South Africa Archives - Page 110 of 122

Detention of nine Zim nationals lawful, says home affairs

Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba inspects the automated booking system at Marabastad refugee reception office in Tshwane. Picture: Nigel Sibanda

The Zimbabwean nationals had to be detained for the department of home affairs to obtain documents to deport them.

The detention of nine Zimbabweans who were returning to their home country in a minibus taxi last month was lawful, as they were undocumented, the department of home affairs has said.

The nine “illegal foreigners”, arrested on August 21, are being held in De Aar, in the Northern Cape. They were told they would be kept for up to three months and then transferred to Lindela Repatriation Centre in Gauteng.

Home affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni said yesterday the Zimbabweans had to be arrested in order to obtain documents to deport them.

“We must first go to the embassy of the country they claim to come from and the Zimbabwean government has to give us a certificate confirming they are nationals of the country.

“Their country of origin needs to issue a one-way document for them to cross the border.

“One cannot leave the country without those documents,” he told The Citizen on the sidelines of Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba’s tour of the Marabastad refugee reception office in Pretoria.

The nine Zimbabweans have been held at Hanover Police Station in the Northern Cape for the past three weeks. Apleni said the length of their stay there depended on how long it took to process the documents.

“Unfortunately, there is no Zimbabwean embassy or consulate in the Northern Cape, they are only in Gauteng and Cape Town.

“Embassy [staff] will need to go to De Aar to identify all nine of their citizens to confirm that they are indeed from Zimbabwe.

“We can’t allow them to go to Zimbabwe without being assured that they are indeed from there.” Apleni said.

He said the nine could be taken to Lindela Repatriation Centre in the interim to “protect” them.

“Lindela is operating well and the Human Rights Commission has an office space to work from there.

“As the department, we inspect the centre often. It can accommodate a maximum of 3 500 foreigners at a time.” he said.

Meanwhile, Gigaba’s visit to the Marabastad Refugee reception office was to assess progress on renovations and the implementation of a new paperless system.

The new system operates from an automated asylum-seeker kiosk that captures refugees’ fingerprints and books an appointment for them with the department of home affairs.

The system will be fully operational by November and will stop corruption, Gigaba said.

“Anyone who enters the centre will enter on the basis of the online booking, meaning their fingerprints have been captured.

“The applicant will be provided with a date and time of interview and capturing of data. If they do not have their fingerprints captured, they will not be able to access the centre.

“This will avoid corruption and bribery, as they won’t have access to officials,” said Gigaba.

The paperless system would be rolled out throughout the country and at border posts over the next five years.

Rorisang Kgosana– rorisangk@citizen.co.za

South Africa

“You died in 2015,” Home Affairs tells uMgeni Park man

The 66-year-old was told he died of natural causes in Sasolburg.

21 hours ago

uMgeni Park resident, Jan Meyer, holds up an abridged copy of his death certificate. He was declared dead by the Department of Home Affairs last year.

AN uMgeni Park resident says he is at his wits end trying to prove he is not dead. Jan Meyer, 66, was declared dead in 2015 by the Department of Home Affairs. The Browns Drift Road resident said that his life has come to a standstill since he was informed by the department’s offices in Umgeni Road when he was applying for a new ID, that he was “deceased”.

“I had gone to the department’s offices to renew my ID but when I got there, I got the fright of my life when the officials informed me that according to their records, I’m deceased. Apparently I died in Sasolburg, I’ve never been to the place. Now I’ve got a death certificate. It has been over a year now and I am being sent from pillar to post to resolve the matter. I’ve completed several documents, received affidavits, and still nothing has been down. Now, the records are also showing my wife is a widower.

“I’m so angry and frustrated, but what makes this worse, is nobody is that taking responsibility. I was interviewed on TV not too long ago and I was assured by the Minister of Home Affairs that the issue would be sorted, a year later and still nothing has been rectified. I also cannot claim annuities from my insurance. Last year, I had to write an affidavit before one of them paid me out, however this year, once again, they have halted the payments saying I was dead,” he said.

Earlier this year Meyer visited his children in Namibia and had problems crossing the border.

“I have virtually no rights. My biggest fear is if I do die, what happens to my wife. No one seems to care enough to set the record straight. Earlier this year, I was humiliated at my voting station because the record reflected I was dead. I couldn’t even vote. No one can tell me it may have been an error at the capturing stage or a duplication because of the same names. There are promises of investigation, but no one does anything. I’m so stressed by this, I just want things to be okay again,” he said.

South Africa

GIGABA LAUNCHES PAPERLESS SYSTEM AT MARABASTAD REFUGEE CENTRE Malusi Gigaba says ridding the application process of queues decreases chances of collusion and corruption.

Dineo Bendile | 2 days ago

JOHANNESBURG – Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba says the introduction of a paperless system at the Marabastad refugee reception office will contribute towards eradicating corruption.

Gigaba conducted a tour of the office in Pretoria today where interventions are underway to improve the services provided to asylum seekers.

The office has been a cause of concern for years due to continued allegations of fraud and corruption, as well as human rights violations.

The Department of Home Affairs believes the introduction of automated systems at the Marabastad centre will eradicate long queues and other challenges they present.

Minister Gigaba says ridding the application process of queues decreases the chances of collusion and corruption.

“The proses of making online booking is going to exclude anybody from within the department who could, in the past, assist you to gain access to the centre.”

Last year, lobby group Lawyers for Human Rights released a report which detailed corruption at the centre where asylum seekers were forced to pay as many as four bribes just to have their paperwork finalised.

Now Gigaba says such human rights violations will be drastically decreased through the use of technology.

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South Africa

Malusi Gigaba was in Vryheid – June 10, 2016

The minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba visited AbaQulusi on Wednesday last week.

The minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba visited AbaQulusi on Wednesday last week.

The aim of the minister’s visit was to officially open both Vryheid’s Home Affairs, and the Thusong Centre in Emondlo.

Municipal officials including the mayor Cllr Patience Khaba were taken on an official tour around the recently opened Home Affairs offices and told about all the ways the department has upgraded their systems to ensure quick and efficient community service.

The department officials then headed down to Emondlo where the Thusong Centre was officially opened, before ending things at a big community Imbizo at the B Section Sports Ground in Emondlo.

Determined to bring better service to the people the, the Department of Home Affairs shared with the community members of Emondlo all the ways they plan to be more resourceful through various projects such as ‘Sukuma Sakhe’.