(1)Considering that a Dassault Falcon 900B luxury jet was utilised to fly fugitives, Mr Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana, from Tanzania to the Republic and that the return trip allegedly cost taxpayers R1,4 million, what (a) total number of quotes were sourced and (b) are the full, relevant details of (i) all quotes, (ii) the details of each company, (iii) the total amount quoted by each company and (iv) the name of the service provider used;
(2) whether his department will attempt to recoup the total specified cost from G4S; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1)(a) The Department of Home Affairs is a participant in the National Treasury’s RT61-2018 transversal contract for the hiring and leasing of aircrafts and helicopters to the state. Thirteen (13) service providers who are accredited on this contract were approached to submit quotations for the service. Out of the thirteen service providers, three responded. The Department selected the cheapest option from the quotations which ...
(1) Whether, with regard to the various visas available to foreign nationals for entrance to and/or residence in the Republic, he and/or his department established standards for the time period a decision on an application will be made for each of the visa types; if not, (a) why not and (b) what are the standards for each visa type; if so,
(2) whether time frames for decision-making are managed by regulations; if not, why not; if so, (a) which regulations and (b) how does his department implement the Batho Pele principles;
(3) what is the average time it has taken over the past two years for a decision on each visa type to be made and communicated to the applicants;
(4) whether his department has assessed the economic impact of legal immigration on the Republic; if not, why not; if so, what is the impact in Rand value;
(5) whether his department will assess the economic value and/or impact of legal immigration; if not, why not; if so, by what date?
- 1. The Department has turnaround times for visas that have a direct economic contribution in as far as employment and investment are concerned. The turnaround times are as follows:
- Critical Skill work visa: turnaround time is 4 weeks
- General work visa: turnaround time is 8 weeks
- Business visa: turnaround time is 8 weeks
2. The Immigration Regulations do not make provision for time frames ...
Considering his department’s operation in Sandton on 28 April 2023, in which officials raided restaurants in search of undocumented migrants, what (a) motivated the operation and (b) likely outcomes is his department hoping for?
a) The department as part of its mandate to ensure all persons in South Africa are here on lawful basis regularly conducts business inspections and operations to ensure that businesses are not employing undocumented foreign nationals.
b) The department in conducting this operation, wanted to ensure that all employees were correctly documented and legally in South Africa. At this operation 5 restaurants were inspected ...
(1) Whether (a) any concessions are made to speed up applications of work visa renewals for the staff of embassies and consulates and (b) staff in his department are briefed on such concessions; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case;
(2) what is the position of his department on the case of a staff member at the Indonesian Embassy (details furnished), who has been struggling since November 2022 to have a work visa renewed;
(3) whether he can intervene as requests for his department’s assistance have only led to a dead end; if not, why not; if so, when?
(1)(a) There are no special concessions in place to speed up applications of work visa renewals for the staff of embassies and consulates.
(1)(b) All special concessions by the Minister or Director-General are shared with staff, both local and abroad. The interpretation and the application of the contents of these concessions are shared with all staff to ensure uniformity.
(2) The work visa application ...
What (a) were the outcomes of the Ministerial Task Team that was assigned the responsibility of reviewing the employment of foreign nationals, particularly considering that the Minister of Employment and Labour and other government officials admitted that some sectors employ up to 100% foreign nationals and (b) are the full, relevant details of the (i) joint programmes that are currently being run with the Departments of Small Business and Employment and Labour to address the employment of illegal migrants, (ii) total number of programmes annually and in which sectors and (iii) outcomes and progress made to address the employment of illegal foreign nationals
(a&b) The inter-Ministerial Committee that was assigned the responsibility off reviewing the employment of foreign nationals is chaired by the Minister of Employment and Labour and the Minister of Home Affairs. The task team includes departments in the security and economic cluster as well as employers and unions. The following departments are involved: Department of Transport, Department of Employment and Labour, Department of Home ...
Considering that according to his department’s website, there are currently 25 banks that provide the service for passport and identity applications (details furnished), thereby noting that it appears that not even 10% of bank branches offer home affairs services, what (a) are the reasons that the bank footprint of his department is not expanding and (b) plans are afoot to ensure that all bank branches will be able to offer home affairs services?
a) The expansion of the banks footprint is dependent on the signing of partnership agreements with the banks and has been delayed due to the banks requirements that DHA should guarantee minimal system downtime and quicker response to calls logged for IT support.
b) The DHA and Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) which represent all banks are crafting plans that will mitigate the ...
(1)Whether he will furnish Ms L L van der Merwe with the full details of the qualifications and training provided to the permitting agents; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether he will furnish Ms L L van der Merwe with the full details of the process of quality control; if not, why not; if so, what is the extent of checking whether a marriage is valid;
(3) whether he will furnish Ms L L van der Merwe with the full details of the vetting process of documents; if not, why not; if so, is it policy that agents phone universities to check if a person is enrolled?
(4) what processes are in place to escalate queries with banks when they are reluctant to confirm the authenticity of bank statements?
1. Section 46 of The Immigration Act, No. 13 of 2002 giving recognition to Immigration Practitioners (Agents) was repealed by section 23 of Act No. 13 of 2011. There is therefore no legislation that recognises or regulates immigration agents. The Department does not provide any training to immigration / permitting agents.
2. The full details of the process of quality control on applications is ...
(1)Whether he has been able to ascertain whether the seven suspects arrested for the recent murder of retired journalist, Jeremy Gordin, were undocumented foreign nationals; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what steps has (a) he and (b) his department taken to stem the unceasing flow of undocumented foreign nationals into the Republic;
(2) which visas did the foreign nationals hold if they were documented;
(3) what are the details of the checks-and-balances that are in place to ascertain whether documented foreign nationals have criminal records in their countries of origin before granting them visas?
(1)(a) According to the investigation docket from the South African Police Service, there are eight (8) suspects, of whom six (6) are undocumented persons, one (1) is in possession of Zimbabwe Exemption Permit(ZEP) and one (1) with a suspected fraudulent document.
(1)(b) The Department efforts to stem the flow of undocumented foreign nationals into the Country include the implementation of the Border Management Authority ...
What are the details of the progress that has been made in stabilising the system and network disruptions experienced at Home Affairs offices that render them non-operational?
1. Network connectivity remains a challenge in the success of system implementation and stabilisation in the Department. The Department has implemented the following to address challenges: -
a) To review current Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with SITA
b) To be exempted from SITA in order to approach service providers directly
c) Procuring LTE network backup for each District.
d) Continue to replace copper links ...
Whether Mr Thabo Bester has a South African identity document (ID); if not, what (a) are the reasons that the specified person was allowed to remain in prison for such a long period without an ID and (b) total number of inmates are in correctional facilities in the Republic without IDs?
No, Thabo Bester does not have an Identity Document- at least not one issued by the Department of Home Affairs.
a) The question should be referred to the Department of Correctional Services
b) The Department does not do any audit of inmates at Correctional Services facilities. We expect the Department to approach us if there are any issues of identity to be dealt with. ...
