Regulate status of people from other SADC countries

QUESTION 116/ NW125E
DATE OF PUBLICATION: Friday, 17 February 2012
INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 02 of 2012
Mr G B D Mc Intosh (Cope) to ask the Minister of Home Affairs:

Whether there are any plans to regulate the status of nationals from Southern African Development Community countries, except Zimbabwe; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
NW125E

REPLY:
No. Not at the stage.


http://www.pmg.org.za/node/30871

Zim dispensation: 2nd Phase

QUESTION 117 / NW126E
DATE OF PUBLICATION: Friday, 17 February 2012

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 02 of 2012
Mr G B D Mc Intosh (Cope) to ask the Minister of Home Affairs:



Whether there are any plans in place to implement a second phase to regulate the status of Zimbabwean nationals in South Africa; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, when is this second phase envisaged to (a) commence and (b) end?

NW126E

REPLY:



(a) & (b) No. The position of the Department of Home Affairs has been very clear in this regard. A second phase to regulate the status of Zimbabwean nationals will not be implemented.
http://www.pmg.org.za/node/30871

Zimbabwe Documentation Project Update

STATUS ON THE ZIMBABWEAN DOCUMENTATION PROJECT

With regard to the process of the issuance of permits to the Zimbabweans living in South Africa the following statistics pertain:

Total number of applications received as at 31 December 2010: 275 762

Approved and issued with permits: 158 497

Pending: 117 265

Pre-adjudicated with outstanding documents required: 116 960

Sms sent applicants to bring outstanding documents: 114 596

Responses received from SMS: 113 629

Responses pending: 967

Amnesty applications: 6243



Issued by Department of Home Affairs

Arcadia House

909 Arcadia Street, Pretoria, 0001

4 November 2011

ZCC Convention Prayer Session

FACILITATION OF MOVEMENT OF ZCC MEMBERS EN ROUTE TO ZIMBABWE FOR THE ZCC CONVENTION PRAYER SESSION

Today, Friday 4 November, Home Affairs Immigration officers facilitated the smooth movement of ZCC Bishop Barnabas Lekganyane, through the Beit Bridge border into Zimbabwe ahead of the scheduled ZCC Prayer Convention scheduled for Sunday 6 November in Bulawayo.

Bishop Lekganyane is leading a delegation of about 70 000 ZCC members travelling in approximately 510 buses who will be crossing into Zimbabwe over the weekend for their scheduled annual Convention Prayer Sermon.

In consultation with the Home Affairs Department, SAPS, SANDF, Customs, and SARS, the government agreed to assist in the facilitation of the smooth movement of these ZCC members through Beit Bridge to travel to Zimbabwe.

The Department of Home Affairs has accordingly deployed 98 additional Immigration and Civic officers to assist the current contingent of immigration officers stationed at Beit Bridge to assist with the operation. They will be joined by members of the other law enforcement agencies such as SAPS and SANDF including SARS and Customs.

To ensure easy immigration process to facilitate this movement, the Department of Home Affairs has in consultation with SARS, Customs, SAPS and the SANDF opened a temporary transit facility at Musina, equipped with 40 work stations linked to the Home Affairs Movement Control System (MCS) for this purposes. The Limpopo government emergency medical services are deployed on site whilst the SANDF has supplied an electrical generator. In addition to the 510 buses expected to travel, 50 mini buses have been issued with permits by the Cross Border Roads and Transport Agency.

Our plan is to ensure there is no blockage caused at the border gate due to this large movement of persons in and out of the country. Once these ZCC members have been processed at Musina, they will then be escorted by the SAPS and SANDF to Beit Bridge for crossing into Zimbabwe.

We are satisfied that every resource has been put at the disposal of Bishop Lekganyane and members of the ZCC to ensure a smooth, effective and efficient movement into Zimbabwe. On behalf of Minister Dlamini Zuma, the department of Home Affairs and indeed on my own behalf we express our best wishes to these members of the ZCC during their annual convention in Bulawayo.

http://www.dha.gov.za/

Media release

Weekly Media Briefing by Home Affairs Director-General Mkuseli Apleni

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4 NOVEMBER 2011

UWC boots 50 foreigners from campus

Aug 15, 2011 | Francis Miles |

A REFUGEE rights group has raised its concerns after the University of the Western Cape dismissed nearly 50 foreign students who allegedly do not have valid study permits.

People Against Suppression, Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (Passop) said that nine of the students were Zimbabweans who were still waiting for their papers to be processed by the Department of Home Affairs under the Zimbabwe Dispensation Project.
In a letter sent to the students the university (UWC) said that the students had earlier this year signed a letter promising to contact the department to ensure that they had valid papers.
"We have notified you in two previous mail messages, that we urgently need a copy of your valid study permit for the current academic year. You have failed to submit the required documentation to our offices," the letter said.
"It is with regret that we wish to inform you that your registration for 2011 has been cancelled with immediate effect.
"Please hand in your student card at our reception immediately.
"You are not allowed to attend any future classes and make use of any of our facilities on campus.
"Please note that the Department of Home Affairs will be informed of your status as not being a registered student any longer."
Passop spokesperson Langton Miriyoga said they would meet with the dismissed students and the Student Representative Council on the matter "as soon as possible".
Miriyoga added that they were also going to approach legal experts on immigration matters.
"UWC is the only university doing this, others such as the University of Cape Town have been patient with students," he said.
He said they were worried that if UWC were to notify the department that they had deregistered the Zimbabwean students, their study permits might not be processed.
Miriyoga said that the dismissed students should have the right to continue their education while their papers were being sorted out.
UWC spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo blamed the Department of Home Affairs, saying it had never told them it would only finish issuing Zimbabweans with their permits by the end of August.
"The university has not received any formal communication from Home Affairs.
"The onus is on them to communicate with us formally because we have approached them on a number of occasions before.
"With those particular students from Zimbabwe, we were expecting feedback from Home Affairs.
"We have been asking them over and over again what the university should do in the meantime, until the permits come out," he said.

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011/08/15/uwc-boots-50-foreigners-from-campus

D-day for illegal Zimbabweans

Aug 1, 2011 | Charl du Plessis |

THOUSANDS of Zimbabweans are in the dark as to their status in South Africa, with the official moratorium on deportations having expired yesterday and with no indication by government as to whether the deadline will be extended

Although NGO's claim the department of Home Affairs has given indications that the moratorium may be extended until the end of this month, no official announcement to this effect has yet been made.
At a press briefing last week, Home Affairs Deputy Director-General Jackie Mckay said the department would conclude adjudicating permit applications by yesterday.
The stakes are high - while the department has registered 275,762 applications, NGO's estimate there are as many as a million undocumented Zimbabweans in the country.
This means thousands could be deported back to Zimbabwe, where the political situation is now less stable than it was when President Jacob Zuma's Cabinet announced an end to the special dispensation for Zimbabweans in September.
Tara Polzer-Ngwato, a senior researcher at Wits' African Centre for Migration and Society, said that "one of the things we are hearing out of Zimbabwe is political mobilisation".
Polzer-Ngwato said: "It is possible that people who will be deported from South Africa might be seen as opposition supporters and in danger of persecution."
She also said the possibility of deportation would create insecurity among Zimbabweans that could have a significant effect on South Africa.
Braam Hanekom, of the People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty, said he was "disappointed" that no announcement of an extension had been made, because the silence "was causing a lot of paranoia among Zimbabweans".
He said undocumented Zimbabweans became more vulnerable to crime, as corrupt police officers have in the past solicited bribes from them. They were also less likely to report crimes against them, such as rape, for fear of being deported.
Mckay said the department had received 275762 applications, issued 133810 permits while a further 2248 applications were still pending.
Mckay criticised the media's "fixation" with deportation, saying the process was about regularising the stay of foreign nationals in South Africa and that no mass deportations were planned.
"But anyone who is found in South Africa without legal documentation will be deported," she said.
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011/08/01/d-day-for-illegal-zimbabweans

Zimbabwean Documentation Project: briefing by Department of Home Affairs

Date of Meeting: 

20 Sep 2011

Chairperson: 

Ms M Maunye (ANC)

Documents handed out: 

Department of Home Affairs on the Zimbabwean Documentation Project

Audio recording of the meeting: 

PC Home: Briefing by Department of Home Affairs on the Zimbabwean Documentation Project

Summary: 

The Committee received a briefing from the Department of Home Affairs on the progress of the Zimbabwean Documentation Project.

The Department highlighted that a special Dispensation for Zimbabwean Nationals was introduced in April 2009 to respond to the high inflow of Zimbabweans into South Africa. Amongst some of the key points in the agreement to carry out the Project was the promise that South Africa would issue permits to qualifying Zimbabwe Nationals in terms of the Immigration Act on relaxed requirements. After the Special Dispensation which ended in May 2010, the Documentation of Zimbabweans Project commenced on 20 September 2010 and sought to regularise undocumented Zimbabweans currently residing in South Africa. It also sought to relieve pressure from the Asylum Seeker Management system.

Within the Documentation of Zimbabweans Project, three categories of permits were considered by the Department namely Business, Work and Study Permits. Relaxed requirements and shortened processes were implemented in December 2010 to document Zimbabweans with a target date of 31 December 2010, for receiving applications. Those relaxed requirements allowed for applications to be submitted without all the relevant supporting documents and without the taking of fingerprints. During December 2010, applications were also received from the Zimbabwean Consulate, identified NGO’s and the farmers to ensure achievement of the set target date.

The Department had received a total of 275 762 applications for permits under the Dispensation. The DHA had approved and issued 134 369 permits and had pre-adjudicated and check listed 141 393 applications. In lieu of the SMS initiative, the Department had sent out 131 658 text messages to applicants and 43 133 of those contacted had responded with 7 163 applications matched to applications. 6 243 applicants under the Dispensation had applied for amnesty and 49 255 had surrendered their asylum seeker status in applying for permits under the Dispensation. There had been a total of 116 960 incomplete applications received by the Department. There were still some phasing-out initiatives which were in progress with the final closing report to be presented to the Minister with a clear direction to be pronounced by her.

Members asked when the Documentation Project would be complete. They sought clarity on the role of the South African Defence Forces in assisting with permitting. They asked when the amnesty period for the Project expired. They asked how long business and work permits issued under the Project were valid for. They asked whether the Department had statistics on how many Zimbabweans had opted not to apply for permits under the Project.

Members asked who had been responsible for the issuance of fraudulent documents and what could be done to punish the people responsible. They asked whether the Department traced illegal immigrants in the country and had a record of how many illegal migrants there were in the country. They commented that it was important to take into account international conventions when drafting policy on migrants and refugees; he noted the importance of the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees to which South Africa was a signatory.

Minutes: 

Department of Home Affairs Briefing on the Zimbabwean Dispensation
Mr Jack Monedi, Acting Chief Director for Permits: Department of Home Affairs (DHA) briefed the Committee on progress made on the Zimbabwean Dispensation.

The Department highlighted that a special dispensation for Zimbabwean Nationals was introduced in April 2009 to respond to the high inflow of Zimbabweans into South Africa. A bilateral meeting of Ministers had been held on 17 June 2010 and the meeting had agreed amongst others on the following:
•The moratorium on deportations and special dispensation should come to an end following the positive socio-political development in Zimbabwe;
•That both countries should work jointly to regularise Zimbabwe nationals.
•A joint Project to document Zimbabwe Nationals;
•Zimbabwe will issue passports to all its nationals;
•South Africa would issue permits to qualifying Zimbabwe Nationals in terms of the Immigration Act on relaxed requirements

After the Special Dispensation which ended in May 2010, the Documentation of Zimbabweans Project (DZP) commenced on 20 September 2010 and sought to regularise undocumented Zimbabweans currently residing in South Africa. It also sought to relieve pressure from the Asylum Seeker Management system. When the Project commenced, the Department did not have accurate and reliable data on the number of undocumented Zimbabweans in South Africa which posed a serious challenge for the country and for the migrants as well.
Within the Documentation of Zimbabweans Project, three categories of permits were considered by the Department namely:
•Business Permits
•Study Permits
•Work Permits

Relaxed requirements and shortened processes were implemented in December 2010 to document Zimbabweans with a target date of 31 December 2010, for receiving applications. Those relaxed requirements allowed for applications to be submitted without all the relevant supporting documents and without the taking of fingerprints. During December 2010, applications were also received from the Zimbabwean Consulate, identified NGO’s and the farmers to ensure achievement of the set target date. The deadline of 31 December 2010 was closed with a total number of 275 762 received applications. After 31 December 2010 all applications were dispatched to Head Office regardless of unavailability of supporting documents.

Amongst some of the key issues to be taken forward from the DZP programme the Department listed the re-instatement of the teleconference which would improve compliance issues from Frontline Offices. There would be continuation of the DHA Short Messaging System (SMS) to give notice to Zimbabwean applicants to submit outstanding supporting documentation and fingerprints to permitting with matching of SMS response to the applications and verification/validation of compliance in order to issue permits. A Zimbabwean stakeholder forum meeting was scheduled for the 19 September to mobilise applicants to respond to SMS and to submit outstanding documents and taking fingerprints. Amnesty applications and intention to surrender asylum would receive focused attention. Applicants who applied for Amnesty were contacting the Department to ensure that the Amnesty confirmation forms were completed. Clients whose pre-adjudicated forms have been matched with submitted supporting documents would be issued with Permits.

The Department stated that all incomplete applications dispatched to Head Office were sorted according to the following criteria: 
•Applicants who applied using other Zimbabwean identification such as Identity Documents, Birth Certificates, Drivers Licenses or expired Zimbabwean Passports;
•Applicants that applied with no supporting documents;
•Complete applications with only fingerprints outstanding.

The details of applicants awaiting Zimbabwean Passports and applicants without documents have already been provided electronically to the Zimbabwean Consulate. Discussion with Financial Institutions had taken place in respect of applicants who applied for amnesty. Engagement had also taken place with the Department of Transport on the issue of verifications for Drivers Licenses. That Department should also be provided with access to the online verification database. Development and testing of the DHA Short Messaging System (SMS) had been finalised and activated from 4 April 2011.

The Department had received a total of 275 762 applications for permits under the Dispensation. The DHA had approved and issued 134 369 permits and had pre-adjudicated and check listed 141 393 applications. In lieu of the SMS initiative, the Department had sent out 131 658 text messages to applicants and 43 133 of those contacted had responded with 7 163 applications matched to applications. 6 243 applicants under the Dispensation had applied for amnesty and 49 255 had surrendered their asylum seeker status in applying for permits under the Dispensation. There had been a total of 116 960 incomplete applications received by the Department. 

There were still some phasing-out initiatives which were in progress with the final closing report to be presented to the Minister with a clear direction to be pronounced by her. 

Discussion
Ms A Lovemore (DA) asked what role the South African Defence Force (SANDF) was playing in assisting the DHA with the DZP and why they were being used. She asked how long business and work permits issued under the DZP were valid for. She asked whether the DHA had statistics on how many Zimbabweans had opted not to apply for permits under the DZP. She asked what sort of documents had been fraudulent as referred to in the presentation. She asked what the timeframe for the ending of the DZP was. She asked what happened to people who had given up their asylum seeker status in applying for the Dispensation and then were denied a permit under the DZP.

Mr Mkuseli Apleni, Director General: DHA replied that the DHA had integrated SANDF personnel because it was important to promote coordination in government and if the skills needed to do the job could be procured within the government then they would be. The Department was attempting to save money and to prevent backlogs by working with the SANDF. Use of the SANDF also countered the threat of corruption as the Department was less reliant on contract workers who had not undergone vetting. The deadline for receiving applications for the DZP had been 31 December 2010 and the deadline for processing the remaining applications was the end of September 2011. There were no statistics on how many Zimbabweans had failed to apply for the Dispensation outside of the statistics that were in the presentation. The documents which were fraudulent as presented in the briefing varied from ID documents to permits. People who had applied for permits under the Dispensation and subsequently relinquished their claims to asylum status were informed that permits were granted on a merit basis and they applied for those with that understanding.

Mr Monedi replied that the business and work permits granted under the DZP were valid for four years. He reiterated that the documents which were fraudulent were widespread and varied as stated by the DG.

Adv A Gaum (ANC) asked when the DZP would be finished. He asked what the timeline for the amnesty period was in the DZP.

Mr Apleni responded that the deadline for receiving applications for the DZP had been 31 December 2010 and the deadline for processing the remaining applications was the end of September 2011. The amnesty period had also ended at the end of December last year. 

Mr M Mnqasela (DA) asked whether the Department traced illegal immigrants in the country and had a record of how many illegal migrants there were in the country. He raised the issue of two Zimbabwean teachers who were working in a Khayelitsha school and were awaiting work permits; he asked whether the Department had any further information on the issue. He commented that it was important to take into account international conventions when drafting policy on migrants and refugees; he noted the importance of the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees to which South Africa was a signatory. 

Mr Apleni replied that the Department did not know how many illegal immigrants were in the country and had no record of them. The Department was working to improve the processes it had in order to be able to monitor people coming into the country and the DZP was part of that effort.

Ms S Rwexana (COPE) asked what the timeframe for the DZP was. She asked who had been responsible for the issuance of fraudulent documents and what could be done to punish the people responsible.

Mr Apleni replied that the deadline for receiving applications for the DZP had been the 31 December 2010 and the deadline for processing the remaining applications was the end of September 2011. Some officials within the Department had been responsible for the issuance of fraudulent documents. Those who were caught were dealt with within the ambit of the law.

The Chairperson sought clarity on the role of the SANDF in the permitting process. She asked whether the Dispensation applied to other immigrants in the country.

Mr Mkuseli Apleni, Director General: DHA replied that the DHA had integrated SANDF personnel because it was important to promote coordination in government and if the skills needed to do the job could be procured within the government then they would be. The Department was attempting to save money and to prevent backlogs by working with the SANDF. Use of the SANDF also countered the threat of corruption as the Department was less reliant on contract workers who had not undergone vetting. The DZP had been solely aimed at Zimbabwean immigrants but other such initiatives may be undertaken by the Department in the near future.

Ms Lovemore asked what the permit stabilisation project noted in the presentation was. She asked whether there were any rejected applications for the Dispensation and why they were not noted in the presentation.

Mr Apleni responded that the permit stabilisation project was an attempt by the Department to centralise permitting so as to control the permitting system and manage it better. The rejected applications would only be reflected after the Dispensation was complete at the end of September and the official figures had been approved by the Minister. The Department would brief the Committee on those figures once the process was complete.

Mr Mnqasela reiterated that UN Conventions should be acknowledged in the creation of policy on migration and the Department needed to comment on the issue. He asked whether the DG thought the Dispensation had been a success in the Department’s view.

Mr Apleni responded that the Department considered the Dispensation a success. The main goal of the project was to provide rights to those Zimbabweans who had been employed in the country but were not granted protections due to their permit status. The people who had applied had gotten a chance at receiving fair treatment and at regularising and legitimising their stay in the country.

Mr Major Kobese, Head of Policy in the Office of the Director General: DHA replied that teh Department was not opposed in principle to the 1951 UN Convention on refugees. The challenge for the Department was ensuring that future policy on migration encompassed human rights and provided protections for the country so that its laws were not abused.

Ms G Bothman (ANC) commented that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Dispensation specifically and not to discuss UN Conventions.

Mr Mnqasela reiterated the importance of noting the UN Convention on Refugees.

Ms Lovemore commented that it was important that the Committee and the Department not take on a negative stance towards immigrants as that was detrimental to the work on migration.

Adv Gaum asked whether the Department had received cooperation from Zimbabwean authorities through the Dispensation. He asked whether the Department would have follow-up interviews with applicants under the Dispensation.

Mr Apleni responded that the Department had received cooperation from Zimbabwean authorities both at a Consular level and Ministerial level. The Department would follow-up on people who had applied for permits under the Dispensation and would ensure that what had been stated on applications was true.

Ms N Mnisi (ANC) asked why there had been a low number of permits issued by the Department.

Mr Monedi replied that the low number of issued permits was due to capacity issues and was one of the reasons the DHA had brought in the services of the SANDF.
The Chairperson said that on a recent oversight visit the Committee had been appalled by the situation at the Lesotho border with Maseru, she asked the Department what it was doing to alleviate the situation.

Mr Apleni responded that it was important for the Committee to get firsthand insight into what was happening at posts such as Maseru. The Department was working to stringently enforce the border there and ensure that people entering the country went through the proper channels before doing so.

The meeting was adjourned.
http://www.pmg.org.za/report/20110920-department-home-affairs-zimbabwean-documentation-project

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

More backlogs? 400 contract workers not reinstated

Lapsing of contracts: DG wants answers

July 6 2011 at 08:43am
By Mogomotsi Magom and Ntando Makhubu

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INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

Director-general of Home Affairs Mkuseli Apleni addresses the media about the administration of the department. Picture: Sizwe Ndingane

Senior managers at the Department of Home Affairs’ Pretoria offices will have to explain why they let contract workers continue performing their duties when their contracts had ended.

It has come to light that about 400 contract workers whose contracts expired last Thursday were allowed to continue working last Friday and on Monday after their contracts had expired.

Some claimed they had been asked to carry on working as their contracts would be extended, as they had been in March.

The workers, mostly based at the department’s Watloo offices, said they were stopped from working only on Tuesdday and told to leave the premises when they reported for duty.

Home Affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni said if it was proven that workers were allowed to work while out of contract, the senior managers responsible would have to explain how this happened.

“If it is true, that means some managers did not comply with the contracts the department had signed with the contract workers.

“The contracts clearly state that June 30 was their last day in the service of the department and they were not supposed to work beyond that,” Apleni said.

The workers claimed to have been unfairly dismissed by the department, and said they should have been given sufficient notice before their contracts were terminated.

Requesting anonymity for fear of victimisation, they explained that when their contracts came to an end at the end of last month, they were asked to continue working because there was still a big workload.

One said: “They promised us three-month contracts to last until the projected end of the project in September, but they also said we should expect an extension after that - until December, because of the huge workload.”

On Friday and Monday they went about their normal duties, which included processing applications for Zimbabwean nationals who wished to live and work in South Africa, but when they arrived at work on Tuesday, they said, they were told to stop working and to leave immediately, because they no longer had contracts with the department.

“We were told to hand in state equipment and to take all our belongings, or risk being thrown out by security (guards) if we did not leave.”

They said the workload consisted of more than 147 000 untouched files which were waiting for outstanding requirements like fingerprints, letters from employers and passports, and an additional pile of completed files waiting for approval.

“We should have been given a month’s notice, because we have families to support, bills and installments to pay – what will we do now?” another asked.

Apleni said the department had advertised a total of 558 posts and had received more than 143 000 applications for the positions.

Only 104 contract workers were retained for the permanent positions, and more contract workers would be released from the department leading up to the July 31 deadline for processing applications by Zimbabweans wishing to stay and work in South Africa. - Pretoria News

http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/lapsing-of-contracts-dg-wants-answers-1.1094094

Refugees in court for better conditions

Refugees in SA fight for better conditions

21 Aug 2011 | ANDREW MUBAYIWA

A group of asylum- seekers has applied to the High Court in Pretoria for an order directing the Home Affairs ministry to provide adequate refugee reception offices in South Africa, including in Johannesburg.

Zimbabweans stand in a long queue at a Home Affairs office in SA when a deportation deadline loomed

Photograph by: Picture: ESA ALEXANDER

The order - which, if granted, could force an overhaul of a refugee management system that at times borders on dysfunctional - seeks to compel the ministry to address a host of problems, including rampant corruption and overcrowding at reception offices that have made applying for asylum a nightmare in South Africa.
In a joint application, 74 asylum-seekers and two Johannesburg-based immigrant rights groups want the ministry's failure to set up enough reception offices declared "unlawful and unconstitutional".
Lawyers for Human Rights has filed the application on behalf of the asylum-seekers, the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (Cormsa) and the Coordinating Body of Refugee Communities (CBRC).
SA Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and her director-general, Mkuseli Apleni, are first and second respondents. The director of asylum-seeker management and the officers in charge at Marabastad and the Tshwane Interim Refugee Reception (Tirro) are the other respondents in the matter, which has yet to be set down for hearing.
The ministry had not yet responded to questions on the matter at the time of going to press. The ministry last May closed the Crown Mines refugee reception office that served Johannesburg, which arguably housed the greatest number of immigrants. The office was closed after nearby businesses filed a court application alleging crowds of immigrants that flocked to the office were disturbing their operations.
Following the closure, asylum-seekers from Johannesburg were asked to use the reception offices at Marabastad and Tirro that were already barely able to cope with their own workloads before the addition of tens of thousands more people who used to go to Crown Mines.
This, the applicants say, has led to overcrowding at the two reception offices and, in many cases, it has become virtually impossible for asylum-seekers to get the assistance due to them under the Refugees Act.
The matter first came to court in July this year as two applications by eight asylum applicants who wanted to renew their expired Section 22 permits, also known as asylum-seeker permits, obtained from Crown Mines before its closure. They wanted the ministry ordered to renew the permits after failing to have this done at Tirro because of overcrowding there.
The second group of 66 new applicants for Section 22 permits wanted the ministry directed to grant them immediate access to Marabastad so they could lodge their applications after failing to do so because of congestion at the reception office.
But the court found that it was not in the interests of justice to consider relief for the particular applicants only. It said it preferred hearing evidence of a "class of similarly situated asylum applicants" in order for the systemic problems which had led to the original applications to be considered.
Both applications were postponed so they could be amended into one omnibus application tackling the myriad problems bedevelling the refugee management system and to also allow Cormsa and CRBC to join in the matter. Among other key aspects the applicants want the ministry ordered to do are that it probes corruption at Maraba-stad and Tirro, implements measures to maximise productivity at the two offices and also that it ensures force is not used unnecessarily against asylum applicants.
They also want the ministry ordered to introduce effective queue management systems at reception offices, put up signage stating procedures for applying for asylum, scrap fines for asylum-seekers who failed to renew permits on or after June this year and set up grievance and complaints desks at Marabastad and Tirro.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2011/08/21/refugees-in-sa-fight-for-better-conditions?service=print

'Smuggled' Zimbabwean children taken home

Sapa | 11 August, 2011 10:18

 

A group of 21 children who were allegedly smuggled into South Africa from Zimbabwe on Wednesday have been taken home by the Department of Home Affairs.

Limpopo police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mohale Ramatseba said on Thursday that a 32-year-old Bulawayo man had allegedly helped the children to cross the Limpopo River into South Africa on Wednesday morning.
"The children were referred to Home Affairs and taken back to Zimbabwe," Ramatseba said.
"The Bulawayo man paid a R2000 admission of guilt fine for smuggling illegally."
Ramatseba said the man had "apparently" been hired by children's parents.
He was to have transported the children, aged between one and 16, to Johannesburg from Bulawayo.
He was apprehended in South Africa at around 6am on Wednesday while loading the children into a car in a bushy area between the South African side of the border and Musina.
The man paid a fine and was handed over to the Zimbabwean police.
"More charges will be preferred against him upon completion of investigations," Zimbabwean police officer commanding Beitbridge Chief Superintendent Lawrence Chinhengo told the country's Herald Online newspaper.
The children were taken under the care of Save the Children Centre in Zimbabwe while investigations continued.
"We are yet to verify the suspect's claim that he was taking them to their parents," Chinhengo said.
"The suspect will soon be sent to court and we want to strongly warn all those involved in such criminal acts that their days are numbered."
Seven other men who were travelling in the same vehicle were also arrested for contravening the Immigration Act.
Among them, five had valid travel passports though they had opted to leave the country through an illegal crossing point, said Chinhengo.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2011/08/11/smuggled-zimbabwean-children-taken-home

Home Affairs denies stampede

Two migrants were allegedly killed and several injured at a refugee centre in Pretoria earlier this week during a stampede, according to witnesses.
But police and home affairs officials deny a stampede took place or that anyone was killed or hurt. Witnesses at the Marabastad centre on Monday said they saw a woman and child being trampled as people in the queue flooded towards the centre when the gates opened that morning. They claimed that the two died in the crush.
"There was no stampede and no one died," said home affairs department spokesperson Manusha Pillai, adding: "If anyone died, it's not home affairs' fault."
The Mail & Guardian was told of the stampede by Lawyers for Human Rights spokesperson Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh and the director of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, Gabriel Shumba, who had heard about it from people in the queue.
There was apparently another stampede three weeks ago at the same centre, highlighting the growing desperation of refugees. Home affairs confirmed the incident in early July, saying 14 people were injured, four whom were hospitalised.
Ramjathan-Keogh said the stampede was a direct consequence of the closing of the Crown Mines centre, the only one in Johannesburg. Businesses filed a court complaint that shut Crown Mines' doors in May. Migrants normally serviced in Johannesburg must now go to Pretoria.
A Zimbabwean who did not want to be named told the M&G he saw the stampede.
"I saw a mother and child trampled," he said. "There was a big, big crowd, about 6 000. There's no procedure, it's totally orderless."
Police tried to manage the queues, Shumba said, but ultimately they scared the migrants, who thought they were trying to chase and arrest them.
At least three police were present, the Zimbabwean witness said, adding that a home affairs official came to the site in a police car and made an announcement to the crowd by megaphone.
"After the stampede, I left," he said. "Conditions there are inhumane."
Demand at centres is growing as migrants try to obtain refugee status before the close of the Zimbabwe Documentation Project, a special-permit initiative expected to end in one to two months' time.
Some fear that mass deportations will follow the deadline. For most Zimbabweans, refugee status represents the last chance of acquiring legal status, according to Braam Hanekom, director of People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (Passop).
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said he knew nothing about the stampede, which did not concern the police because "a stampede is not a crime".
The Zimbabwean who witnessed the incident was waiting to renew his refugee status, which he has to do every six months to avoid deportation or a fine of R1 000 for a late renewal.
He said there were about 35 queues outside the offices, with women, men and mothers with child­ren separating themselves into different lines.
A Passop report in May on Cape Town's refugee centre said that in a period of two weeks more than 1 600 people were turned away. The reasons included a lack of supplies at the centre, employees not turning up for work, applicants without visas and queues being too long.
There was also a shortage of toilets. The Pretoria centre had six filthy portable toilets inside its gates, too few for 6 000 people, according to the Zimbabwean. In addition, there was no drinking water, no shade and no comfortable places to sleep.
"No one has time to travel to get food," he said. "You don't come there for food , you want your freedom."
Shumba said it was critical to open another centre and that priority in queues should be given to the disabled and women with children.
Other refugee centres, such as those in Cape Town and Durban, could also be closed because of complaints from neighbouring businesses.
But homes affairs deputy director general Jackson McKay said no other centres would be opened and the department would close existing centres if the courts ordered it to.
An amendment to the Immigration Act is currently before Parliament which will provide for jail sentences of up to four years for undocumented migrants and those caught aiding or employing them.
KATHLEEN CHAYKOWSKI JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Aug 05 2011 12:56 - Mail and Guardian

http://imcosa.co.za/en/news/146-home-affairs-denies-stampede.html

SA issues over 65 000 work permits

Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System
Date: 16 Aug 2011
Title: SA issues over 65 000 work permits

Cape Town - The Department of Home Affairs' issuing of works permits to Zimbabwean nationals, under its recent Zimbabwe Dispensation Project, has inflated the number of work permits issued by the department to foreigners, with over 65 000 issued in the first quarter of this fiscal year.

Briefing a joint meeting for the National Assembly's labour and home affairs portfolio committees, the Department of Home Affairs Deputy Director-General of Immigration, Jackie McKay, said 59 363 of the permits issued between April and June this year were part of the department's Zimbabwe Dispensation Project, which came to an end last month.

In the last financial year, 135 000 work permits were issued to foreign nationals.

The remainder of permits issued during this time were: 672 corporate work permits, 699 exceptional skills permits, 3 202 general work permits, 1 252 permits that fall under the quota system and 1 719 work permits in terms of the provisions of Section 19 (5) of the Immigration Act (which provides for intra-company transfers).

McKay said the challenge his department faced with low-skilled work seekers was that many were opportunists that applied for asylum-seeker permits, as it didn't cost anything and allowed one to work in the country legally.

However, he said the department is looking at overhauling the entire asylum-seeker process and had appointed more members to the department's standing committee on refugees to ensure that work in this area went ahead.

He was quick to point out that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees regularly commended the country for its good treatment of refugees.

In answer to DA member Ian Ollis, on why so many work permits were issued to low-skilled workers rather than to those that were highly skilled, McKay said a study needed to be undertaken on migration trends to better understand the kind of foreign work seekers entering South Africa.

McKay said most unskilled work seekers came to South Africa through Mozambique and Zimbabwe - often arriving in neighbouring countries before crossing South Africa's porous borders.

McKay referred all questions that MPs had on the country's porous borders to the Department of Defence, which oversees border security.

According to figures from the Africa Centre for Migration and Society's Forced Migration Studies Programme, there are about 1.6 million to two million foreigners (3-4% percent of the population) living in South Africa, with about 1 million to 1.5 million of these being Zimbabweans.

McKay also pointed out that the Department of Home Affairs' lack of integration of systems often meant that individuals could be resident in different regimes within the department's databases, sometimes under different names enjoying multiple benefits under assumed identities.

He attributed this to the fact that the department didn't take biometric information from foreign work seekers and it only did so for those seeking asylum.

But he questioned whether making finger-printing of foreign workers mandatory would be a good idea, as it could make South Africa a less favourable destination for foreign workers, he said.

Turning to the amendments to the Immigration Act, MacKay said these are largely aimed at revising provisions relating to visas for temporary stays; introduction of permits for low-skilled and unskilled immigrants; revising provisions relating to permanent residence and to allow for advanced processing of travellers as was undertaken during last World Cup.

The amendment calls for temporary residence permits to in the future be referred to as "visas", but that the term "permanent residence permits" would remain.

"The reason for this is that the word permit is interpreted generally - even by our courts - as denoting 'long-term' stay in South Africa, where as the word 'visa' internationally denotes that you visit the country for a temporary, or short period only," he said.

The amendment also calls for a new permit, called the critical skills permit, to replace the existing exceptional skills and quota work permits. The department would then be required to publish a list of critical skills that the department needs.

He said the department is drafting an immigration review policy and would be holding consultations with other departments and hold public hearings.

It is hoped that these discussions would lead to further amendments of the Immigration Act, he said.

The Department of Labour's Deputy Director-General of Public Employment Services,
Sam Morotoba, said the country's labour laws don't discriminate against any migrant workers, but pointed out that the country didn't have regulations addressing specifically migrants.

Morotoba said the department had received legal advice that at present, companies could still easily challenge the department in court over the legality of a permit.

He said Section 9 of the proposed Employment Services Bill - which is presently at Nedlac - would provide a better legal basis for the department on addressing migrants.

The bill proposes that employers must first advertise a position locally and consider those applicants that the department has provided them for through the Employment Services Portal (which the bill has mooted) and then back this up with the relevant evidence presented to the department, if they wish to take on foreign workers.

Meanwhile, a study by Parliament's research unit, made available to committee members today, pointed out that a number of studies showed the benefits of labour migration - with one study revealing that in 1990, more than a third of engineers and other IT professionals living in the US were born elsewhere. - BuaNews
http://www.buanews.gov.za/news/11/11081615051002

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

Free Zim Dispensation costs R419 million plus...

****If you are having problems that are not being adequately addressed, phone the Home Affairs DG on his cellphone.  Read more here.****

The waiver of the permit fee for illegal Zimbabwean immigrants represents a financial loss of a whopping R419 158 240 to home affairs.    That is a lot of money to waive for a department that is in a bad financial condition.  It represents almost 10% of home affairs' R5bn budget.   In addition there is the opportunity cost of resources that have been redeployed from other sections within home affairs to work on the Zimbabwe dispensation project.   Plus the cost of the consultants that are working on the project.  The total economic cost of the dispensation could easily be in the region of R1bn.

According to home affairs, 275 762 illegal Zimbabwean immigrants have applied for legalisation.  The R1 520 permit fee that immigrants usually pay has been waived for them.

I'm not sure whether they pay the repatriation deposit (R2 040 when I immigrated 7 years ago).

At the same time, the cost of a re-issued ID has been hiked by 600% from R20 to R140.  A passport has been hiked by 110% from R190 to R400.

National Treasury is one of the best run departments in this country, but it baffles me that they approved the permit fee waiver for the illegal Zimbabweans.  Illegal immigrants spend at least R2 000 per year to maintain their illegal status.  This is in the form of bribes to immigration officials, bus drivers and police.  Some of them had to travel to the border every 3 months to get their passports stamped.  They can afford the R1 520 permit fee.

The department probably thought it was doing an act of goodwill, but how are taxpayers and South Africans meant to feel when the cost of their documents more than doubles and the illegal Zimbabweans get legalised for free?

Home Affairs clears backlog

Permanent residency: 4 601 approved, 1 943 rejected.  30% rejection rate
Temporary residency: 64 589 approved,  5 627 rejected. 8% rejection rate.
Total rejections = 7570
3302 "special cases" probably refers to appeals because the department's numbers of rejections and approvals equals the total number of applications.   Therefore 44% (almost half) of the total rejections are being appealed - and will probably be appealed successfully as the department is known for rejecting applications for reasons that are not in line with the immigration act.   The numbers also indicate that the adjudication in the permanent residency section is not being done properly if there is such a high rejection rate.



Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System
Date: 30 Mar 2011
Title: Home Affairs clears permit backlog
--------------------

Pretoria - The Department of Home Affairs has cleared the backlog in permits for foreign nationals who had applied for permanent and temporary residency in South Africa.

Home Affairs Director-General Mkuseli Apleni said measures taken to eliminate the backlog that had developed over the past couple of years had been successful, and the time frame by which the department had committed itself to clear the backlog - the end of the current financial year, 31 March - had been met.

"Applications received up until the end of January 2011 have therefore been adjudicated and permits have been dispatched to the various regional offices. Applications made in February and March this year are currently being processed, the outcomes of which will be communicated to applicants in due course," he said.

In its efforts to address the backlog, the department centralised the process of adjudicating permits. The adjudication is now done at a central hub in Pretoria instead of regional offices.

Additional human resources and IT capacity, as well as the use of effective and efficient project and operations management methods also contributed to resolving the backlog, he said.

"It was necessary to centralise the adjudication of permits so that the department could assume full control of the process while increasing its efficiency, effectiveness and accountability. The possibility for bribery and corruption in the process has therefore been significantly reduced," Apleni explained.

After the applications from the regional offices were consolidated, the permit backlog stood at 56 302.

This included the backlog that had accumulated before November 2010. New applications received up to the end of January 2011 stood at 23 751, putting the total number of applications received at 80 053.

Breaking down the figures further, Apleni said the department adjudicated 6 535 permanent residence permits from foreign nationals, of which 4 601 were approved and 1 934 rejected.

With regards to temporary residence permits, 70 216 permits were adjudicated with 64 589 approved and 5 627 rejected.

There were 3 302 "special cases" for both types of permits, where the application will have to be reviewed - a process that includes further consultations with the client.

"Although all permits for applications up to the end of January 2011 have been dispatched to the respective offices, applicants must allow a grace period of 14 working days (20 April 2011) from the end of March before they lodge enquiries with the contact centre," he added.

With regards to the processing of applications from Zimbabwean nationals wanting to regularise their stay in South Africa, Apleni said this was process was still being finalised.

After consultations with the Zimbabwean government, the department had agreed to finalise the process by 31 July 2011.

Apleni said the department had adjudicated 119 009 of the more than 275 000 applications from Zimbabwean nationals.

A further 156 753 applications still had to be adjudicated.

The department estimates that it would take 53 working days to complete the adjudication, at the rate of 3 000 adjudications per day.

Of the applications that are still to be adjudicated, 116 960 of them had outstanding information - which included passports, fingerprints and other supporting documents.

The department would be communicating with these applicants requesting them to furnish their outstanding documents or information.



Reported by: South African Government News Service

http://7thspace.com/headlines/377400/south_africa_home_affairs_clears_permit_backlog.html

ID and Passport price hike

I still don't understand why the Zimbabweans under the special dispensation got their documents for free.  They are lucky they get fast-tracked for free while the rest of the (legal) immigrants wait....and wait... and wait....

****If you are having problems that are not being adequately addressed, phone the Home Affairs DG on his cellphone.  Read more here.****

 

Passport and ID costs soar

Mar 24, 2011 9:56 PM| By

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From next week, South Africans will pay more to renew their identity and passport documents.

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Photograph by: Bruce Gorton

The Department of Home Affairs yesterday announced that from April 1, it will increase fees for the reissuing of an identity document and temporary ID certificates from R20 to R140. A standard passport, now priced at R190, will cost R400.
Briefing journalists in Pretoria yesterday, Home Affairs Director- General Mkuseli Apleni said the increases were "reasonable" and had been approved by the national treasury. He said the increases were in line with the department's plan to recover the money it spends on reissuing documents when holders complain about errors - made by the applicants themselves or by the department - or missing information in their documents.
While he denied the increases - some prices went up by about 600% - were intended to boost the department's revenue, Apleni said it was costing the department more to reissue ID and passport documents because of errors.
He said the department has changed its procedures, and applicants for ID and passport documents will now keep a copy of their application form as proof the information they provided was correct.
Apleni said the tariffs will not apply to those who apply for an identity document for the first time, and those who change their surnames when they get married.
Other tariff increases that Apleni announced, include:

• Childrens' passportsfrom R145 to R400;

• Documents for travel purposes from R145 to R300;

• Cost of an emergency travel certificate from R70 to R140;

• Temporary passport from R90 to R180; and

• Maxi passport from R380 to R600.

Apleni said new, additional security features were behind the cost increases for issuing passports.
He said the department had made progress in its effort to clean up the National Population Register, which was plagued by problems such as the duplication of ID documents, people sharing ID numbers and ID numbers which did not correspond with fingerprints.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/Politics/article986414.ece/Passport-and-ID-costs-soar?service=print

High Court Judgment: Home Affairs' unlawful treatment of asylum seekers

****If you are having problems that are not being adequately addressed, phone the Home Affairs DG on his cellphone.  Read more here.****

Gauteng High Court slams Home Affairs

Written by Zimbabwe Exiles Forum

Tuesday, 15 February 2011 09:41

The North Gauteng High Court handed down judgment today in which it criticised the Department of Home Affairs’ practice of arresting and detaining asylum seekers without verifying their status or allowing access to the refugee system. The court held that “(i)t is simply untenable in a constitutional democracy that someone should have to give up their liberty on account of administrative difficulties or inefficiencies on the part of an organ of State.” (paragraph 32).   The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (“ZEF”), a non-profit organisation which advocates for the rights of Zimbabweans living abroad, brought an application in 2008 after a number of their members were arrested outside of the Chinese embassy during a protest against a shipment of arms through South Africa to Zimbabwe.  The majority of the 208 people arrested had applied for asylum, but those without documents were detained at Lindela for a number of months before the court ordered their release. At the time, South Africa’s refugee reception offices were in complete disarray and they were simply unable to deal with the numbers of people who were approaching them for protection. Despite the court ordering the immediate release and issuance of permits, to those who had been detained back in 2008, ZEF persisted in bringing comprehensive challenge against he Department’s unlawful policies and practices in detaining asylum seekers. The court confirmed this view and held in its judgment  that: •     The undue delays in issuing documents under the Refugees Act was unlawful and inconsistent with the Refugees Act.  . •     The arrest and detention of asylum seekers who had made applications but not yet received their permits was unlawful and inconsistent with South African law. •     The practice of keeping asylum seekers in immigration detention pending the outcome of such applications was unlawful and inconsistent with the Constitution. •     The practice of keeping such asylum seekers in immigration detention pending the appeal of negative decisions was also found to be unlawful and inconsistent with the Constitution; and •     The practice of re-arresting detainees upon their release in order to get around the 30 day limit of detention without a warrant under the Immigration Act was unlawful and inconsistent with the Constitution. “This judgment is consistent with the repeated findings of our courts that the excessive use of immigration detention by Home Affairs in unlawful, unconstitutional and a violation of our international obligations,” said Ms Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, coordinator of LHR’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme. Today’s judgment should serve as a call on the Department of Home Affairs to immediately release all asylum seekers who are presently being detained,  and to revisit its policies regarding immigration detention and its own practices of detaining those seeking asylum protection in South Africa.  This is particularly relevant considering the draconian measures which the Department is intent of pushing through Parliament in the new Immigration Amendment Bill.  We also refer to the recent comments made by the Minister in the course of the Immigration Amendment Bill process  and remind her of South Africa’s international obligations to protect asylum seekers and refugees and to ensure that their rights are respected.   We call on the Minister to carefully peruse the judgment and consider the practices of immigration officials in terms of South Africa’s international obligations and the Constitution. from: http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37299:gauteng-high-court-slams-home-affairs&catid=31:weekday-top-stories&Itemid=30 accessed 7 March 2010 CONTACT LAWYERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh                                                                             Head: Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme                                                                    Lawyers for Human Rights                                                                                                                                                                         Jacob van Garderen National Director Lawyers for Human Rights David Cote Head: Strategic Litigation Unit Lawyers for Human Rights