By its own admission, the department loses most of its court cases the costs of which are borne by the taxpayer.

Dzmitry Dzenisiuk was deployed to SA in 2014, with his wife joining him under a spousal visa. Both applied for visa extensions in February 2021. Image: Moneyweb
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has been blocked by the Pretoria High Court from deporting a foreign worker and his wife, both of whom had been refused visa extensions, based on its failure to properly consider the documents supplied in their visa applications.
This is the latest in a string of court losses notched up by Home Affairs.
In the latest ruling, the high court ruled that the decision not to renew the visa of two foreign nationals must be set aside and returned to Home Affairs for reconsideration.
Dzmitry Dzenisiuk was deployed by Czech company IBA to SA in 2014 by way of an inter-company transfer visa. His wife accompanied him under a spousal visa. Both applied for visa extensions in February 2021.
In May 2021, Home Affairs rejected Dzenisiuk’s application for renewal of his Critical Skills Working Visa on the grounds that there was no proof the employer was registered in SA.
That was clearly in error, as the company registration number was reflected on the visa application forms.
When Dzenisiuk appealed the decision, Home Affairs came back with a different objection, that “according to the company registration provided by you, you are the only listed director, and you are applying as a managing director”.
“The shifting of the goalpost is apparent from the response to the initial appeal,” noted Acting Judge Reinhard Groenewald.
DHA displays dogged determination
Dzenisiuk made a further appeal, providing evidence that he is one of two directors in the company but is not a shareholder.
Undeterred, Home Affairs fired back, accusing him of misrepresentation and stating that he was in fact the owner of IBA and had contravened the Immigration Act.
This, too, was wrong and the DHA’s “failure to properly consider the relevant facts” ultimately led it to “the wrong conclusions,” reads the judgment.
The decision by Home Affairs that either IBA or Dzenisiuk [the applicants] had contravened the Immigration Act would likely have a bearing on any future visa applications by Dzenisiuk.
The applicants argued that no distinction was made between the legal personality of the company and its shareholders, and also

ignored the difference between a director and a shareholder.
“Considering the facts of the matter, including the shifting of goal posts by [Home Affairs], as well as the apparent failure to fully consider both relevant circumstances and the apparent oversight in respect of the correct status of [Dzenisiuk’s] employer, it follows that the decisions must be reviewed and set aside,” says the judgment.
The visa applications were ordered back to Home Affairs for reconsideration, and Dzenisiuk and IBA were given 10 days to supplement the applications with any documents deemed appropriate.
No deportation would be allowed until the applications were finalised.
‘Radical overhaul’ of the migration system
In November last year, Home Affairs published a white paper proposing a radical overhaul of citizenship, immigration and refugee protection.
The paper laments the stream of negative press against the department and concedes that it has been defeated in most court cases and slapped with court orders of which it has not been aware.
“This must change as the fiscus cannot afford more,” says the paper, which was widely condemned by human rights group for its proposal to limit the rights of migrants.
Despite its admitted lack of success in the courts, Home Affairs seems determined to plough on with a litigation strategy that has not been in its favour.
Home Affairs also headed for ConCourt
The DHA is headed to the Constitutional Court to appeal another ruling against it for terminating the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) system, which the Pretoria High Court found to be unlawful and unconstitutional.
The DHA and Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s appeal against that ruling had already been dismissed by both the high court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, in part because there was no consultation with the 178 000 permit holders likely to be affected and the department’s decision did not follow proper procedures. The last avenue of appeal for Home Affairs is the ConCourt.
The ZEP Holders Association, representing many thousands of ZEP holders, argues that government’s new-found zeal for targeting immigrants is an ANC pre-election ploy aimed at appealing to xenophobic elements within the country. This is denied by Home Affairs V.5260

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

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article

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
Click here for full article