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SA Migration Newsletter
08 / 2024 |
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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.
With the government determined to scrap the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP), permit holders were told they must apply for waivers and seek alternative visas if they wish to remain in South Africa legally.
A waiver allows ZEP holders, many of whom have been employed for years in South Africa, to continue in their jobs without having to go through an immigration process from scratch with the Department of Labour, for instance proving that the job was advertised and no South African applicant applied or was qualified for the position. Successful waiver applicants then apply for a general work visa.
The Department of Home Affairs says that some spousal or relative visa applications take up to two years to process because of the documentation and claims that need to be verified. Responding to a written parliamentary Q&A this past week, Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that this is the current challenge being addressed by the department’s ‘Backlog Eradication Plan’, where 117 additional officials have been pulled in from the provinces to work through applications. The department is also looking for partners in the private sector to improve and speed up the verification processes.
Legal Aid South Africa has revised their means test to grant more people access to legal services.
The Legal Aid South Africa (Legal Aid SA) Means Test, used to determine if applicants qualify for legal aid, has been revised upwards to cater for increases in the Consumer Price Index. This will enable access to legal services to a wider group of people, Legal Aid SA said in a statement on Monday.
The changes come into effect on 1 April 2024.
Below is a summary of the new Means Test thresholds. Legal Aid SA considers what applicants earn, after tax, and own:
Tourism in the Western Cape continues to grow and strengthen. I am thrilled to confirm that, according to Statistics South Africa, total international air arrivals to Cape Town International Airport between January and February 2024 surpassed the 200,000 mark and exceeded the 2019 figure of 194,058 for the same period, breaking all previous records in the last five years. And at key attractions in regions across the province, visitor numbers are up 20% year on year. This is yet more excellent news for the sector because we know that more tourist means more jobs across the province,” said Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger.
This is according to the monthly tourism report for February 2024, compiled by the Western Cape Government’s (WCG) tourism, trade, and investment promotion agency, Wesgro
Years after Tebogo Khoza was refused an identity document, a high court judgment has restored his rights and offered hope to millions of other undocumented South Africans.
As a gamekeeper in Limpopo, Tebogo Khoza’s knowledge of the land and its wildlife is key to his livelihood and safety. Tending to buffalo and impala on the reserve where he lives at the foot of the Ysterberg, Khoza feels a sense of belonging that has been denied to him for most of his life.
Last year, at the age of 25, Khoza was finally issued with a birth certificate by the department of home affairs, marking the end of a 10-year battle to be recognised as a South African citizen.
Stats SA`s first migration report shows SA has lost almost a million citizens to emigration since 2000. The data also suggests claims about a ‘brain regain’ in SA are overly optimistic.
Grey skies, geopolitical uncertainty, the high cost of living and the exorbitant price of biltong abroad appear not to be strong enough pull factors for South Africa.
Despite cheery anecdotal claims by estate agencies, tax practitioners and international moving companies that South Africans were returning to the country of their birth in droves, Stats SA’s evidence shows that far fewer Saffas are doing so.
In fact, the rising numbers of South Africans emigrating to the UK, Australia, and the US long favoured destinations for South African émigrés have helped boost those country’s populations by significant percentages.
Four foreign nationals succeed in case against Department of Transport regulation and Road Accident Fund management directive.
The minister and the fund exercised powers they don’t have, making it unnecessary for judges to deal with the ‘constitutionality arguments’ related to the case. Image: AdobeStock
A Department of Transport regulation and Road Accident Fund (RAF) management directive that attempted to exclude foreigners who are illegally in South Africa from submitting claims against the RAF has been declared invalid by the High Court in Pretoria.
Judge Norman Davis, with acting judges BF Mnyovu and A Kok concurring, reviewed and set aside the provisions of the substituted RAF 1 claim form issued by former minister of transport Fikile Mbalula in terms of the RAF Act and prescribed by a notice published in the Government Gazette on 4 July 2022.
In 2020 the Auditor General raised alarm bells when they indicated that the asylum appeal backlog would take the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) 68 years to clear.
In 2021 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provided the DHA with R147 million to deal with the 153 391 asylum decisions appeal backlog. The funding provided for this backlog project, like with most initiatives taken by the DHA, was wasted.
Both the UNHCR and the DHA stated that the project would eliminate the backlog within 4 years. Yet, after a question posed to the Minister, the DA exposed that the DHA is failing miserably at dealing with the asylum appeal backlog and has wasted the UNHCR’s funding. 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. Zimbabweans complain of Home incompetence 3. Why it takes 2 years to get some visas in South Africa 4. Changes for Legal Aid in South Africa 5. Record-breaking 200 000 international air arrivals in 2024 as W Cape tourism boom continues 6. Man gets ID after 25 year wait for birth certificate 7. Gone for good, dwindling number of South African emigrants return 8. Attempts to exclude illegal foreigners from submitting road accident claims invalid 9. Home Affairs wasted R147 million on failed asylum backlog project
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(click on pic for your study info)  Knysna Lagoon 
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Retired in South Africa (click on pic for your retirement info)  Knysna Elephants |
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