Day: March 17, 2024

Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has clarified allegations that his department is ‘chasing away tourists from South Africa’ following an internal circular that was issued by the department on 21 December 2023.

Briefing media on Sunday in Pretoria, Motsoaledi explained that the circular was directed to the Commissioner of the Border Management Authority (BMA), as well as managers of ports of entry. The circular was also sent to Provincial Inspectorate and Visa Facilitation Centres.

Motsoaledi said the circular was meant to guide BMA officials at the ports of entry on what to do when they encounter nationals of other countries falling within particular categories at the borders. This includes individuals who have applied for visa extensions, waivers or appeals and have not yet received their outcomes – negative or positive.

‘I wish to emphasise that this circular was an internal communications document. It was targeted for Home Affairs and BMA officials, who I have mentioned.

‘Rather than guide any
body, unfortunately this document raised a storm in the media and within establishments that have to do with tourism,’ he said.

The Minister said the Department of Home Affairs was accused of ‘chasing away tourists from the country’, and in the process weakening, and even risking the collapse the tourism industry.

‘One specific group of tourists mentioned in this regard are called ‘Swallows’. These are people who move between the northern and the southern hemisphere in search of sunny days and they are regarded as very important to the tourism industry.

‘I wish to state categorically that the Department of Home Affairs would gain nothing by destroying the tourism industry, which is regarded as one of the pillars of the economy, not only in South Africa but in many other countries,’ he said.

Motsoaledi further explained that the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism always work in partnership on issues of tourism because both departments are important in this regard, and this particular issu
e is no exception.

The Minister said he has contacted Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille to discuss the matter and after this consultation, he tried to clarify the matter in the debate of State of the Nation Address on 14 February 2024.

‘In my input, I did concede that this was a very unfortunate circular, which should not have been issued because the matters it was trying to clarify could have… been addressed in the normal course of operations between BMA and the department.

‘I further clarified this matter on the occasion of the responses to oral questions by the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) during plenary in Parliamentary on 28 February 2024.

‘Judging by the reactions, it appears that my explanation in Parliament was not enough. We arrived at the conclusion that if indeed the circular had the effect of chasing tourists out of the country, we needed to find a way to resolve that. Hence, we needed to check at the borders if there was a significant spike of people who had visited
South Africa as tourists and are leaving. If there was such a spike, we wanted to act in mitigation.

‘In this regard, we reasoned that if tourists are in trouble, their first port of call will be the tourist industry operators and the ministry of tourism. If the industry feels threatened, they will approach the Tourism Ministry. It is with that in mind that we approached Minister De Lille to find out how many people approached her as a consequence of actions emanating from this circular,’ he said.

Motsoaledi said De Lille informed the department that only one case was referred to her department and she immediately contacted the Department of Home Affairs and the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of the individual concerned.

He said they also scouted ports of entry, especially the airports, to see if such individuals were encountered.

‘It was at the Cape Town International Airport where five people are said to have encountered problems because they were declared undesirable due to their overstay in t
he country. We have instructed officials to take steps so that this undesirability status could be lifted without any waste of time,’ he said.

Declaring people ‘undesirable’

Turning to the concept of declaring people undesirable, Motsoaledi said the word ‘undesirable’ is perhaps by itself unfortunate, but it is the term used when the Immigration Act of 2002 was enacted in Parliament.

He explained that in all the ports of entry in and out of South Africa, they have an electronic movement control system (MCS). When people enter the country, the MCS electronically records the date and time of entry.

‘As you would know, your passports and visas indicate the number of days you have been allocated to be in South Africa. If you exceed your allocated days, even by just one day, the MCS at the borders will pick it up, regard it as an overstay, and automatically declare you undesirable.

‘Fortunately, lawmakers in this country also realised that there could be myriad reasons that may cause a person to exceed their
allocated days. Hence in the Act, the legislature empowers the Minister to review and set aside an undesirability status on application by the affected individual if cogent reasons are provided,’ he said.

The Minister explained that when one applies for the extension of their visa before it expires, they are given a receipt, which has a reference number with which they can trace their application.

‘In case your visa expires before the department has responded to your application, that receipt will act as an extension of your visa until such time you get a response, negative or positive. This means that no law enforcement officer, immigration officer or officials at the port of entry may trouble you while you are carrying such a receipt.

‘As I said earlier on, when the circular was issued, it was an attempt to guide BMA officials because they were regarded as new at the borders.

‘If there is anybody who was declared undesirable whilst they were carrying their receipt, they need to present themselves to the
department so that their undesirability status can be removed,’ he said.

The Minister said given that they have identified only one person from the Department of Tourism and five at the Cape Town International Airport, they are not in a position to conclude that these were the only people who were negatively affected by the circular.

‘So today, we are making a call to the people in the industry or any other institution which is in a position to identity such people, so that we can immediately resolve their issues. Up [till now], the accusations directed at Home Affairs are full of generalities, anecdotes and no specific cases were given to us.

‘We are pleading today, that anybody who wants to [make accusations] must please be specific because accusations without providing specific details won’t help the individuals affected…’ Motsoaledi said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Deputy Chairperson Sylvia Lucas has told delegates at the 68th annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) that advancing gender transformation necessitates parliaments to regularly assess prevailing gender norms in communities.

This, she stated, will ensure that policy interventions are targeted for each community to improve the efficiency of policies.

Lucas addressed the second session of the gathering on the theme, ‘Gender-sensitive Institutions to Break the Poverty Cycle’.

In her address, she said parliaments’ capacity to craft gender responsive law-making and policy interventions is a critical area that needs attention.

Parliaments should also continue to build women’s capacity to advocate for gender-responsive oversight and law-making processes across important sectors like development and transformation.

The Deputy Chairperson is accompanying National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to the CSW68, which is organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union
(IPU) and United Nations (UN) Women. It is taking place in New York until 22 March.

Lucas said parliaments have a critical role to play in reducing poverty through gender transformation by enacting laws that are gender-responsive and which are framed with dexterity to disrupt gender-regressive norms and behaviors across society at large.

‘In working towards achieving gender transformation, we must continue to be guided by existing international and national protocols and legal frameworks, including prescribed norms of gender transformation, which can be used to strategically shape policy-making and promote gender equality,’ she said.

Lucas told the session that South Africa has recently adopted the 2021 Women’s Charter for Accelerated Development. This charter is based on international best practice and mandated by South African women. It outlines critical areas for parliamentary intervention in policy, legislation and programming. The charter’s goal is to meaningfully advance gender transformation and red
uce poverty.

‘To this end, critical policy areas highlighted through our Women’s Charter Review process include the recommendation for the amendment of budget policies, money bills, fiscal policies and tax laws, including macroeconomic policies, which we view as critical areas for sustained and high-level analysis and amendment.

‘If amended to make them more gender-responsive in their shape, form and content, these policies and legislative instruments will serve as enabling instruments to achieve poverty reduction and gender transformation objectives,’ Lucas said.

Lucas said some of the capacities and resources parliaments should continue to invest in include gender-responsive budget analysis capabilities and law-making, gender-responsive oversight and oversight agenda-setting, and increasing capacity to use gender-disaggregated data to shape budget decisions and commitments.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has reaffirmed government’s commitment to continue to provide basic services to its people and ensure that all South Africans have equal rights, as outlined in the Freedom Charter.

Mashatile said government recognises that accelerated service delivery is not just about efficiency and convenience; it is also about creating a society where every individual has equal access to basic services.

‘Improving the delivery of basic services in South Africa is more than just a question of duty; it is also about social fairness, equality, and dignity. By ensuring that everyone has access to essential services, we can empower people, strengthen communities, and create a more successful and inclusive country,’ he said.

The second-in-command was leading the Thuntsha Lerole Accelerated Service Delivery programme in Rusternburg, North West, on Friday.

Thuntsha Lerole is an initiative led by the North West provincial government aimed at confronting the critical issue of service delivery in c
ommunities through strengthened partnerships with government, the private sector as well as civil society organisations.

The programme is in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM), which aims to tackle service delivery issues by facilitating collaboration and coordination among all levels of government, from local municipalities to the national government.

It is currently in its third phase, which aims to launch and hand over service delivery projects in identified communities, running from March to May 2024.

READ | District Development Model: A game changer

The Deputy President said they support the ‘Early Warning System’ in the form of an electronic dashboard that will monitor municipal performance and reporting in a more coordinated manner.

The Thuntsha-Lerole mobile app, which has now gone live, will provide an interactive communication platform to connect government with citizens, allowing them to report service delivery challenges in real time in their localities.

Through this app, c
ommunities will have the ability to promptly escalate service delivery issues to the appropriate department and municipal officials.

‘This will enable speedy responses to challenges such as water disruptions, sewer spillages, electricity outages, and more. Given the high cost of data in our country and the prevalence of poverty in our society, we anticipate that the application will soon become accessible without requiring data, hence enhancing access for individuals, especially those residing in rural areas and townships,’ the Deputy President said.

READ | Mashatile calls for accelerated service delivery in communities across SA

Mashatile visited several sites in Tlhabane, including a newly-built school and the Tlhabane Community Health Centre, unveiling a state-of-the-art X-ray machine.

He handed over the R2.2 million modern technology X-Ray machine, which was donated to the Health Centre by Glencore Mine. The machine allows doctors and radiographers to view patient scans on display, reducing hospital r
eferrals and wait times. It also stores X-ray records for up to five years, enhancing patient care.

‘Let me express our deepest gratitude, as government, to Glencore Mine for this donation, which will go a long way towards improving the health of our people. It is through working together as social partners that we will attain our country’s developmental aspirations and a better life for all,’ Mashatile said.

The Deputy President said these initiatives are just part of providing solutions to the service delivery challenges faced by the North West community.

‘We are aware that a lot still needs to be done to meet the needs of our people. Greater and more focused endeavours are required, particularly in addressing the reversal of the governance collapse in the province,’ he said.

He highlighted that the 6th administration of government faced difficulties related to the stability and collapse of administration and as a result, the President and Cabinet utilised Section 100 of the Constitution to intervene in
the province.

‘Nevertheless, I was pleased to hear Acting Premier Nono Maloyi’s State of the Province Address, in which it was said that despite these difficulties, your determination remains unshaken and your commitment to serving the people of the North West has been fortified.

‘We applaud your ability to successfully implement a sustainable turnaround strategy in all 22 municipalities in the province, using the District Development Model (DDM),’ he said.

READ | Mashatile officiates launch of North West service delivery programme.

Source: South African Government News Agency

A 19-year-old allegedly raped a 24-year-old woman after buying her and two other friends alcohol at Omuntele village in the Oshikoto Region.

The Namibian Police Force crime investigations coordinator in the region, Deputy Commissioner Titus Ekandjo on Sunday said the incident happened on Friday around 20h00.

‘It is alleged that the suspect was with the victim at the Omuntele location together with her two other female friends, then the suspect bought alcohol and they drank together and while drinking, one of the ladies told the victim that the suspect wanted to talk to her,’ reported Ekandjo.

He said that after a short while the victim went to the toilet, and the suspect followed her into the toilet where the victim was rescued by two men who were present there.

‘After that, the suspect, victim, and two female friends went on their way home till they reached the victim’s house and the victim went into the house and collected cooked beans and gave them to the suspect and friends,’ reported Ekandjo.

He sai
d the two friends left but the suspect remained behind, after that he grabbed the victim but she overpowered him and fled and the suspect chased the victim up to the neighbours’ mahangu field.

‘The suspect grabbed her again, stripped off his clothes, and laid her on the ground and the victim screamed for help but nobody came to her rescue and the suspect managed to have sexual intercourse with the victim under coercive circumstances,’ reported Ekandjo.

The victim afterwards ran into the neighbour’s house to report the matter.

It is further alleged that the suspect offered to pay her N.dollars 200 to have sex with her.

It is also alleged that the suspect bit her on the cheek and arm whereby she sustained open wounds.

The suspect was arrested and he will appear before the Ondangwa Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a charge of rape and assault as the investigation continues.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

A 19-year-old allegedly raped a 24-year-old woman after buying her and two other friends alcohol at Omuntele village in the Oshikoto Region.

The Namibian Police Force crime investigations coordinator in the region, Deputy Commissioner Titus Ekandjo on Sunday said the incident happened on Friday around 20h00.

‘It is alleged that the suspect was with the victim at the Omuntele location together with her two other female friends, then the suspect bought alcohol and they drank together and while drinking, one of the ladies told the victim that the suspect wanted to talk to her,’ reported Ekandjo.

He said that after a short while the victim went to the toilet, and the suspect followed her into the toilet where the victim was rescued by two men who were present there.

‘After that, the suspect, victim, and two female friends went on their way home till they reached the victim’s house and the victim went into the house and collected cooked beans and gave them to the suspect and friends,’ reported Ekandjo.

He sai
d the two friends left but the suspect remained behind, after that he grabbed the victim but she overpowered him and fled and the suspect chased the victim up to the neighbours’ mahangu field.

‘The suspect grabbed her again, stripped off his clothes, and laid her on the ground and the victim screamed for help but nobody came to her rescue and the suspect managed to have sexual intercourse with the victim under coercive circumstances,’ reported Ekandjo.

The victim afterwards ran into the neighbour’s house to report the matter.

It is further alleged that the suspect offered to pay her N.dollars 200 to have sex with her.

It is also alleged that the suspect bit her on the cheek and arm whereby she sustained open wounds.

The suspect was arrested and he will appear before the Ondangwa Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a charge of rape and assault as the investigation continues.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

The Portfolio Committee on Police has directed South African Police Service (SAPS) senior managers to increase and enhance training for SAPS members to ensure compliance with the Domestic Violence Act (DVA).

This comes after the committee received a report on compliance with the Act and complaints against SAPS members, as contemplated in Section 18(4)(a) of the Act.

The committee said non-compliance with the Act undermines the fight against gender-based violence, and that increased training will equip police officers with the tools necessary to ensure proper reporting and investigation of domestic violence.

‘It is unacceptable that in a country like South Africa, with abnormally high cases of domestic violence, there are still some members of the SAPS that are not compliant with the Act. While there is a general improvement in the number of complaints received, complete compliance is non-negotiable, according to the committee,’ the chairperson of the committee, Nocks Seabi, said.

SAPS and the Civilian Sec
retariat for Police Service informed the committee that from 1 April to 30 September 2023, 60 complaints were reported. Fifty of those cases involved failure to complete a SAPS 508(a) form (a domestic violence form used to descriptively register the incident of domestic violence received) and the Domestic Violence Register (SAPS 508(b)).

Seven cases involved the failure to record domestic violence incidents in the occurrence pocketbook, and two cases concern failure to assist a complainant to open a case.

While the committee acknowledged that various actions have been taken, including the issuing of verbal warning and final written warnings, the committee believes continuous training will assist police officers to properly handle cases of domestic violence and comply with legislation.

The committee has also urged departmental investigations to be speedily concluded to ensure that members are held accountable.

The committee was also critical of the high number of police officers accused of perpetrating dom
estic violence in the period under review.

‘It is alarming that 165 members of SAPS are accused of being perpetrators of domestic violence. How can we expect perpetrators to assist and protect the most vulnerable? This is unacceptable and urgent strategies must be developed and implemented to remedy this concern,’ Seabi emphasised.

The committee has also called for enhanced psycho-social support for members to help them cope with the violent environment in which they operate.

Another concern for the committee is that 116 police stations are still without victim-friendly rooms. While the committee acknowledges that there are measures to mitigate this gap, it emphasised the need for more focus on capital projects to develop such rooms.

Meanwhile, the committee also received a report on the outcomes of Safer Festive Season operations. It said it is “generally pleased” with the police visibility and operations during the festive season.

While the committee acknowledged that budgetary constraints hinder the c
ontinued roll-out of similar operations, it requested a budgetary estimation on the costs involved for Parliament to consider.

Source: South African Government News Agency