The increased number of arrests of illegal immigrants would have resulted in releases if the deportations were not implemented.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says they are struggling to recoup the cost incurred in returning illegal immigrants to their countries.

The government has spent more than R20 million on deporting illegal immigrants this year and recouping the costs incurred in returning illegal immigrants to their home countries have become near impossible.

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed this in response to a written parliamentary question from DA MP Joe McGluwa.McGluwa wanted details on the reasons for the overspending on immigration and deportation-related issues in the 2019/20 financial year.`What are the costs incurred by his department on the deportation of immigrants in the specified financial year? Whether any monies have been recouped from the countries of the deported immigrants; if not, what is the
position in this regard and if so, what are the relevant details?` McGluwa`s questions read.

Motsoaledi`s reply read: `The increased number of arrests of illegal immigrants would have resulted in releases if the deportations were not implemented. The deportations costs incurred by the department was R23 329
354.82 in [the] 2019/20 financial year.`

Asked about recouping funds from other countries, he said the country`s policy position of recouping the costs incurred in returning illegal immigrants to their countries of origin is the subject of ongoing bilateral discussions.
`All countries have to date indicated a lack of funds in relation to this. In the Southern African Development Community [SADC] and South America, consular services in foreign missions such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique,
Brazil and Venezuela are actively involved in assisting the

deportees to source funds for self-payment from their relations. The assistance also extends to the purchase of bus and flight tickets by the consular officers.`
Self-deportation costs by foreign nationals were R5 634 165.20, Motsoaledi added.

Recently, the department has been dealing with several foreign issues.
During his budget mini-plenary, he announced a home affairs official based in Windhoek had been fired after being caught allegedly fraudulently issuing visas to Pakistani and Bangladeshi citizens.

The department revoked 100 visas after the secretary for civics and immigration services based in South Africa`s mission in Windhoek was busted for allegedly selling the visas to non-qualifying citizens.
Motsoaledi said the scheme was simple and fraudsters did not even have to travel to Namibia to get these documents. It was couriered to them and `delivered on a silver platter`.He described the incident as high-treason and accused the official of selling the country to the highest bidder.

Motsoaledi is not the only minister who has had to deal with issues affecting immigrants and foreign nationals.Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu announced last month the government had allocated an extra R6 billion to fund the R350 special Covid-19 grant for those without an income as well as asylum seekers and special permit holders.

The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria granted a court order that permit holders and asylum seekers should be included in the grant.
Zulu said the department had amended the directives to accommodate asylum seekers and special permit holders from Angola, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, as directed by the court.
www.samigration.com V.3174

There are fears that more people will be separated by the introduction of a minimum salary level for those wanting UK family visas. Families living in the UK and abroad have raised concerns about what new rules will mean for them as they try to reunite with foreign spouses. In December, the Home Office, which says migration to the UK is too high, announced a package of measures to reduce net migration, following a spike in arrival numbers. V.5318
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An Ethiopian asylum seeker, who does not speak English, claims he was duped by a senior immigration official into paying an admission of guilt fine when he thought he was paying for bail.Two Western Cape High Court judges have condemned the official`s `deplorable` behaviour, set aside the fine, and ordered the immigration official be taken off the case. Tsegaye Esyas claims Annelise van Dyk treated him like an animal which led to him attempt suicide while in police cells. V.5320
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EREMY MAGGS: I want to stay with crime now. Individuals with a criminal record may be faced with significant challenges when seeking employment, I think that’s a given. Here in South Africa, employers may legally exclude an applicant from consideration for a position if having a clean criminal record is what is termed an inherent requirement of the job. That phrase, inherent requirement, is important, but what exactly does that mean, and when can an applicant be lawfully excluded for having a criminal record? V.5321
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As a South African who has adopted a nomadic work lifestyle alongside my wife, Ingrid Lotze, I’ve been an interested observer of South Africa’s snail-pace digital nomad visa (DNV) development process. Despite the optimism surrounding its introduction, the visa seems to miss several crucial marks for digital nomads like us. V.5322
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DA MP says hours lost continue to result in persons being unable to collect their ID documents due to unmanageable queues The DA has been inundated with complaints that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) systems are offline, resulting in long queues and delayed processing of documents. Through questions posed to the Minister, the DA can now reveal that the DHA has lost over 77 years’ worth of working hours due to system downtime and load-shedding from 2019 to date. Concerningly, this data only relates to hours lost for the application of smart IDs, meaning decades more of working hours could have been additionally lost in other spheres such as passport or visa applications. V.5314
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Home Affairs’ seemingly endless court battles set the department back more than R110-million between April 2023 and the end of February this year. This was revealed in a written parliamentary response by minister Aaron Motsoaledi. He said the department accumulated a litigation bill of R117 692 996.3, higher than the R72 637 944.51 spent the year before. V.5315
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Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) this week revealed that Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) has achieved a ground-breaking milestone by processing more than 10 million passengers over a single financial year. This is the highest number of regional and international passengers processed since COVID-19 V.5316
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In recent years, South Africa has seen a significant influx of immigrants from various African countries, as well as other parts of the world. This has raised important questions about the country`s immigration policies and their impact on job creation for both locals and immigrants. The South African immigration system, like many other countries, is a complex and ever-evolving process that aims to balance the country`s economic needs with its social and cultural interests. Let`s take a closer look at how this system intersects with job creation in South Africa. The South African government implemented the Immigration Act of 2002, which outlines the country`s immigration policies and procedures. Under this act, foreigners are required to obtain a visa or permit to enter, work, or study in South Africa. The type of visa or permit required depends on the intended purpose of the individual`s visit and their country of origin. V.5312
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Due to system downtime and load-shedding, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) lost nearly 141,000 hours of Smart ID application and production time between the 2019/20 and 2022/23 financial years. Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed this figure in a recent response to questions raised in Parliament by Democratic Alliance MP Adrian Roos. Motsoaledi provided a breakdown of smart ID production and application hours lost to technical difficulties and load-shedding per province for each financial year from 2019/2020. These disruptions hit home Affairs offices in the Eastern Cape the hardest, with over 34,000 hours to rotational power cuts and system downtime. Mpumalanga offices lost the next-highest number of hours at 17 V.5313
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Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has said the public has shown great support for the final White Paper on citizenship, immigration and refugee protection which appeared in the Government Gazette on Wednesday. Briefing the media, he addressed what he saw as a long-overdue need to replace an outdated Citizenship Act, as well as enact proposed changes to existing legislation. V.5306
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