South Africa February 2007 |
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| Immigration law practitioners slam Home Affairs, (Cape Times, 2007-02-14):-The lack of immigration policies and guidelines threaten the economic wellbeing of South Africa and present an obstacle to continued growth, top immigration law practitioners warned yesterday, saying that the Department of Home Affairs was holding back progress. The newly appointed vice-chairman of the immigration and nationality committee of the International Bar Association, Cape Town-based Gary Eisenberg, unleashed a barrage of criticism against the department yesterday when he blamed it for a delay in the processing of immigration documents of foreigners who intend to ply their trades in SA. "There are no principles of Batho Pele (people first) in the department. There are many cases where they even failed to acknowledge applications," he said. Sharing Eisenberg's frustration, Pretoria-based Julian Pokroy, a senior practising attorney, said Home Affairs had failed to move with the times since the last policy the department had on immigration, which was the 1996 White Paper under former minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi. "What's needed is a clear immigration policy because the White Paper is no longer relevant. The dynamics have shifted and we are living in a different economy. It shouldn't take four months to process a permit," he said. Pokroy is a member of the Immigration Advisory Board to the Home Affairs minister, chairman of the immigration law committee of the Northern Province, and was recently appointed to head the immigration law specialist committee of the Law Society of SA. Johannesburg-based immigration lawyer Chris Watters agreed that the country's power to lure skilled workers was hobbled by a lack of policy. "There is no research, no brainstorming on immigration. The biggest problem is at the level of policy, hence we are confronted with ad hoc policy application on a daily basis," he said. The three experts said the problem was exacerbated by vacancies at the top level in the department, as well by as corruption. Home Affairs, which has had more directors-general than any government department, currently has no one filling the position on a permanent basis. But Watters said that the shambles at Home Affairs started before the advent of democracy in 1994. "They inherited a department in a mess. It is a myth that there was no corruption at Home Affairs before 1994," he said, calling on the ANC to initiate policy discussions on immigration. Pokroy said engagements with the department or parliament's portfolio committee on Home Affairs had borne no fruit. Watters said that there were many instances where engineers seeking to work in South Africa had turned their backs on the country because of the red tape. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |