‘There could be amendments to Immigration Act’ – Gigaba

THE Department of
Home Affairs hosted
the first day of a two-day
colloquium on June 30, with a
view to developing a paradigm
around SA’s new controversial
immigration regulations. While
the process might lead to
changes in regulations, this
was not a certainty and any
changes were still far off, said
Home Affairs Minister, Malusi
Gigaba.
Speaking about the purpose
of the two-day event, the
Minister said the aim was to
develop a new Green Paper
that would be submitted to
Cabinet by March next year
and then developed into a
White Paper at the end of
2016, following input from
Cabinet and the public. “This
colloquium is a very crucial
step towards the development
of a new international
migration paradigm,” he said.
“The current White Paper
of international migration is
now outdated. It is unable to
assist us … to manage what
is obviously a very complex
and dynamic process.”
After the colloquium, the
department hoped to emerge
with “a more dynamic and
futuristic policy framework
that responds to the current
challenges and realities”,
he said.
Asked whether the process
could bring changes to
existing regulations, which
include the requirement
for minors to produce an
unabridged birth certificate at
South Africa’s ports of entry,
Malusi said he did not want
to presuppose an outcome as
the process was still under
way. He said, however, that
once the White Paper was
finalised, the department
would look at the Immigration
Act to see if it responded
sufficiently to the new White
Paper. “There could very well
be an extensive amendment
to the Immigration Act.”
However, the regulations
would remain in place, he
reiterated. “We are continuing
to implement the new
regulations. There is no way
we are going to allow any
child to leave this country
without being in possession
of an unabridged birth
certificate.”
He said Cabinet had asked
the DHA to look at potential
unintended consequences
and work with other
departments, including the
Department of Tourism, to
address those. “The issue is
no longer the regulations. The
issue is the implementation
of the regulations.”
He added that the
department’s responsibility
was to produce unabridged
birth certificates without
any inconvenience and to
ensure it had mechanisms
in place to enable people to
apply for visas conveniently.
Malusi also emphasised that
tourism was a crucial sector
in the current global financial
climate as a significant
source of income for the
country.
He insisted that the
colloquium was not a
reaction to criticism that had
been levelled against the
department with regard to
its existing regulations. “The
process we are undertaking
today is a culmination of
the roundtable discussions
we started last year. This
process is bigger than the
tourism sector and will go
far beyond what the tourism
sector is concerning itself
about.”
According to Malusi,
delegates at the event
included business, trade
unions and immigration
experts. He said the tourism
industry was also invited,
however associations such as
TBCSA and SATSA were not
represented.
According to the Minister,
recently South African
children who had been victim
to child trafficking were
brought back from Malawi.
“We have a case in court of a
father who wants his children
brought back into the country
that were abducted by his
ex-wife without his consent,”
he added. The department
faced litigation because
it had allowed children to
leave the country without the
consent of both parents, said
Malusi.