It is widely known that South Africa used to have a system known as Apartheid, according to which the country’s population was classified into “racial” groupings. After spending some time last week discussing the documentation issues surrounding the project to register immigrants from Zimbabwe, I was reminded of the way that documentation was once a …
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Is the DHA cutting corners? 1
Less haste, more speed, as the saying goes. Evaluating the recent process of documenting illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe in South Africa is tricky, since the numbers don’t seem to square, but if the press release of the South African Department of Home Affairs (the DHA) is anything to go by, the situation makes even less …
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Kader Asmal – stalwart and intellectual 0
The recent passing away of Kader Asmal has generated waves of condolences and official tributes in South Africa. Prof. Asmal was a highly qualified, eloquent advocate of human rights, whose most recent action was to speak out against the highly controversial proposed Protection of Information legislation. He had a distinguished career as an academic, and …
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Terror suspect’s “passport” was fake – DHA 0
If you’ve been following international news recently, you’ve probably come across reports about an Al-Qaeda leader in Somalia who was killed about two weeks ago. According to reports, the leader allegedly had a South African passport in his possession. International and domestic South African media have been making much of this allegation, and so it …
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Cracking down on corruption 1
Bureaucracy is somehow synonymous with corruption. It would be very difficult to find a country in the world that is free of this problem. So it is somehow not surprising that the South African Department of Home Affairs (the DHA) occasioned the arrest of 12 employees in the last three weeks. Assisted by the special …
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Refugee centre to move to the border 0
The big challenge for refugees in any country is to get proper documentation. Otherwise, the threat of deportation can become a reality at any time. It is also harder to find employment or accommodation without the necessary identification papers of the country of residence. Added to this is the fact that the home affairs department …
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Xenophobia – the insipid evil 0
Situated at the southernmost end of Africa, South Africa is a destination on many travel routes, either as a transit point or as a final destination for travellers from all over the world, particularly from other countries in Africa. South Africa is therefore home to people of many and diverse nationalities, and is a cosmopolitan …
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The low-down on the slow-down – Zimbabweans getting documented in South Africa 1
No-one can say with any certainty just how many Zimbabweans there are in South Africa. Estimates seem to be pegged at between one and two million, but it is difficult to guess because of the relative ease with which people cross South Africa’s northern border. At the same time, the South African government’s lethargic response …
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King of the hill – the city with the mountain 0
Cape Town has always been an attractive tourist destination, with several and varied attractions which combine to offer a unique and memorable experience. However, this has now been confirmed by influential travel website TripAdvisor, who have ranked Cape Town in the number one position on their list of global destinations. The top ten destinations, according …
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South Africa – destination of choice 0
The Easter holidays are usually a time of travel for a lot of people. We go to visit far-away relatives, or we take a vacation somewhere we wouldn’t usually be. For some of us, Easter means travelling abroad. Actually, “some” is the wrong word, if the visitor statistics for South Africa in the Easter period …
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