Harare, February 07, 2017 – SOUTH AFRICA’s government is set to deport at least 200 000 Zimbabweans living in its territory ahead of the much anticipated general elections in 2018.
The deportations will come following the expiry of Special Dispensation Permits of Zimbabweans on December 3 last year.
South African Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said his country could no longer accommodate the high numbers of Zimbabweans domiciled in the country hence the need to effect the law on the migrants.
“We cannot offer permanent residency for such a high number of people,” said Gigaba.
The deportations will come at a time when the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will start registering voters ahead of the general elections.
The Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) is expected to start in March 2017.
It will capture voters’ unique biometric features, specifically fingerprints and facial imaging which will be recorded in a database.
It is believed that close to three million Zimbabweans are domiciled outside the country.
Minister Gigaba said there were 197 000 foreigners on the special permit arrangement, adding that he would make an announcement on the ZSP before the end of this month.
The South African minister said he was hoping that a decision by cabinet will act in favour of the migrants urging the Zimbabweans to opt for other visas despite the government tightening screws on the visas as it was setting quotas on foreigners working or running business in the Southern African country.
“We will make a well-thought-out decision, hopefully with the support of my cabinet colleagues,’ he said.
The Home Affairs minister said South Africa is set start enforcing South African laws requiring that 60 percent of all workforces should be made up of locals in the hospitality sector.
South Africa already has law that enforces the number of foreigners in the construction, agriculture and mining industries.
Roshan Dadoo of the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa said the looming end of the ZSP made no sense as it could lead to Zimbabweans with jobs in the country being declared illegal.
Source
New policies on validity of visas announced – South Africa
What is the change? South Africa has announced significant changes to the validity period of visas. Visas will no longer be valid beyond the expiration date of the holder’s passport, and authorities will no longer recognize or transfer an existing visa from an old passport to a new passport.
What does the change mean? All foreign nationals currently holding South African visas should check the expiration date on their passport, which is the date that now controls expiration of their visa (regardless of the visa’s stated validity period). Individuals applying for South African visas should also make sure that their passport is valid for at least 30 days beyond the requested visa period.
How will this impact foreign nationals with existing permits?
· Implementation time frame: Immediate.
· Visas/permits affected: All South African visas.
· Who is affected: Individuals currently holding or applying for South African visas.
· Business impact: The policy adds significant administrative burdens and requires employers and individuals to be aware of passport validity periods before applying for visas, as well as during the term of their visa. Individuals risk overstaying their visa (resulting in a one-year bar from entry into South Africa) if their passport expires before the end of their stated visa term.
· Next steps: Companies should work with their BAL professional to identify affected foreign employees and family members, including minor children whose passports usually have shorter validity periods. Those applying for visas may need to obtain a new passport if it is due to expire within the requested visa period. Those who already hold a visa that expires within 30 days before their passport expires may need to leave South Africa to avoid overstaying their visa.
Background: Previously, South African immigration authorities issued visas with a maximum validity period based on the period requested in the application. If a visa holder’s passport expired during the visa period, authorities would allow the visa holder to travel into South Africa with the expired passport holding the visa and the new passport; those already in South Africa could transfer their visa from an old passport to a new passport.
Under the new Department of Home Affairs policy, the maximum validity of a visa is the passport’s validity period minus 30 days. The policy affects individuals currently holding South African visas as well as those applying for or renewing visas, and affects visas issued abroad or in-country.
According to the DHA statement, “A visa issued with an expiry date beyond that of a passport is considered to have been issued in error and when discovered will be withdrawn.” The statement further clarifies that foreign nationals will not be exempt from immigration enforcement because a visa was issued in error. Therefore, in the event that a visa holder’s passport expires while in South Africa during the visa term (even if the visa validity was issued in error), DHA is likely to deem the foreign national an overstay who is subject to being on the “undesirables” list and barred from re-entry for at least 12 months.
For assistance with matters contact our South African immigration team – immigration@relocationafrica.com or call our offices +27 (0)21 7634240 Relocation Africa can provide a management tool to manage all foreign nationals expiry dates on passports and visas.
IBM to train 25 million Africans for free to build workforce
Johannesburg – International Business Machines Corp. is ramping up its digital-skills training program to accommodate as many as 25 million Africans in the next five years, looking toward building a future workforce on the continent.
The US tech giant plans to make an initial investment of 945 million rand ($70 million) to roll out the training initiative in South Africa, a country where 31% of 15-to-24 year-olds are unemployed, according to Statistics South Africa.
At the same time, the program will be started at IBM’s offices in Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco and Egypt, enabling an expansion of the project across the rest of the continent.
“Africa will have the largest workforce by 2040 and IBM wants to lay the foundation blocks to build a digital workforce,’’ Juan Pablo Napoli, head of IBM Skills Academy, said by phone from Dubai. “We will be providing a free cloud-based learning platform able to train people from basic computer skills to high-end app development.”
The move may help bring and keep digital jobs in Africa instead of losing them to India, said Hamilton Ratshefola, IBM’s country manager for South Africa. As many as 50,000 such jobs are currently farmed out from Africa, predominantly to India, Ratshefola said.
Source
The expat ‘six month slump’
When the euphoria wears thin; the 6 month slump
When you type ‘6-month slump’ into Google, the first thing you find is lots of information about nursing mums. No doubt a very important and emotive issue – but not the one we’re here to discuss.
Dig a little deeper through the hundreds of search results and you’ll start to get closer to our concern; you’ll find that 6 months is the make or break time for new relationships, the point at which more than 50% of people fail their New Year’s resolution, the end of the metaphorical ‘honeymoon period’ for a new job, a new house… and of course a new Country.
So, what’s so special about six months and what goes wrong?
Human nature
As an intelligent and rational species, we distract ourselves from things that might cause us concern by keeping busy. Avoidance comes naturally; rather than analyse our feelings and consider what might go wrong right from the beginning of a project, most of us will choose to throw ourselves into it head first and determine that optimism will win the day. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have achieved half as much as we have as a species, so this is actually a good thing!
We use optimism to generate excitement, enthusiasm and energy… all great attributes that help us to sail through the planning and execution of new endeavours. The trouble starts when the ‘honeymoon period’ ends and the excitement and initial enthusiasm give way to routine. New relationships give way to noticing flaws in the object of our affection; new jobs become just jobs; new years’ resolutions become somewhat boring and we lose sight of our objectives and new homes just aren’t new and exciting anymore.
Expat euphoria
Is exactly what it says on the tin… the euphoria (elation, joy) that is felt by expats immediately after their adrenaline-soaked relocation. All the planning and worrying paid off and YOU. MADE. IT! You have a fabulous new home, a new environment to explore and so much unpacking and organising to do that it can keep you busy and fulfilled for months… about 6 of them to be almost precise.
Source
South Africa to Deport Zimbabweans Ahead of 2018 Elections
Harare, February 07, 2017 – SOUTH AFRICA’s government is set to deport at least 200 000 Zimbabweans living in its territory ahead of the much anticipated general elections in 2018.
The deportations will come following the expiry of Special Dispensation Permits of Zimbabweans on December 3 last year.
South African Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said his country could no longer accommodate the high numbers of Zimbabweans domiciled in the country hence the need to effect the law on the migrants.
“We cannot offer permanent residency for such a high number of people,” said Gigaba.
The deportations will come at a time when the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will start registering voters ahead of the general elections.
The Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) is expected to start in March 2017.
It will capture voters’ unique biometric features, specifically fingerprints and facial imaging which will be recorded in a database.
It is believed that close to three million Zimbabweans are domiciled outside the country.
Minister Gigaba said there were 197 000 foreigners on the special permit arrangement, adding that he would make an announcement on the ZSP before the end of this month.
The South African minister said he was hoping that a decision by cabinet will act in favour of the migrants urging the Zimbabweans to opt for other visas despite the government tightening screws on the visas as it was setting quotas on foreigners working or running business in the Southern African country.
“We will make a well-thought-out decision, hopefully with the support of my cabinet colleagues,’ he said.
The Home Affairs minister said South Africa is set start enforcing South African laws requiring that 60 percent of all workforces should be made up of locals in the hospitality sector.
South Africa already has law that enforces the number of foreigners in the construction, agriculture and mining industries.
Roshan Dadoo of the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa said the looming end of the ZSP made no sense as it could lead to Zimbabweans with jobs in the country being declared illegal.
Source