairs demanding pen and paper. "I told them I am going to write a letter to Pretoria to state my case." Nyendwana wrote to Home Affairs in Pretoria but did not get a response.
In January 1997 she received her ID book in the post, but with the wrong ID number. "My other name is Patience. But in my book they wrote 'Patient' instead of Patience. I didn't want to go to Home Affairs again because I had suffered so much. I would keep this ID safe with me."
Nyendwana resumed her studies but in 2005 when she went to draw funds from her bank account which her social grant was paid into, she discovered her bank card was blocked. "The bank told me there was another person in Grahamstown who had my name, surname and a temporary ID with my number. They said she got my money. The bank said I had to go to Home Affairs to get them to do an investigation."
And so Nyendwana was forced to return to Home Affairs again, a place she says has brought her enormous hurt, shame, anger and frustration. "They gave me a letter for the bank. I asked them to look what is happening and on the computer they showed me this other person in Grahamstown with my name and ID. They said her children were eight, my children are four.
I went to the SASSA offices and this person had made a grant for her eight children. They had changed the address for my social grant to Grahamstown."
"I was sick with worry. At Home Affairs, the women said they will get me a new number. But I was worried that if I get another number I would still suffer." And so Nyendwana had to apply for an ID document yet again. She was forced to do so after her bank account was frozen.
Nyendwana says each and every time she has had to go back to the Home Affairs offices it has been a shameful, tormenting experience for her.
After applying for her ID document again earlier this year she wrote a six-page letter to Home Affairs in Pretoria to tell them what had happened and to describe her suffering. "I got a response from an assistant manager who said he was shocked and told me to write a statement. I got a phone call from a Mrs Naidoo to say she had spoken with this official."
Nyendwana says she didn't know what further to expect from Home Affairs.
"I was thinking they would call me again but they didn't phone." A couple of months later Nyendwana got notification that her ID book was ready. "The first person I met when I went to Home Affairs was the same officer. I was shocked. I got my new ID but I was so angry. I went to this man and I said: "Do you know what you have done with me?" He said he was going to beat me. I said he could beat me because he had hurt me and the beating would not pain me more."
The seamstress started scolding the government official and attacking him. The police were called, who tried to intervene and protect the government official from Nyendwana. A few days later Nyendwana had a court protection order filed against her by the official.
Nyendwana says she has made a case against the police and is waiting for a case number. "Now that I have spoken out I feel better, but I am not better. To be honest I am suffering. If I had my ID, I would be somewhere. I would be living in a decent place compared to where I am living. This official was there to serve us. He took me and made my life miserable. I am hurt. Very hurt. I wish men didn't take women for granted. I feel I was taken for granted. How many people are in my situation like this? I am not the first person. I am not the last person."
Daily Maverick was first alerted to this story by the Daily Sun.
Journalist Mkhuseli Sizani who wrote the story says he often gets calls from foreigners who complain about corruption and Home Affairs officials who demand bribes in order to secure documents. In August Daily Maverick ran a story about Zimbabweans who say they had to pay officials at the Marabastad Refugee Centre in Pretoria bribes to secure papers.
"I spoke to Sonto Lusu, the Home Affairs regional manager for Port Elizabeth and Ronnie Mamoepa the national spokesperson who said they will follow this up. I am also going to continue writing on this matter, but I am just waiting for the arrest to happen and for the case number," says Sizani. Mamoepa says he views the allegations in a serious light and that Home Affairs will investigate and "deal harshly" with the official if the complaint is proven true.
"This woman's life has been shattered. Because of this ID problem she hasn't been able to become a teacher and the officials abused their power which is a bad habit for our country." Sizani says if the matter is proved to be true, the real question will be how many other people were victimised by the man. "It is terrible. What I want to know is was the delay in her ID intentional so as to make her vulnerable?"
The alleged sex offender's name has been given to Daily Maverick but is being withheld until a thorough investigation into Nyendwana's complaint has been conducted.
iMaverick is South Africa's first daily tablet newspaper and includes coverage from the Daily Maverick and Free African Media. To subscribe, go to: www.imaverick.co.za

http://allafrica.com/stories/201109141074.html

Complaint statistics to Home Affairs call centre

****if you have problems that are not being adequately address, contact the Home Affairs DG on his cell.  Read more here. ****

 

Home Affairs: Is the turnaround strategy working?

Annette Lovemore, Shadow Minister of Home Affairs
14 August 2011

In 2008, the Department of Home Affairs introduced a turnaround strategy to remedy the numerous problems that characterise its service delivery. The Department utilised 142 consultants to effect this strategy, at a cost of R899.2 million. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has been informed, unofficially, that the total cost of the strategy has been in the region of R3.2 billion.

In some instances, the turnaround strategy has proved to be relatively successful. However, the DA is concerned that dysfunctionality is still prevalent. The Public Service Commission recently presented its research into service delivery by the Department to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs. The Commission found that the number of clients who felt that they experienced no problems with Home Affairs’ service has substantially decreased (from 78.1% in 2006/07 to 57.1% in 2009/10).

Of the 42.9% of clients who experienced problems, only 12.5 % lodged complaints. (The majority felt that it was not worthwhile to complain, or did not know how to lodge a complaint.)

The Department’s Customer Service Centre (CSC) received 1 074 528 calls between April and November 2009 (the last period for which accurate statistics are available). If this represents the full 12.5% of those who experienced problems, the implication is that approximately 11.4 million people experienced service delivery problems during 2009.

If the Public Service Commission’s research is accurate, and the level of satisfaction has dropped, the current figure is likely to be even higher than this.

The DA is concerned, not only about the apparent decline in satisfaction with service delivery, but about the increase in particular problems being dealt with by the CSC.

The following information, with respect to the nature of calls fielded by the CSC staff, was supplied in a reply received this week to a question posed by the DA to the Minister:


                                                                   2008/09            2009/10             2010/11

Identity Documents: Duplication               9 056                32 377               35 091

Birth Certificates Application Status         31 461               81 590              10 5417

Death Certificates Application Status        2 217                6 637                8 920

Marriage Certificates Application Status    6 108               15 924               17 638

Rectification: Personal Details                    18                    631                   4 479

Work Permits                                              4                    167                    20 868



These numbers are alarming, and deserving of serious attention by the Minister.

The Home Affairs Portfolio Committee will be interacting closely with the Department and its provincial management teams regarding their performance in the upcoming parliamentary sessions, and the DA will utilise these opportunities to interrogate the efficacy of the turnaround strategy, and whether its high cost is justified. With the information currently available, it does not appear as if South Africans have received a return on the investment of public funds in the Department of Home Affairs.

http://da.org.za/newsroom.htm?action=view-news-item&id=9663

Foreigners fleecing welfare system

2011-08-16 22:14

Cape Town - Thousands of foreigners from neighbouring states are enjoying the benefits of South Africa's welfare and pension systems, MPs heard on Tuesday.
Immigration services deputy director general Jackson McKay told a joint sitting of Parliament's labour and home affairs portfolio committees that a roadblock last year, near Musina in Limpopo, had discovered more than 3 000 Zimbabweans carrying South African IDs.
"We ran an operation at the end of the Christmas period. People returning from Christmas holidays. We had a roadblock... and we found in excess of 3 000 Zimbabweans carrying South African documentation.
"So they have access to grants, they have access to all the benefits South Africans have. And they are residing [in Zimbabwe]."
The operation had been set up after officials noticed there was "an inordinate number of 'South Africans' travelling to Zimbabwe", especially over Christmas and Easter.
Living two lives
Earlier, McKay told the committee that a lack of integration between home affairs' systems gave individuals an opportunity to "reside in different regimes within the department's databases, sometimes under different names and enjoying multiple benefits under assumed identities".
Responding to a question on this, he said some of these individuals were actually living across the border, but crossing into South Africa once a month to collect benefits.
"There are people who have South African documentation and... when it is grant time, or pension time, they cross the border to collect the pensions and go back again.
"So they benefit from us. Sometimes they use different names. They enjoy multiple benefits."
Referring to Zimbabweans who had fraudulently procured South African documents, he explained that many lived two lives.
"Some of these Zimbabweans are known as John Smith in South Africa, and John Ngcube in Zimbabwe. And indeed, they live two lives. They have assets, they have bank [accounts], they have everything in Zimbabwe; and they have another identity in South Africa," McKay said.
Asked after the briefing for figures, McKay said these were not immediately available.
The two committees were looking into the presence of foreign nationals within the South African labour market.
Earlier, McKay told members that of the more than 66 000 work permits issued by home affairs in the first quarter of this financial year (April to June), a total of 59 363 were issued to Zimbabweans, in terms of the department's Documentation of Zimbabweans Project.

- SAPA

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Foreigners-fleecing-welfare-system-20110816

Human Rights Report Card

CENTRE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT CARD

The Centre for Constitutional Rights takes pleasure in presenting its third annual Human Rights Report Card indicating where, in our opinion, South Africa has been making progress with regard to human rights and where it has been regressing. We have once again awarded the following grades for human rights in this year's report card: A = Excellent; B = Good; C = Average; D = Poor; and E = Very Poor. At the same time, the +, = and - signs are used to indicate whether things are getting better, staying the same or deteriorating. We have also included last year's grade for comparison.

South Africa continues to be a functioning multiparty constitutional democracy. The Bill of Rights assures its citizens the full spectrum of human rights. However, some important rights have been diluted by legislation, government practice or by government failures in implementation and service delivery. During the past year South Africans have continued to enjoy most of the constitutional rights to which they are entitled. However, proposed legislation and government initiatives raise very serious concerns with regard to some core rights such as freedom of expression; property rights; important aspects of the right to equality; and freedom of trade, occupation and profession; labour relations; and the right to freedom and security of the person.
1. Equality: Grade: E= 2010 Grade: E=
Equality before the law and the right to equal protection and benefit of the law

• The decision of the newly appointed National Director of Public Prosecutions, Adv Menzi Simelane, to drop all investigations into the arms deal has raised doubts concerning the independence of the National Prosecuting Authority and its ability to exercise its functions "without fear, favour or prejudice."
• The continuing liberty of President Zuma's close associate, Mr Schabir Shaik, after he had been released from his 15-year prison sentence, supposedly because of terminal illness, seriously undermines the principle of equality before the law.

Full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms

• According to the 2010 United Nation's Development Programme's Human Development Report South Africa's GINI coefficient, which measures inequality in societies, is 57.8 on a scale where 0 equals absolute equality and 100 equals absolute inequality. This places us 162nd of the 169 countries that were assessed.
• In practice, poverty, unemployment and poor service delivery deprive many South Africans of their right to full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms.

Freedom from unfair discrimination

• The ongoing imposition of unconstitutional demographic representivity continues to lead to unfair racial discrimination. If the proposed amendments to the Employment Equity Act are implemented removing provincial demographics in the implementation of employment equity, it is estimated that 1.3 million Coloured and Indian workers could lose their jobs through unfair discrimination.
• Continuing gender discrimination undermines the equality of women - particularly in the rural areas. According to the UNDP, South Africa had a gender inequality index of 0.635 in 2008, placing it 82nd out of the 169 countries that were assessed.
• South Africa is one of the world leaders in respect of women's representation in government. Women comprise 44% of members of Parliament, 43% of the Cabinet and 40% of local government councilors.
• Gender inequality remains. According to a 2010 study by the Medical Research Council, 86.7% of men and 57.9% of women endorsed the statement that "a woman should obey her husband" and 53.9% of men and 29.8% of women agreed that "the man should have the final say in all family matters".

2. Human Dignity Grade: C= 2010 Grade: C=

• The human dignity of many South Africans continues to be impaired by failure to make progress with the realisation of other rights and specifically the right to equality.
• The human dignity is seriously impaired by degrading levels of poverty and persistent unemployment. In 2008 48% of the population were below the R524 per month poverty line index, down from 58% in 2000. The unemployment level in terms of the broader definition of unemployment is 35.9% and among black South Africans it exceeds 40%.
• Poverty was alleviated by the payment of assistant grants amounting to R80 billion to 14 million South Africans in 2009/10.
• According to critics, the proposed Employment Equity Amendment Bill; the draft Security of Land Tenure Amendment Bill and the raft of Labour Law Bills could threaten millions of jobs, with dire consequences for human dignity.
• Human dignity is also impaired by crime, inadequate education and poor service delivery.

3. Life: Grade: E= 2010 Grade E=

• More than 17 000 South Africans were murdered during 2009/10. This gives South Africa a murder rate of 34.1 per 100 000 - one of the highest in the world - but is a considerable improvement on the 66.9/100 000 rate in 1995 and the 37/100 000 rate in 2008/2009.
• 5.7 million South Africans have HIV/AIDS - the highest number in the world - with approximately 1 000 new infections per day. The Actuarial Society of South Africa estimates that 190 000 people died of AIDS during 2010. Fatalities were down from 257 000 in 2004, primarily because of the successful roll-out of the world's biggest antiretroviral programme.
• Between 2009 and 2010, the infant mortality rate increased from 43 per 1 000 live births to 47 per 1 000 live births, seriously affecting the right to life of infants. In the Eastern Cape the threat was substantially higher than elsewhere.
• The proposed amendment of section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act that expands the right of the police to "shoot to kill", will further threaten the right to life.

4. Freedom and security of the person Grade: D= 2010 Grade D=

• The very high continuing incidence of assault, sexual offences and child abuse seriously undermine the right to freedom and security of the person.

• The proposed amendment of section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act, the so-called "shoot to kill" provision, also undermines the right to security of the person.
• According to the Independent Complaints Directorate's latest Report 860 people died in police custody or as a result of police action in the past year, thereby posing a serious threat to the right to freedom and security of person.
• South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world. The official statistic of 138.5 sexual offences per 100 000 people seriously underestimates the actual rate, since in surveys, one in three men admit to having raped a woman.
• The number of detainees in our prisons continues to increase without the corresponding increase in facilities, thereby substantially reducing our ability to provide effective rehabilitation to the offenders. The right to freedom and security of person is thus increasingly undermined by the number of un-rehabilitated offenders.
• The recent constitutional court hearing in the Glenister matter that there is a duty to establish and maintain an independent body to combat corruption and crime should greatly improve the fight against crime

5. Slavery, servitude and forced labour Grade: A= 2010 Grade A=

• There are few instances of slavery, servitude or forced labour, apart from instances of the so-called "white slave trade".
• This right should be further enhanced when the recently tabled draft Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill is made into law.

6. Privacy: Grade: B= 2010 Grade: B-

• The privacy of citizens is generally respected. Sufficient legislative safeguards exist with regard to state interception of written, telephonic and electronic communication.
• The right to privacy was, however, undermined by amendments to the Regulation of Interception of Communication-Related Information Act (Rica) that came into effect in July 2009. The amendments require operators to obtain the full name, address and identity number of customers buying SIM cards for prepaid services.
• The action of the police in searching Mr Chumani Maxwele's premises without a warrant seriously undermines the right to privacy.
• The unlawful raid by the South African Police on the office of the Public Protector without a warrant undermines the right to privacy.

7. Freedom of religion, belief and opinion Grade: A= 2010 Grade: A=
Freedom of religion, belief and opinion is widely enjoyed by citizens and organisations.
8. Freedom of expression Grade: C- 2010 Grade: C-

• There is general freedom of expression within the limits set by the Constitution.
• The arrest of Mr Chumani Maxwele for making a rude gesture at President Zuma's motorcade and the subsequent defence of the police action by the government, constitute serious breaches of freedom of expression.
• The arrest of Sunday Times journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika, who worked on a story that alleged police commissioner General Bheki Cele had leased new police headquarters for R500m without following the normal tendering process, undermines the freedom of the media and of expression.
• The failure of the government to constrain or condemn the actions of Mr Julius Malema in singing songs calling for the killing of (white) farmers constitutes a clear abuse of the freedom of expression.
• The proposed Protection of Information Bill will seriously affect investigative journalism and thus undermines the freedom of the media.
• The proposed Media Appeals Tribunal will also seriously undermine freedom of the media.
• The recent finding that the SABC Board interfered with editorial independence and blacklisted certain commentators shows how seriously the independence of the public broadcaster and the right to freedom of expression has been undermined.

9. Freedom of assembly, demonstration, picket and petition: Grade: B= 2010 Grade: B=
This right is generally enjoyed, although certain strikes and demonstrations have turned violent, infringing the rights of others.
10. Freedom of association Grade: A= 2010 Grade: A=
This right is universally and freely enjoyed.
11. Political Rights Grade: C= 2010 Grade: C=

• South Africa is a fully-fledged constitutional democracy enjoying universal adult franchise, a national common voters' roll, regular elections and a multiparty system of democratic government.
• However, effective control of both the legislature and the executive lies in the hands of those who control the majority party. The ruling party applies a policy of cadre deployment which gives its politburo control over all government leaders, including the country's President.
• The South African Communist Party, a registered political party, continues to hold more than 70 seats in the National Assembly under the aegis of the African National Congress without having contested any election in its own name.
• The arrest of Mr Chumani Maxwele for allegedly making a rude gesture at President Zuma's motorcade and the subsequent insistence by the police that Mr Maxwele should write a letter of apology to the President are serious contraventions of the right to free political activity.
• Despite the Constitutional Court finding that all South African citizens have the right to vote, the failure to adopt legislation giving effect to this right means that the right to vote of South Africans living abroad is still impaired. This is disturbing in the light of the impending municipal elections.

12. Citizenship Grade: B= 2010 Grade: B=

• Citizenship rights are generally acknowledged and enjoyed.
• The dysfunctionality of the Department of Home Affairs in quickly and effectively issuing passports, IDs and other documents hampers enjoyment of this right.

13. Freedom of movement and residence Grade: A= 2010 Grade: A=
This right is freely enjoyed.
14. Freedom of trade, occupation and profession Grade: D- 2010 Grade: D-

• Although the freedom is formally available, high unemployment of 35.9% effectively deprives millions of South Africans of this right.
• Unbalanced affirmative action increasingly prevents some South Africans from practising the trade, occupation or profession of their choice.
• The proposed raft of labour Bills - The Basic Conditions of Employment Act Amendment Bill, Labour Relations Amendment Bill, Employment Equity Amendment Bill and the Employment Services Bill, will seriously impact on the right of people to choose to work for labour brokers or pursue other forms of atypical or temporary employment.
• The ban on labour broking under these bills will also infringe the right of labour brokers to pursue occupations of their choice.
• Increased state control and interference in the activities of professional bodies, particularly the legal profession (from which judges are chosen), is a cause for concern.

15. Labour relations Grade: A- 2010 Grade: A-

• This right is generally enjoyed. However the four draft Labour Bills propose far more rigid labour laws.
• Moves by the South African Democratic Teachers Union to declare a single union in the education sector would deprive other small unions in the sector of their labour rights.

16. Environment Grade: C- 2010 Grade: C+

• South Africa's power stations are 8th worst in the world in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.
• The rising levels of acidic water in the abandoned mine shafts located in and around Johannesburg, coupled with our limited water resources, pose a serious threat to the environment.
• Some fisheries and other natural resources are under serious pressure.
• Poaching remains a serious problem, with 71 Rhinos having been poached this year.
• On the other hand, South Africa is a world leader in many areas of conservation.
• 75% of South Africa's sewage treatment plants are not up to green drop standard, which is broadly equivalent to international standards. Only 3.8 % of the total plants enjoy green drop status.

17. Property Grade: C- 2010 Grade: B-

• Property rights are increasingly under threat.
• The proposed draft green paper on land reform would limit the freehold property rights of South Africans and would seriously restrict foreign ownership of property.
• The effective expropriation of some mineral rights has seriously undermined property rights.
• The draft Security of Tenure Bill will have as yet immeasurable implications for the property rights of farmers.

18. Housing: Grade: B+ 2010 Grade: B+
By 2009/2010 the government had built more than 3 million houses and another
930 000 were in the planning stage. 76.2 of South African households lived in formal dwellings, 13.5% were still in informal dwellings and 10.4% were in traditional dwellings. Nevertheless, there remains an unacceptably large backlog of 2 million homes.

• Problems continue to exist with housing lists.
• The poor quality of workmanship in many of the RDP houses undermines the right to access to adequate housing.

19. Health care Grade: D+ 2010 Grade: D-

• South Africa spends approximately 8.5% of GDP on health services. Public health expenditure amounts for 4.6% of GDP and private health expenditure the remainder.
• Private health care - enjoyed by 16% of the population - is generally of high world standard, but public health care is relatively poor despite increases in expenditure. Service in many clinics and state hospitals remains unsatisfactory and there is a dire shortage of nurses.
• The most serious health threat remains HIV/AIDS which also has a negative impact on tuberculosis rates and infant mortality. Between 2009 and 2010 the number of people with HIV/AIDS increased from 5.7 million to 5.8 million people.
• The government is actively considering the introduction of a National Health Insurance Scheme, but there is still no consensus regarding the model and funding of the scheme which would require an estimated additional 10 000 general practitioners and between 7 000 and 17 000 specialists.

20. Food, welfare and social security Grade: B- 2010 Grade: B-

• The Government has succeeded in providing access to electricity water and sanitary services to 72% of the population.
• The number of people receiving social grants increased to 14.1 million in 2009/2010 - 28% of the population - which is not sustainable indefinitely.
• The fact that more than 90% of the 5.9 million hectares of land the state has bought for emerging farmers are no longer productive poses a threat to our food security.
• Critics claim that the proposed Draft Security of Tenure Bill might further threaten food security through the creation of agri-villages and through negatively impacting on commercial productivity.

21. Children: Grade: D= 2010 Grade: D=

• The ample children's rights guaranteed by the Constitution are largely unavailable in practice to millions of children.
• Child abuse is widespread.
• In 2009/2010 there was a 14.5% increase in child murders.
• There was a 42.3% increase in attempted child murders.
• There was a 36.1% increase in all sexual offences.
• There are tens of thousands of child-headed households and street children.
• 36% of our children do not have access to running water.
• 39% do not have adequate sanitation at home.
• 18% of children live in households where children go hungry.
• Over 9 million children live off child grants, which are mostly used to support other members of the family.

22. Education: Grade: E+ 2010 Grade: E+

• Despite enormous allocation of funds education since 1994 has been a disastrous failure.
• Although there was a nominal increase in the number of pupils who passed with grades good enough to proceed to higher education, the figure remains unacceptably low at 23.5%.
• Only 15.1% passed the mathematics paper with 40%.
• South African children fare very badly in international literacy and numeracy tests - even when compared with results in the poorest African states.
• The Global Competitiveness Report revealed that South Africa is ranked 130th out of 139 countries in so far as the quality of our education system is concerned. The quality of our maths and science education places us 137th.
• There are, however, indications that the government plans a more concerted and realistic approach to education, particularly at junior school level.
• Indigenous language speakers do not have adequate access to education in the language of their choice at any level of education.
• 78% of schools don't have libraries.
• 87% do not have computer centres or centres that are not stocked with computers.

23. Language and Culture Grade: D= 2010 Grade: D+

• The outlook for language rights has remained largely unchanged due to the failure of PANSALB to actively promote and develop the 11 indigenous languages.
• English remains the de facto single official language.
• Many black South African children are being deprived of the right to adequate basic education in their mother tongue.
• Afrikaans education, both at schools and at universities, is under pressure.

24. Cultural, religious and linguistic communities Grade: B= 2010 Grade: B=
Cultural, religious and linguistic communities are generally free to pursue their interests, although the state has tried to impose requirements for demographic representivity in community-based charitable organisations.
25. Access to information Grade: D- 2010 Grade: C=

• Although the right is granted by the Constitution, it is often difficult or impossible to obtain relevant information from the state.
• The proposed Protection of Information Bill will seriously limit access to information from organs of the State - including government departments and parastatals.

26. Just administrative action Grade: C- 2010 Grade: C=
The increased decline in service delivery and standards, particularly in some of the poorer provinces, has made it difficult for some people to claim their right to just administrative action. Fortunately, the courts generally uphold this right when they are approached.
27. Access to the courts Grade: C= 2010 Grade: C-

• The courts are theoretically accessible. However, many citizens who do not have the resources to appoint lawyers find it difficult to press their claims unless they are assisted by legal resource centres or legal aid.
• The unacceptably high backlog at the Courts and delays further deprives people of this right, as does the dysfunctional criminal justice system, which often results in cases being thrown out.
• The successful litigation mounted by an individual - Mr Hugh Glenister - with regard to the abolition of the Directorate of Special Operations (the Scorpions) is a heartening example of effective access to the courts.

28. Arrested, detained and accused persons Grade: D- 2010 Grade: D=

• The current average overcrowding rate in South Africa's prisons is 143%.
• 188 prisons countrywide are overcrowded, and more than 20 of these have an occupancy rate of more than 2 offenders per bed.
• Overcrowding is a serious state of affairs as it leads to the growth of gangsterism and contributes towards the high level of recidivism.
• Awaiting trial prisoners are subjected to unacceptable delays due to the collapsed criminal justice system.

Issued by the Centre for Constitutional Rights, FW de Klerk Foundation, March 18 2011

Draft submission to the public protector: 15 March

If you have any suggestions about this draft complaint, please email homeaffairsinvestigation@gmail.com
The complaint will be submitted to the Public Protector on 15 March

Complaint:
To investigate maladministration in the permits section of the department of home affairs
Remedy:
To facilitate the fast-tracking of the permit backlog, and that applicants affected by the backlog are not deemed to be in contravention of the immigration act (so they are not deported or forced to leave their jobs)

Details:

Poor Service:
-investigate allegations of poor service i.e. queueing in the early hours of the morning e.g. 3 a.m
-investigate allegations that the department (Pretoria office) is not speaking to the public or attorneys


Investigation of permanent residency (PR) applications:- How many PR applications were received per annum in the last 5-10 years.
-how many (percentage of annual applications) were adjudicated within
8 months of receipt per year
-If the figure is less than 100% (as the adjudication time given by Home
affairs used to be 30 days but has gradually moved to 8 months at time
of writing) why are applications taking longer than 30days (as per the original processing time) to 8 months (as per home affairs web site)
- what percentage of annual applications were adjudicated unfavourably
(rejected) per year
-what percentage of rejected applications were successfully appealed per year
- if the successfully appealed rejections are more than 20%, why are
adjudications not being done properly initially
-what steps are being taking to improve the adjudication process
-what is the average turnaround time for an adjudication
-if it is longer than 30 days (as stated by Home affairs in their
receipt letters) why are there adjudication backlogs and what is being
done to correct this situation

Investigation of temporary residency (TR) applications (as for PR)

Confirmation of Residency
-how many incidences of incorrect residency have been lodged per year
(where the department says someone is not a PR, when they infact are.
This happens when someone needs confirmation of PR e.g. for a new
foreign passport to be issued).
-What was the range of turnaround times to rectify these incidences


Legal action
-How many court orders/legal action have been taken against home
affairs per annum in the last 10 years
- What percentage of these is relating to permits
- What is the cost of litigation relating to permits per year
-what is being done to improve the service so that people do not
resort to court action
Repatriation deposits- the value of repatriation deposits collected annually for the last 5-10 years
-the average deposit paid per person
-average deposit period per person
-what type of account the moneys are being held in
-what interest is being earned annually on these deposits (if any)
-if deposits are paid back to applicants with interest. If not, why not.
-If not, what explanation is given to depositors regarding the interest


Public Protector
-How many complaints have been filed against the department at the
public protector per year for the last 10 years
-What is the breakdown of complaints per department (e.g.immigration,
birth certificates, ids etc)
-what is being done to improve the service so that the number of
complaints starts to decrease

Parliamentary Questions
-how many parliamentary questions were submitted to the minister of home affairs in 2010
-what percentage of these were answered?
-if less than 100%, why were these not answered
-what steps are being taken to remedy this situation

Bilateral Relations-How many countries have tightened their visa requirements for south
africans in the last 10 years (per country per year)
-What reasons were given for tightening their visa requirements
-How many countries have discontinued bilateral agreements for south
africans e.g. for working holiday visas, short work programmes etc
-What reasons were given for discontinuing these agreements

Submit Evidence

If you would like your case to be used as evidence by the public protector, send an e-mail to homeaffairsinvestigation@gmail.com

Include the following information:
Subject Line: Type of Permit you applied for e.g. spouse/exceptional skills/permanent residency or Appeal or Other issue

Name
Passport Number
Reference Number
Date of Application
Attach evidence of correspondence with home affairs

Support an investigation by the Public Protector

Support an investigation  by the Public Protector of maladministration in the permits section of the South African Department of Home Affairs.  The complaint will be submitted on 15 March 2011.

To support the submission to the Public Protector, send an e-mail to homeaffairsinvestigation@gmail.com