Andrew Stegmann

Special Report: In South Africa, immigration feeds corrupt officials and race hate

JOHANNESBURG, March 22 (Reuters) – In 2010 police in Johannesburg shot Justin Ejimkonye, a Nigerian migrant, in the leg. The reason why is unclear: It took the police 18 months to charge Ejimkonye with any crime. When they did bring a charge, saying he was carrying cannabis, a public prosecutor decided not to pursue the case for lack of evidence.

The Nigerian says police shot him because he refused to pay them bribes.

Similar claims of police corruption are echoed by hundreds of immigrants in South Africa. Some are resigned to paying out so they can stay in the country. Others feel powerless to act. But over the past seven years, Ejimkonye, who says he is in the country legally, has refused to keep quiet. Now he is pursuing a civil claim for damages. He says law enforcement and immigration officials have continued to brutalise and wrongfully detain him. A high court has twice ordered the police to set him free.

“I still think every day they will come for me,” said Ejimkonye, 31. “I’m fighting for my life.”

The Nigerian, who walks with a limp, is suing South Africa’s minister of home affairs, the local government, a police officer and an official at the Department for Home Affairs for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages as a result of this alleged maltreatment. His case has been filed at a Johannesburg high court and is due to be heard in August. It is a fresh challenge to the misrule and abuse that even the government sees in South Africa’s immigration system.

“This is an important case and the evidence is extensive and conclusive,” said Bulelani Mzamo, Ejimkonye’s attorney. “A lot of people in authority are in deep trouble.”

National police declined to comment on the case; the police investigatory body said it had not been informed about it. Told of the case by Reuters, Mayihlome Tshwete, a spokesman for Home Affairs, said he would look into it. Tshwete said the problems it highlights were “systemic” in the past but are improving under Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, who was appointed in 2014 and has launched a drive against corruption, arresting tens of officials in his department on corruption charges.

South Africans worry that foreigners are taking their jobs and creating crime, and migrants say the immigration system is failing. The same forces that send West Africans to Italy are driving sub-Saharan Africans – nearly half of them from Zimbabwe – into the continent’s richest state. South Africa rejects 95 percent of asylum applications as unjustified. But so far, it has been unwilling to deport those migrants. It houses more than a million people with temporary residence permits who are unsure what is going to happen to them.

That has fostered extortion. More than 20 refugees or migrants interviewed by Reuters said they had suffered corruption and worse at the hands of police and immigration officers. A 2015 report by Lawyers for Human Rights and the African Centre for Migration & Society, two NGOs, found one-third of immigrants experience corruption at South African refugee registration offices. Another report, published last November by NGO Corruption Watch, found more than 300 foreigners complained of extortion, threats and solicitation from government officials. President Jacob Zuma said last month a system of “bribes for permits” poses a serious security risk for the country.

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Andrew Stegmann

South Africa asks World Bank to review ease-of-doing-business position in light of InvestSA initiative

The South African government has officially launched a new investment facilitation service, dubbed InvestSA, which it claims will dramatically reduce red tape for foreign and domestic businesses seeking to pursue greenfield or brownfield projects in the country.

The service, which has both physical and virtual dimensions, is punted as a one-stop shop facility, bringing under one umbrella the various government departments and agencies investors deal with to secure the permits, licences and incentives required to facilitate their investments.

The national office, located at the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI’s) Pretoria Campus, was officially inaugurated by President Jacob Zuma on Friday, with three provincial offices to be rolled out in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Nataland the Western Cape later this year.

Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies says the one-stop shop was conceived together with the Presidential Business Working Group in 2015 and is a direct response to ongoing appeals from business for government to streamline the bureaucracy associated with investing in the country.

Besides the DTI, the national one-stop shop will house senior officials from the departments of Home Affairs, Labour and Environmental Affairs, as well as Eskom, the South African Revenue Service and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission.

It will offer specialist advisory services to investors relating to South Africa’s economic, regulatory and legislative environment, while also showcasing the industrial financing incentives available.

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Andrew Stegmann
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Afrophobia not in SA, Nigeria’s vision for Africa – Nigerian foreign minister

Tshwane – South Africa and Nigeria have resolved to establish an early warning system in response to xenophobic attacks and to strengthen relations between the two nations.

International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and her Nigerian counterpart Geoffrey Onyeama held a bilateral meeting on Monday. This follows a wave of xenophobic violence in SA in February.

The meeting was attended by several officials from both countries, including Nigeria’s interior minister and South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba.

Ten houses were torched in Rosettenville by angry residents who claimed the homes were being used by Nigerians for drug dealing and prostitution. Several Pretoria homes were raided by community members for similar reasons.

“For some time now, there have been these incidents of attacks and Nigerians have been victims,” said Onyeama.

He added that his government knew that violence aimed at Nigerian nationals in SA was not state sponsored.

‘Dynamic’ South Africa

“We know that the South African government has always condemned this, that the South African people have condemned this. It was the action of a small criminal minority,” he continued.

“We also recognise that not all the Nigerians in SA engage in lawful activity, but the vast majority are,” said Onyeama.

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Andrew Stegmann

Immigration for South Africa

February 2015

This summary is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered an authoritative guide on how to obtain work authorization in South Africa. The intent is to give the reader a general overview of the process only. Procedures and requirements may have changed since the writing of this article. For current and detailed information regarding the topics below, as well as documentary requirements, processing times, post-arrival and departure requirements, penalties for non-compliance, allowances for accompanying family members, and any other information pertaining to your specific needs, please contact your Pro-Link GLOBAL immigration professional.

Overview

BUSINESS VISITOR

Permitted Activities – Business visitors must generally limit their activities to the following:

• Attending training, interviews, business meetings or discussions;
• Attending seminars or “fact-finding” meetings;
• All other activities must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Type of Business Visas – Certain nationals may enter South Africa without need of a business visa (visa-exempt nationals). However, these visa-exempt nationals will be required to submit an electronic request for travel authorization and receive travel authorization from the South African Department of Home Affairs prior to entering South Africa as a business visitor. All other nationals will require a visitor’s visa for business purposes (visa under Section 11 (2)).

Basic Requirements

1. Intention of a genuine visit for business and not for paid employment, nor establish any employment relationship with the South African host company;
2. Valid passport;
3. Evidence that there are no restrictions on his or her traveling to South Africa;
4. No intention to permanently reside in South Africa;
5. A ticket for onward travel from South Africa.

Estimated Processing Times – This varies by diplomatic post and country.

Maximum Time On Visa – This visa allows business people to make a short business visit to South Africa for up to three months. Duration of stay, multi-entry status and ability to extend business status will be on a highly-discretionary basis.

Typical Documents Required – All travelers need to present the following documents to officers in immigration clearance:

• valid passport or other acceptable travel document; and in some cases,
• a valid visa or authority to enter South Africa.

EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION

Basic Requirements – There are several different corporate immigration categories in South Africa.  The most commonly used immigration category for temporary employment in South Africa is the intra-company transfer (ICT) work visa. This is a category for employers to sponsor qualified skilled workers to work as intra-company transferees in South Africa on a temporary basis. The employee should be a permanent employee with the company in the home country and transferred for a maximum of 48 months to a branch or subsidiary in South Africa.

Process Overview – The process for obtaining an intra-company work visa involves a one-step process summarized below:

1. Work visa application, submitted to the South African diplomatic post in the applicant’s country of residence.

Please note that medicals and police clearances will be required for all applications.

Estimated Processing Time – two to eight weeks.

Validity periods – ICT visas are generally valid for up to four years.

Family Members – Dependents of ICT work visa holders may not work without separate work authorization.

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