Home Affairs Director-General Mkuseli Apleni says the department will comply with the 2017 Supreme Court order to reopen the Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre.
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered the department to reopen and maintain the Refugee Reception Centre in Cape Town. In its judgement, the court held that the closure was ‘irrational and unlawful.’
The Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre, which was closed in 2012, was at that time the second busiest Refugee Reception Centre in the country.
Addressing the media in Tshwane on Tuesday, Apleni said the department has begun complying with the court order.
“The Department of Home Affairs has no intention to disregard the judicial directive and we will duly respect the judgment. In this regard, we have commenced with plans to comply with the order,” Apleni said.
Apleni said the department has allocated a budget within the ambits of the current baseline.
“We have prioritised the funding and filing of key posts to get the centre operational. However, the department is dependent on Public Works to provide suitable office accommodation.
“To this end, we have engaged the Department of Public Works which, in turn, has issued a procurement instruction to their regional office in Cape Town,” Apleni said.
He said the Department of Public Works provided a project execution plan on 6 April 2018.
“The department will continue to uphold its constitutional obligation to those in need of protection from any form of persecution,” he said.
The Western Cape High Court had initially favoured the Department of Home Affairs to close the refugee office in Cape Town. The Scaralbini centre appealed the matter at the Supreme Court of Appeals, which ruled in their favour.
The Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre was established in 2000 as one of five Centres in terms of section 8.1 of the Refugees Act.
The Supreme Court of Appeal also instructed the Department of Home Affairs to furnish the court with monthly updates on the progress regarding the re-opening of the RRO.
For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
Sources: Town Press [1]. Image sources: [1].
Signs of Renewed Expat, Foreigner Interest in SA Housing Market
Due to improved sentiment about South Africa, it would not be surprising to see an increasing demand for SA residential property among foreigners and SA expats, according to John Loos, household and property sector strategist at First National Bank.
This is despite demand levels for SA domestic property from foreigners and SA expats being down significantly compared to 2015 and 2016, according to the FNB Estate Agent Survey for the first quarter of this year.
Estate agents surveyed estimated that 4.3% of total home buying for the two quarters up to and including the first quarter of 2018 was by foreigners.
The survey estimated that the percentage of SA homes being bought by SA expats was 1.51% of homes in the first quarter of 2018, after declining since 2015.
The survey also indicated that the number of buyers from other parts of Africa purchasing residential property in SA has slowed faster than overall foreigner home buying here in recent years. For Loos this could arguably reflect tougher African economic conditions compared to those in more developed countries in recent years.
The estate agents’ estimates about a weakening demand among foreigners and SA expats throughout 2017 reflected “dampened investor sentiment” towards SA in general, according to Loos.
In his view, this was likely caused by the stagnation of SA’s economy over a number of years, uncertainty about the SA government’s future economic policy, and “negative news” about the country such as sovereign rating downgrades to “junk status”.
“However, we have started 2018 with a noticeably more positive mood in South Africa, partly due to the political leadership change in the country following the ruling party’s elective conference in December 2017,” said Loos.
Positivity has also been reflected in a stronger rand and a rise in the RMB-BER Business Confidence Index in the first quarter of 2018.
“We will wait for further quarterly surveys before concluding that foreigner and expat buying levels are picking up meaningfully or not,” said Loos.
For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
Sources: Fin24 [1]. Image sources: [1].
Cape Refugee Centre To Be Reopened
Home Affairs Director-General Mkuseli Apleni says the department will comply with the 2017 Supreme Court order to reopen the Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre.
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered the department to reopen and maintain the Refugee Reception Centre in Cape Town. In its judgement, the court held that the closure was ‘irrational and unlawful.’
The Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre, which was closed in 2012, was at that time the second busiest Refugee Reception Centre in the country.
Addressing the media in Tshwane on Tuesday, Apleni said the department has begun complying with the court order.
“The Department of Home Affairs has no intention to disregard the judicial directive and we will duly respect the judgment. In this regard, we have commenced with plans to comply with the order,” Apleni said.
Apleni said the department has allocated a budget within the ambits of the current baseline.
“We have prioritised the funding and filing of key posts to get the centre operational. However, the department is dependent on Public Works to provide suitable office accommodation.
“To this end, we have engaged the Department of Public Works which, in turn, has issued a procurement instruction to their regional office in Cape Town,” Apleni said.
He said the Department of Public Works provided a project execution plan on 6 April 2018.
“The department will continue to uphold its constitutional obligation to those in need of protection from any form of persecution,” he said.
The Western Cape High Court had initially favoured the Department of Home Affairs to close the refugee office in Cape Town. The Scaralbini centre appealed the matter at the Supreme Court of Appeals, which ruled in their favour.
The Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre was established in 2000 as one of five Centres in terms of section 8.1 of the Refugees Act.
The Supreme Court of Appeal also instructed the Department of Home Affairs to furnish the court with monthly updates on the progress regarding the re-opening of the RRO.
For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
Sources: Town Press [1]. Image sources: [1].
Plans to Improve OR Tambo Immigration Services
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba says he plans to meet with Transport Minister Blade Nzimande over plans for Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) to deal with long queues and other issues at immigration at the OR Tambo International Airport.
Gigaba held a meeting with officials at the airport on Wednesday morning and walked over to the immigration point of entry.
Gigaba has told ACSA and OR Tambo International management that he doesn’t want to be persuaded against launching pilot projects that could improve services at the airport.
“I’m saying all of this as a way of telling you what I want to see happening. I can’t be persuaded against that.”
Gigaba says plans which include technological systems to eliminate long queues at points were supposed to be implemented during the next financial year, but he wants them to go live sooner.
“Initially the delay was on our side, but I would like them to be brought forward so that we can start piloting them and ensure that we provide quality service to our clients.”
These systems include e-visas, which will enable travellers to apply for visas online, and e-gates, which will allow self-service at airports.
For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
Sources: Masego Rahlaga (EWN) [1]. Image sources: [1].
ID and Cellphone Numbers Leaked on SA Home Affairs Website
A flaw in the Department of Home Affairs website has exposed the details of people attempting to contact the department.
A MyBroadband reader contacted us regarding the issue, after he said several attempts by him to contact the department and alert them to the matter failed.
He found that on the website’s Ask Us page, users were required to complete a form to lodge a query with Home Affairs.
The form requires users to input the following details:
First name
Last name
ID or case number
Cellphone number
Detailed query
It also requires users to complete a reCaptcha form before submitting their details, which at the time of writing was displaying the following error message:
reCAPTCHA V1 IS SHUTDOWN
Direct site owners to g.co/recaptcha/upgrade
Details leaked
When loading the web page, it occasionally delivered a JavaScript error warning before displaying the page and submission form.
However, on these occasions the form was already completed with the details of a previous user – allowing anyone to view their name, ID/case number, cellphone number, and the nature of their query.
MyBroadband managed to replicate this issue multiple times, and each time we were presented with the personal details of a person’s query submission.
A redacted screenshot of the form information exposed due to this issue is shown below.
It is unclear how many users were exposed in this manner, and if the reCaptcha issue was the cause of the data leak.
Home Affairs – No comment
MyBroadband reached out to the Department of Home Affairs for comment on the matter, but it did not respond. The Ask Us web page on the Home Affairs website has been taken offline following the publication of MyBroadband’s report.
For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
Sources: Jamie McKane (MyBroadband) [1]. Image sources: [1], [2].