South Africa July 2005 |
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| Home Affairs department on American actor, (Bua News, 2005-07-13):-Government has cleared the air regarding US movie star Wesley Snipes who entered the country undetected at the Johannesburg International Airport two months ago using a fraudulent South African passport. Home affairs spokesperson Nkosana Sibuyi said the system at the airport detected a discrepancy in Snipes' passport as it rejected the South African identity number, indicating that the passport was fraudulent. Mr Sibuyi said the immigration officials were therefore instructed to be on the lookout for Mr. Snipes on his exit from South Africa. He was questioned as he left the country in June. "During the interview it was established that Mr. Snipes did in fact have fraudulent South African documentation in his possession. He explained that he had applied for South African documents for himself and his family through his American attorney. "Both Mr. Snipes and his attorney agreed to co-operate with the Inspectorate of the National Immigration Branch in their investigation into this matter. During the interview it also transpired that Mr. Snipes was in possession of a valid American passport," said Mr. Sibuyi. He explained that as Mr. Snipes was an illegal foreigner in terms of the Immigration Act of 2002, the immigration officials had an option either to order him to leave South Africa or to deport him. However, as Mr. Snipes had a valid passport [American passport] and a current ticket on point of departure, he was allowed to depart, Mr. Sibuyi added. But the department confiscated Snipes' fraudulent South African identity document and passport. Mr. Sibuyi also explained that because an increasing number of people were found to be in possession of fraudulent documents last year, his department identified certain people as 'undesirable persons' in terms of the Immigration Act, 2002. "Therefore Mr. Snipes is an undesirable person in terms of the Act, and was handed a notice to this effect. He has also been placed on the Visa and Entry Stop List. This means that he loses his visa-exempt status as an American citizen and will have to apply to enter South Africa," he explained. The amended immigration regulations implemented early this month state that prohibited persons cannot apply for either a temporary or permanent residence permit. They may however apply to the Director-General and must show good cause why that status should be removed. Mr. Sibuyi said his department was committed to strengthening systems and enforcement measures to ensure that only those foreigners with valid status documents were allowed to enter and stay in South Africa, and that illegal foreigners were effectively removed. "We are quite confident that since the launch of the National Immigration Branch, transformation of immigration and the implementation of the Immigration Amendment Act, the Department is steadily and qualitatively positioning the immigration system as effective, efficient, professional and dynamic," he said. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |