Leon Schreiber laid out his priorities as Minister of Home Affairs during his maiden budget vote speech in Parliament on Monday, saying his department would prioritise, among other things, dealing with the visa backlog and stabilising the department’s online system.

The Department of Home Affairs has a budget of R10.49-billion for the 2024/25 financial year - a slight increase from R9.75-billion in the previous financial year.

Schreiber’s speech covered five key issues.
Visa backlog

Schreiber said the department had assigned a “dedicated team” to deal with the permit backlog.

“I am pleased to report that we are starting to see progress. Our dedicated team has already reduced the backlog by processing 92,886 applications out of a total of 306,042. This is a reduction of 30%,” he said.

A day after Schreiber was sworn into office, he extended a temporary concession for foreigners with pending visa applications, including those who were appealing against rejections, to 31 December 2024, Daily Maverick’s Georgina Crouth reported. The concession was needed to protect applicants and deal with ongoing delays in visa processing.

In April this year, the department revealed in response to a parliamentary question that the visa backlog had increased by 18,000 - from 74,000 in August 2023 to 92,000 in February 2024.

Schreiber said that “clearing this backlog is the only way to avoid another extension of the concession on visas, waivers and appeals that has already been granted three times”.

“This is an abnormal situation, and we must get this problem under control so that extensions are no longer necessary. For this reason, I have asked to be provided with daily reports on the state of the backlog until it is eradicated,” he said.

The ANC supported the department’s budget. ANC MP Mosa Chabane said, in addition to clearing the backlog on processing visa applications, “capacity should be increased within the permits and refugee section”.
Immigration Advisory Board

In the House on Thursday, Schreiber announced that he was, in terms of Section 4(2) of the Immigration Act of 2002, reactivating the Immigration Advisory Board as a matter of urgency.

South Africa has not had an Immigration Advisory Board in more than a decade, which is in breach of the Immigration Act, Daily Maverick reported. Schreiber said the department is “inundated with costly court cases”, often due to an inability to process applications timeously.

“This board provides a powerful platform for key stakeholders to engage with the department on an ongoing basis about problems affecting the sector,” said Schreiber.

“Importantly, the advisory board can provide the minister with evidence-based advice on tackling critical matters, such as the court-ordered process of consultation on the future of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit.”

“The Advisory Board will serve as a vital forum where problems can be ironed out before they escalate to the courts,” said Schreiber.

ActionSA MP Lerato Ngobeni said the party will be watching the work of the board closely, “because South Africans have simply had enough”.

“ActionSA will not support any budget that fails to unapologetically put South Africans first,” she said.

Border management

“Even as we work to implement the GNU [government of national unity] mandate for a better visa system to welcome people who want to contribute to

South Africa legally through their skills, investments and as tourists, we must acknowledge that there is another side to this coin,” said Schreiber.

“South Africa needs to do much more to combat illegal immigration.”

To tackle illegal immigration, Schreiber said the department would increase the number of inspections at restaurants, spaza shops, farms and mines by more than 50%, to “take action against people illegally employed, including deportations.”

These inspections will be done in collaboration with other departments, including Employment and Labour and the SA Police Service, according to Schreiber.

Schreiber’s predecessor, Aaron Motsoaledi, was frequently questioned throughout his term about his hardline views on foreigners, and with Schreiber’s promised crackdown on illegal immigration, it seems he has set a similar tone for the department.

In response to Schreiber’s speech, uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party MP Mariam Muhammad said “serious defects in our immigration system” had to be addressed, adding that it was “time for a comprehensive overhaul of the migration system guided by a clear policy framework that balances compassion with security”.

Online systems and reducing queues
Another priority of the department, Schreiber said, was to stabilise its online system.

Home Affairs offices lost more than 36,000 hours of work in the first half of 2023, primarily due to system downtime, News24 reported. The department has in the past been hamstrung by offline systems, causing long queues outside offices.

“It is unacceptable that, in the year 2024 and the age of artificial intelligence, we still do not have a reliable IT system at Home Affairs. The days of ‘system offline’ need to come to an end, because I want to be the minister of ‘system online’,” he said.

He said the problem of long queues had to be similarly tackled.

“While technological upgrades will also assist in this regard, I intend to review the way in which queues are managed at Home Affairs offices to identify appropriate business process reforms that optimise the online booking system and better manage queues on the ground,” said Schreiber.

DA MP Nicole Bollman welcomed the minister’s pledge to end system failures, saying the steps outlined by Schreiber were “promising, but swift implementation is essential”.

“Over the past five years, Home Affairs has lost 77 years’ worth of office hours due to systems being offline. This extensive loss of hours highlights the critical need for reliable IT systems. We also welcome the minister’s indication that online booking systems will be extended to other civic services beyond IDs and passports,” said Bollman.
Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) falls within the department’s budget vote.

The IEC, according to Schreiber, has a budget of R2.3-billion for the 2024/25 financial year.

The 29 May polls were beset by operational and technical challenges which caused long queues at voting stations. Some MPs in the House on Monday called for a probe into what went wrong to rectify the issues before the 2026 municipal elections. V.5495

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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