SA Home Affairs to clamp down on visa corruption

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said measures were in place in his department to clamp down on fraudulent activities in the issuing of visas to foreign nationals.

He was responding to parliamentary questions from ATM leader Vuyo Zungula, who wanted to know about measures the Home Affairs Department has implemented to address issues of fraudulent visa issuances and ensuring stringent audits to prevent abuse of immigration policies.

Zungula also asked what steps the department intended to take to tackle so-called visa shopping, where individuals moved between visa categories to qualify for permanent residency, thereby creating backlogs and potentially exploiting loopholes in the system.

Schreiber moved swiftly to grant temporary extensions to foreigners waiting for the outcome of visa, waiver and appeal applications soon after his appointment to the Cabinet.

In his response, Schreiber said: "The department has a dedicated Counter Corruption Unit to manage and prevent such activities."

He said the changes on the current system were being made to identify types of visa applications.

Schreiber explained that the concession covered all nationalities from across the globe.

"The concession was aimed at addressing those applicants who are affected by the backlogs experienced in the department," he said.

When asked about measures that were in place to facilitate the transfer of valuable skills from foreign nationals to South African employees, Schreiber said the skills transfer occurred for a category of visa of intra-company transfer, whereby the company was required to have a skills transfer plan.

"The Department of Employment and Labour is responsible for conducting monitoring and evaluation of skills transfer plans at company level," he said.

Meanwhile, Schreiber said the department had taken steps to implement the recommendations of the Lubisi report that exposed serious corruption in the issuing of visas and permits.

This after EFF MP Thapelo Mogale asked whether any recommendations of the report had been implemented, and the total number of visa applications that had been turned down due to corruption as well as those approved since the report was received.

Schreiber said after a ministerial committee reviewed the issuance of permits and visas, the Department of Home Affairs appointed a multi-disciplinary task team (MDTT) to implement the recommendations of the report.

"The work of the MDTT focuses on 25 identified areas of priority and culminates into referral of identified matters to respective law enforcement agencies for criminal investigation, as well as to the department's Labour Relations Unit for possible disciplinary action."

He also said as of June 30, 11 referrals had been made to law agencies.

"The recommendations of the MDTT are currently being implemented in collaboration with other law enforcement bodies, including the Special Investigating Unit, which is now mandated under a Presidential Proclamation dated 16th February 2024 and provides for investigation of serious maladministration in connection with the affairs of the department."

The Special Investigating Unit was probing visas issued due to the alleged activities.

Schreiber added that 23 officials had been referred to the department's Labour Relations Unit in respect of matters referred to by the Lubisi report.

"The work of the MDTT is meticulous and complex, and requires that investigations are evidence-led so that once an official is charged, the only possible outcome should be a guilty verdict.

"It should also be able to withstand an appeals process so as to root out malfeasance within the department," he said.