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SA Migration Newsletter
18 / 2023 |
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 SA Migration
International was created out of the need for a
specialist organization to assist people wishing to immigrate,
volunteer, work, bring family, study or open businesses in South
Africa.
The government is blocking the potential that foreign workers can bring to South Africa’s stagnant economy.
South Africa’s work visa regime is laborious, lengthy and inefficient. The process deters foreign investment, widens the skills gap and throttles productivity, economic growth and development.
Between 2015 and 2021, only 16,097 critical skilled-worker permits were approved by the Department of Home Affairs. At an average of just more than 2,200 a year, that amounts to a rejection rate of 52%, for an economy with a sizeable skills deficit. The business visa rejection rate over the same period is even higher, at 68%.
The National Treasury has reportedly written several proposals to reduce the number of government departments in South Africa.
According to the Sunday Times, a secret meeting was held in Stellenbosch, where several key figures discussed these proposals.
These include President Cyril Ramaphosa, finance minister Enoch Godongwana, and several top officials from National Treasury and the Reserve Bank.
If accepted, these proposals would reportedly save the government about R17 billion in spending but at the cost of lost jobs.
Examples of how the proposed cuts would work include:
• Closing the Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture and incorporating its duties into the Department of Basic Education.
• Closing the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and requiring departments to manage their own buildings and assets.
• Merging the Department of Tourism with the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition.
The Department of Home Affairs is now giving appointments for refugees to apply for asylum only in 2025, even though they are required to present themselves at a Refugee Reception Office within five days of their arrival in the country.
The legal team for a Somali family that has been harassed by law enforcement, refused medical assistance and given a date to apply for asylum 18 months down the line, has called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to intervene and support their court case against the Department of Home Affairs.
“We are legal ghosts,” Abdullahi Osman Shale said in an affidavit explaining the suffering inflicted on his family by the Department of Home Affairs.
• Nigerian distributors say the country suffered a total grid collapse on Thursday.
• Much the country remains without power.
• Load shedding is implemented in South Africa to guard against grid collapse.
Nigeria`s electricity distribution companies reported `a total system collapse` on Thursday, causing widespread blackouts across Africa`s biggest economy.
Power generation fell to zero in the early hours and had risen to 273 megawatts (MW) by 10:30 still well below the daily average of 4 100 MW, data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) showed.
TCN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Grid power supply is erratic in Nigeria, a major oil and gas pro
The National Treasury has reported told president Cyril Ramaphosa that South Africa will have to hike value-added tax (VAT) by 1% or 2% if it wants to keep the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant going.
According to the Sunday Times, this message was among many delivered at a top-level meeting called by the president this week, following the release of a Treasury memo to various departments warning of budget cuts.
South Africa has effectively hit its budget limit, with revenues not meeting the February budget expectations, while government spending has continued to balloon far beyond what was planned. To avoid financial collapse, sacrifices now have to be made.
The Department of Home Affairs is looking to deploy high-technology at six borders to minimise the movement of illicit good at the land ports.
So said minister Aaron Motsoaledi yesterday, during a joint press conference to explain the request for proposals for the development of the six busiest land ports of entry.
“In our request for proposals, we are expecting the prospective partner companies to come install the latest technologies, such as gamma ray scanners, such that each truck can drive through them.”
According to the minister, gamma ray technology can pick up anything from illicit cigarettes, liquor, paper money and human beings.
A court has said that children born in South Africa to foreign national parents are not automatically entitled to South African citizenship.
Pretoria - A court has found that children born in South Africa to foreign national parents do not automatically entitle them to South African citizenship.
The court then turned down an application by Zimbabwean parents for their children to be issued with SA birth certificates.
The parents had turned to the Polokwane High Court to review and set aside a decision by the department of home affairs, which refused to issue the three children with birth certificates.
Cape Town Air Access, powered by Wesgro, has released updated figures for the estimated economic impact of international passengers travelling to Cape Town and the Western Cape. The figures highlight the remarkable economic contribution of air travel to the local economy, emphasising its role in job creation, direct tourism expenditure, GDP growth, and air cargo transported.
Underpinning the indispensable role of aviation in the tourism sector in the province, the arrival of 605 000 foreign passengers injected a whopping R24.3 billion into the Western Cape economy in 2022 alone, supporting 10 600 jobs. SA
Migration International
Tel.: +27 (0)71 632 9555 Fax: +27 (0)21 461 2611 Email: info@sami.co.za |
SA
Migration
Tel.: +27 (0)71 632 9555 Fax: +27 (0)21 461 2611 Email: info@sami.co.za
Table of Contents
1. About SA Migration
2. South Africa’s visa regime keeps out badly needed skilled workers 3. Ramaphosa considers cutting number of government departments in South Africa 4. We are legal ghosts, Somali family’s bitter struggle to get refugee status in SA 5. Nigeria`s power grid has collapsed again, causing nationwide blackouts 6. Difficult trade-offs coming to keep South Africa afloat: report 7. Hi-tech to plug loopholes at porous borders 8. Children born in South Africa to foreign parents not automatically entitled to SA citizenship, says court 9. International arrivals at Cape Town International Airport injects R24 billion into the Western Cape economy in 2022
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(click on pic for your study info)  Knysna Lagoon 
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