Hell Affairs News Today

Representatives of various civil society organisations criticised the White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection.

Home Affairs’ proposed withdrawal from international agreements on refugee protection have been flagged as a ‘significant setback’.

It can take just two months to obtain a spousal visa if the foreign spouse of a South African citizen applies from outside the country. However, if they apply from inside South Africa it becomes a waiting game and they cannot leave until the process has been completed.

About 700,000 identity documents are blocked by the Department of Home Affairs yet there appears to be no easy way to lodge an inquiry.

Civil society organisations have welcomed the Pretoria High Court judgment which declared the termination of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit ‘unlawful and unconstitutional’ — lauding it as a victory for the thousands of Zimbabwean nationals who call South Africa home.

Daily Maverick recorded how long it takes for a voice to answer calls to four key government contact number hotlines, including Home Affairs.

It took reports in Daily Maverick and community media to get Home Affairs officials to do their jobs and finally end a 21-year-old’s years of anguish.

A man has appeared in court after a hostage drama at the Department of Home Affairs’ offices in Elim outside Louis Trichardt.

Mobile units, online appointments and cable theft were among the issues that cropped up during a Home Affairs briefing in Parliament on Tuesday.

Details of Home Affairs’ R2.4-billion project to digitise its records were laid out by Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Thursday. The project will see the recruitment of 10,000 unemployed young people to help digitise more than 350 million civic paper records over the next three years.