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“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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EuRA Relocation Congress Africa – Cape Town November 2016

The Elfin Trail in Constantia with VoiceMap

A fantasy-themed audio walking tour through the beautiful and least-known forests and glades in Cape Town

[Soft instrumental music starts playing.]

“Welcome, traveller”, I hear a distinctly Irish female say in my ears. “You should be standing alongside a small wooden hut in the parking lot of the entranceway to the Cecilia Forest. We’ve got a way to go, and we’ll start walking soon but first, let me explain how this works.”

As the lyrical voice suggests, who I later learn is a timid fairy named Pepper Windshimmer, I’m standing in Cecilia Forest’s car park right next to the little wooden guard hut with about 30 others. Smartphones in our hands and earphones plugged in, we attentively listen – in our own time – to the private audio track playing in our ears.

“That magical device in your hand”, our storyteller continues, referring to our cell phones, “will trigger narrative automatically at the right spots, so you can put it away now”.

Tentatively I put my phone in my pocket, quickly glancing around to see if others are doing the same. For the majority of us, this is our first time, so we’re still getting the hang of things, but as Iain Manley, co-founder and CEO of VoiceMap – I’ll come back to this in a bit – had explained, prior to us hitting the large bright green start button on our screens and hearing our guide’s instructions, the app uses GPS to automatically play the audio. Therefore, once it’s running you really can put your device away and relax, the track will play right on cue without you having to do a thing.

“If you do feel you’ve lost your way or don’t know where to go, you can check the map on your screen”, Pepper reassures. “But the idea is that you focus on the glorious enchantments we’re set to discover. I’ll explain more as we go. It’s not unusual for people to make this journey alone, but please keep your wits about you at all times. Our walk will take about an hour and a half at a normal pace. Are you ready to begin?”

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80 Percent Of Africans Don’t Know Tourist Sites Available In Their Own Countries

Africa needs to establish intra-Africa travel packages to attract tourists within the continent, said tourism industry executives attending the Fourth Annual Africa Hotel Expansion Summit and Hospitality Round Table in Dar es Salaam.

“Africa needs to encourage intra-Africa travel programs that would attract more people to travel from one country to another country within the continent,” said Amaechi Ndili, President and Chief Executive Officer, Lionstone Group and Golden Tulip West Africa Hospitality Group in Nigeria.

“We need to stimulate intra-Africa tourism and business travel while governments across the continent take serious steps and policies to create more open skies for Africans,” Ndili noted.

Most countries in Africa still lack competitive tools to support growth and competition in tourism at global market levels, despite the continent’s rich and untapped natural resources.

More than 80 percent of Africans don’t know tourist attractive sites available in their own countries compared to Europe, America, and other continents, hotel executives said.

Nigeria is the leading African country generating outbound tourists to other countries within the continent, mostly to other West African states, as well as East and Southern Africa.

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