With the former Minister of Home Affairs, Nkosasana Dlamini-Zuma, taking up the position as Head of the African Union in faraway Ethiopia, President Jacob Zuma appointed Naledi Pandor as her successor.

Pandor has been a cabinet member before. As Minister of Science and Technology she was committed and successful in bringing the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Telescope to South Africa. During the lobbying process she travelled extensively overseas and we are confident that she learned about the importance of attracting international investors to our country and sourcing necessary skills to keep South Africa internationally competitive.

Most people will agree that Home Affairs has improved its services to its South African citizens. A new passport can now be issued within a week, although visas are still required for UK travel, partly leading to SAA cancelling its direct flights from Cape Town to Heathrow. 

ID Books can be issued quickly as well, provided that the applicant is on the national database. Cleaning up this database has been a priority for the former Minister, and we can expect card-sized, smart ID’s to be rolled out soon, also serving as a source for any social grants in future. This should ease the administrative burden in the future.

Which leaves us with the big question on foreigners in South Africa. The government still needs to answer loud and clear whether or not foreigners are welcome. For the country’s sanity, we need to debate this.

There are various Acts in place covering issues of asylum, refugees and “normal” immigrants. The Immigration Act of 2002 is a great document, drafted to attract both foreign investment as well as skills. However in practice, there is always an underlying mistrust towards foreigners, the administration is full of small hurdles making it very difficult for people to legally enter South Africa.

Our government needs to ask ordinary South Africans:
•  Do we want free movement of people within Africa or at least within Southern Africa?
•  Do we want well-qualified academics and trades-people from Zimbabwe to compete with South Africans?
•  Do we give the Nigerian Mathematics teacher, who is presently on a 6-month asylum seeker permit operating as a car guard, a chance to teach our children?
•  Should Zimbabweans be allowed to harvest grapes in the Western Cape?

Or do we want to continue looking after our own people only, not exposing them to global or even African competition?

Historically, we have excluded ‘others’ via the Job Reservation Act of 1911/1926. Results are well documented; it gave the platform for Apartheid and subsequently the rise of the ANC armed struggle. One could perhaps look at the frustrations leading to events such as Marikana or De Doorns to see if just some of the responsibility lies with Home Affairs?

According to the African Union, the vision of the African Union is that of: “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in global arena.” This vision of a new, forward-looking, dynamic and integrated Africa will be fully realized through relentless struggle on several fronts and as a long-term endeavour.

The African Union has shifted focus from supporting liberation movements in the erstwhile African territories under colonialism and apartheid, as envisaged by the OAU since 1963 and the Constitutive Act, to an organisation spear-heading Africa’s development and integration.

We can only hope that the new administration will be brave enough to draft an open-minded Immigration Act and also promote a culture of welcoming foreigners with desired qualifications.

We need to appreciate the economic power foreigners bring into this country, and support and fund an efficient administration so that we can immediately distinguish between desired and undesired immigrant applications in a moral and ethical way that is also predictable.

Contact Dirk Meissner, IBN Consulting and Immigration

Email: meissner@ibn.co.za

Website www.ibn.co.za

IBN Blog http://immigrationsa.com