SA President Visits Home Affairs Head Office
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the Home Affairs head office in Tshwane recently, as part of his commitment to promote good governance and professionalism in the public sector. Click here to view the video.
On the back of bilateral talks with Nigeria, the President visited a Department of Home Affairs to ensure that asylum seekers were treated properly.
The department had been accused of being slow to issue asylum or other documentation, forcing foreign nationals to live as illegals.
Ramaphosa addressed staff and senior managers at Home Affairs in Tshwane.
“We are about to demonstrate to South Africans and the world that Home Affairs is at that top-level when we introduce the e-visa system which is world-class by any means that you can describe. But at the same time, the people of our country and the rest of the world will be expecting Home Affairs to continue to push the boundaries and push the limits and demonstrate that it can do even better than what we are doing now,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa met with his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday during a state visit.
The presidents of the continent’s two biggest economies reached 32 bilateral agreements following the gathering.
While Ramaphosa said that the recent xenophobic violence did not represent the values of either country, Buhari urged his citizens living in South Africa to adhere to the law.
Ramaphosa said South Africa and Nigeria agreed to elevate their co-operation to presidential level to revive relations that were battered by the recent violence.
Flight expenditure for undocumented migrants
Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi confirmed that R8 956 713.41 has been spent on charter flights and/or airlines by his department to deport undocumented migrants for the period April 1 to August 31 this year.
The minister made the revelations in a parliamentary reply to a question asked by DA MP Joseph McGluwa.
McGluwa asked Motsoaledi about the details of the charter flights and airlines as well as the total amount paid in respect of the deportations in both the 2018/19 financial year and since the start of April this year.
For the 2018 to 2019 financial year, R33 070 629.90 was spent on flights for the deportation of undocumented migrants.
DA MP Adrian Roos asked Motsoaledi whether he would engage with the executive mayors of metropolitan municipalities to conduct raids to combat illegal immigration.
To this, the minister replied that he “… has engaged with municipal structures on matters of migration and will do so on a continuous basis”.
“Joint and special operations to combat illegal migration are planned and conducted by law enforcement agencies at national, provincial and local level through inter-governmental security structures. All metro municipalities are represented in local security, provincial and national structures such as the provincial joint operational structures and the national structure,” Motsoaledi added.
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