The PSA has accused the department of victimising and harassing advocate Amanda Ledwaba after acting director-general Jackie McKay placed her on suspension.
In a letter of suspension last week Tuesday, McKay claimed that Ledwaba abused her powers when she investigated the citizenship status of certain foreign nationals.
But the PSA’s Reuben Maleka has hit back at the department, accusing it of leashing Ledwaba to stop her from investigating how powerful foreign nationals linked to politicians obtained SA citizenship.
McKay said Ledwaba, the department’s director of law enforcement, will be investigated and possibly face a disciplinary hearing. He said she will be investigated for allegations, by whistle-blowers, that she abused her power “to investigate and/or cause to be investigated various individuals with regard to their status in SA”.
He also accused her of issuing instructions “to officials of the department to investigate or cause to be investigated various individuals with regards to their status in SA. Ledwaba had also communicated with third parties outside the department when she was not authorised to do so and unlawfully benefited third parties in contravention of legislation.”
Ledwaba referred all queries to Maleka.
Maleka said McKay suspended Ledwaba because she was investigating the citizenship status of powerful and politically-connected illegal foreign nationals who live and conduct business in the country.
Maleka, who has appointed an attorney to deal with Ledwaba’s case, said: “Amanda is dealing with very high and sensitive matters of illegal foreign nationals who are well-connected and doing business in the country. The attached suspension letter says nothing but is a clear indication of victimisation and (they) intend to dismiss her at all costs because she is upholding the Immigration Act in totality,” Maleka said.
Ledwaba’s suspension follows the arrest earlier this month of Kebone Masange, head of the human settlements department in Mpumalanga.
Masange was arrested by immigration officials for being an illegal immigrant. He was charged with fraud and for being in possession of three identity

documents which officials claim Masange, who was born in Zimbabwe, obtained fraudulently.
Ledwaba has also been involved in the arrest of other high-profile foreign nationals including Sam Chabalala, Bongani Mhlanga and Zenzo Mahlangu.
Chabalala, a businessman from Emalahleni, shot to prominence in July last year during the annual Durban July horse race and fashion show. Pictures of him and a fleet of ultra-luxury cars taken on the N3 highway to Durban were circulated on social media. Two months later, Chabalala was arrested for allegedly being in possession of a fraudulently obtained identity document.
In 2017 Ledwaba was involved in the deportation of Zimbabwean nationals, friends and business partners Mahlangu and Mhlanga.
At the time Mahlangu was general secretary of the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu).
Mhlanga was the founder of the Mvunonala group, which crashed amid allegations of looting of over R500m from the Amplats Group Provident Fund.
The department’s spokesperson, Siya Qoza, said Ledwaba was not suspended for doing her job.
“Adv Ledwaba was not placed on precautionary suspension `for investigating high profile businessmen who have obtained SA citizenship illegally`. The reasons for the decision are contained in the letter placing her on precautionary suspension. It is disingenuous to suggest that Adv Ledwaba would be placed on precautionary suspension for doing her job. On the contrary, the department supports all officials who are committed to rooting out corruption and executing their functions diligently.”
He did not disclose the allegations made against Ledwaba by the whistle-blower.
“The department is not at liberty to provide this detail at this stage because the matter is still under investigation,” Qoza said, adding that the decision to suspend Ledwaba was taken after careful consideration of all the facts and within the bounds of the law.
“All the necessary fair labour procedures were followed,” he said.
www.samigration.com V.3254

I recently renewed my passport at Home Affairs in a bank branch and was very impressed with the service and quick turnaround time. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and major banks first launched the option to do Smart ID card and passport applications via select bank branches in 2016. It has slowly grown to around 30 locations, including branches from Absa, Discovery Bank, FNB, Investec, Nedbank, and Standard Bank. My passport was set to expire in October 2024, and because many countries require that your passport be valid for six months from a travel date, a renewal was due. V.5324
Click here for full article

DA MP says this is up 20 000 from the 74 000 six months previously Department of Home Affairs visa backlog is up by 20 000 in 6 months The Democratic Alliance (DA) can reveal that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Visa backlog has increased from 74 000 in August 2023 to 92 000 as of 16 February 2024. This is an increase of just under 20 000 in about 6 months. Download the Parliamentary question and answer here. The increase goes against what the Minister told the Home Affairs Parliamentary Committee in March 2023. V.5325
Click here for full article

The European Union (EU) will limit visas for people from Ethiopia. This is because the Ethiopian government hasn`t been helping take back citizens who stay in the EU illegally. The EU Council announced this in a statement on Monday. Ethiopians won`t get visas for multiple entries anymore. Also, Ethiopians with diplomatic and service passports won`t have their visa fees waived. V.5326
Click here for full article

CRIMINAL convictions more than two decades ago came to haunt a man who was offered a job as a senior data discovery and enrichment expert, but after his prospective employer got wind of the convictions, retracted the job offer. But the Gqeberha Labour Court came to his rescue and found that the man should be given a second chance, given that his convictions occurred 20 years ago and had meanwhile been expunged. V.5327
Click here for full article

Nigeria’s economy, which ranked as Africa’s largest in 2022, is set to slip to fourth place this year and Egypt, which held the top position in 2023, is projected to fall to second behind South Africa after a series of currency devaluations, International Monetary Fund forecasts show. The IMF’s World Economic Outlook estimates Nigeria’s gross domestic product at $253 billion based on current prices this year, lagging energy-rich Algeria at $267 billion, Egypt at $348 billion and South Africa at $373 billion. V.5328
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article