Children �` South African, from other countries and stateless �` face
being kicked out of the classroom, despite having a constitutional
right to education and it being compulsory for all children to go to
school.
The department of home affairs, under both its previous and new
ministers, is not resolving the contradictions and schools are
trapped by the department of education’s funding model that excludes
children without the proper documentation.
Still fresh in our memories is the debacle at Eastleigh Primary
School in Edenvale, Gauteng, in February. The school sent a letter
advising “all foreign parents” that if they did not have up-to-date
documentation for their children when they brought them to the school
the following week, their children would be reported to the police.
The letter threatened: “If any foreign child arrives here on Monday
we will phone the police to come and collect your child, and you can
collect your child at the police station.”
The department of home affairs, through Twitter, said it had not
advised the school to hand over pupils to the police if they were not
properly documented.
Yet the department has also told civil society groups that it is
empowered to hold a school’s principal accountable if pupils were
undocumented and that this may result in a hefty fine.
That the school’s threat, addressed to “all foreign parents”, should
happen at all is morally and constitutionally unacceptable. That it
happens in the context of a society struggling to combat xenophobia
and xenophobic violence is dangerously irresponsible.
“Xenophobia has been, and continues to be, a significant issue of
societal injustice, and has led to widespread violence and
displacement. The singling out of foreign nationals, and the
imposition of unlawful and unreasonable threats to their fundamental
right to education, is an irresponsible flaming of this fire and a
poor example for educators to set for learners,” the Equal Education
Law Centre said in its letter to Eastleigh.
Prior to the Eastleigh incident, several public-interest law centres
worked for numerous clients whose children faced discrimination or
exclusion from schools because of their nationality or lack of
documentation.
The Equal Education Law Centre, the Legal Resources Centre, the
Centre for Child Law, Section27 and Lawyers for Human Rights wrote to
the departments of education and home affairs in March, requesting a
meeting to discuss the best way to balance immigration regulation
with the rights of all people in the country.
The letter emphasised the departments’ constitutional duties to
protect the interests of all children in South Africa; the right to
basic education is protected in section 29 of the Constitution.
“It is of great concern that the department of home affairs visited
Eastleigh in the week prior to the school sending its letter, and
appears to have exerted

pressure with regard to undocumented
learners. It is simply not constitutionally permissible for the
department of home affairs to take this approach.
“While immigration control may be a legitimate government concern and
function, it should never be addressed through the violation of
children’s rights.”
Having received no response and with a new minister of home affairs
in place following the president’s Cabinet reshuffle, we addressed a
follow-up letter to the departments on May 2. Again, we received no
response.
It is not only foreign schoolchildren who face this discrimination.
Many South African parents who are not documented get turned away
from schools for not being able to verify their status in South
Africa. Children end up idle at home �` often unsupervised �` and
without education.
Our organisations have intervened on behalf of children who are of
compulsory schoolgoing age but have been outside the education system
for up to two years. The children are prejudiced not only in those
years, but in trying to catch up once they are finally placed.
In some of our cases, schools have been willing to extend the period
for allowing the parents to regularise their status in South Africa
but in other cases there has been less success.
Schools should not be vilified for this situation. Some, already
stretched and penniless, cannot accept undocumented pupils if they
will not receive state funds for them.
This is the case in the Eastern Cape, where the department of
education has informed schools that no funding will be given to them
for children without adequate documentation.
With the department refusing to revise its position, this decision is
now the subject of a court review launched by the Legal Resources
Centre on behalf of the Centre for Child Law in the Eastern Cape High
Court.
Many poor families, both immigrant and not, are unable to afford the
services of lawyers. Although we have been successful in finding
placement at schools for many undocumented children, the systemic
problem remains. It is not just education that is at stake, but the
battle against the xenophobic undercurrents in our society. With this
in mind, the need for civil society and the state to find solutions
is more pressing than ever.
Child protection and advancement is at the forefront of our entire
legal system. Rigid legislation and directives that threaten to limit
that protection cannot be acceptable. National and provincial
education departments will need to talk to each other, and to the
department of home affairs, towards constitutionally sound solutions.
Nurina Ally is executive director of the Equal Education Law Centre
and Kelly Kropman is an attorney at the Legal Resources Centre V.2128

One of the highlighted topics: Critical Skills Visa.

- Key Insight: Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast track to working in South Afr...
- This matter relates to critical skills visa and its broader implications.
- Individuals are advised to seek professional guidance.

Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast trac V.6139
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One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, became a victim of identity theft in 2012 when fraudulent transactions occurred, using her personal details.

-The Pretoria High Court found that the department of home affairs had violated constitutional rights without due process.
-Only half of Lawyers for Human Rights` test group has been unblocked, while 385 000 identities remain blocked nationwide.
-LHR appeals extension, urges affected people to seek help now.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are intensifying pressure on the department of home affairs over the national ID-blocking crisis, accusing the state of acting too slowly to unblock qualifying individuals despite a landmark court ruling.

In January last year, the Pretoria High Court found that the department`s practice of blocking IDs without due process was unlawful and unconstitutional. One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, a Swati citizen and South African permanent resident since 1998, fell victim to identity theft in 2012 when fraudsters used her personal details.

 V.6133
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6128
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6129
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A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in US immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the US since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn`t want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN.

 V.6130
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On 22 July 2025, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Sitrusrand Boerdery`s review of the Department of Employment and Labour`s refusal to issue a Working Conditions and Salary Benchmarking Certificate, an essential precondition for obtaining corporate visas under the Immigration Act.

Acting Judge Kekana AJ held that the Department`s decision was lawful, rational and procedurally fair. This judgment illustrates how businesses can - and must - structure their corporate visa applications to meet statutory requirements, and how legal practitioners should prepare robust review challenges when administrative authorities decline to recommend foreign-work permits.

 V.6131
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The United States could forfeit an estimated 9.4 billion dollars in visitor spending over the next three years following the introduction of a new 250 dollars `visa integrity fee,` according to industry groups, who warn the policy risks undermining tourism and costing thousands of jobs.
The United States’ decision to introduce a 250 dollars `visa integrity fee` on international visitors has triggered sharp criticism from the global tourism industry, with officials warning that the measure could deter millions of travellers and cost the U.S. economy billions.
The 250dollar `visa integrity fee,` part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, will take effect later this year. According to immigration law firm Envoy Global, it applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders which include students, tourists, temporary workers, and business visitors particularly from African countries. V.6132
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6127
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1. Right to Legal Representation•You have the right to consult with a legal representative.•Contact an immigration practitioner, legal aid clinic, or attorney urgently.•Do not sign any documents without understanding them fully. 2. Section 34 of the Immigration Act•You must be brought to court with 48 hours to confirm arrest but you can remain locked up very long as courts figure out what to do with you •If you`re found to be illegally in South Africa, you may be detained for up to 30 days (extendable by a magistrate) pending deportation.•BUT this cannot happen arbitrarily. You must be informed of your rights, and Home Affairs must follow due process.- becomes a nightmare , you could lose your job , business , place to stay V.6121
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Driving for Bolt, Uber, Mr D, or Checkers Sixty60?If you`re undocumented, you`re risking more than just your income.The Risks if You`re Not Legal: - Vehicle impoundment - Heavy fines - Arrest & deportation - Permanent bans from working in SA V.6122
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