By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: GCIS.
The minister of Home Affairs Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has announced the resumption of a number of services under South Africa’s level 1 lockdown.
This comes after several services were temporarily suspended in January 2021 due to concerns around Covid-19 transmissions.
“Following the president’s announcement that the country has moved to Alert Level 1, we have decided that more services will be resumed tomorrow, Thursday, 4 March.”
“The citizenship service remains temporarily unavailable,” he said.
The following services were offered during Adjusted level 3 lockdown:
- Births registration;
- Re-issuance of births certificates;
- Late Registration of Birth (LRB) for learners and pensioners only;
- Death registration;
- Applications temporary identity certificate (TIC);
- Collection of identity cards or documents;
- Applications and collection of passports for those who are exempted to travel;
- Applications for identity (Smart ID) cards or documents for matriculants only.
In addition to those mentioned above, Motsoaledi said that the following services will resume:
- Re-issues of Smart ID cards and identity documents;
- Registration and solemnization of marriages;
- Amendments and rectifications;
- Late Registration of Birth (LRB) for all categories;
- Applications and collections of passports for all categories.
The minister said that online services through eHome Affairs and partner banks will be resumed on Monday (8 March).
“I would like to remind South Africans that Covid-19 is still with us and we need to remain vigilant in our fight against its spread. We do not want our offices to be super spreader sites.
“We urge everyone who visits our offices to observe social distancing, sanitise their hands regularly and to wear their masks properly, covering their noses and mouths.
“Nobody will be allowed into our offices if they are not wearing their masks properly,” he said.
Meanwhile Motsoaledi, has announced the establishment of a Ministerial Committee that will review all permits and visas issued since 2004.
The Committee, said the Minister, comes three weeks after the Minister in Parliament expressed an intention to set up a task team to review some permits that were issued by the Department of Home Affairs over the years.
This, he said, came after he identified the need to review the permits after realising a trend emerging from the outcomes of cases involving prominent people investigated by the department’s Counter Corruption Unit.
The unit investigates wrongdoing by departmental officials.
“In November 2020, during a high powered investigation, I was alarmed when 14 members of the permitting section signed a petition demanding that the Counter Corruption unit should stop investigating their errors,” said the Minister.
The Ministerial Committee has been tasked with reviewing all permits and visas issued since 2004. The committee will review all permits and visas issued in the following categories:
- permanent residence permits (PRP)
- corporate visas
- business visa;
- (professional) critical skills visa;
- retired persons visa;
- citizenship by naturalisation; and
- study visa
Motsoaledi said the Ministry chose 2004 as the cut-off date because that was the year the Immigration Act, Act number 13 of 2002, came into operation.
The members of the Committee are:
- Dr Cassius Lubisi – Chairperson, with extensive experience in governance as a Director General in Government
- Advocate Sesi Baloyi – A Senior Counsel who is the Chairperson of the Johannesburg Society of Advocates. Her specialisations include Administrative Law as well as Employment and Labour Law.
- Mr Peter Bishop – A forensic investigations specialist with vast experience in both the public and private sector locally and internationally. He was formerly with the Special Investigating Unit.
- Ms Kathleen Dlepu – Is the Chairperson of the Legal Services Council, formerly Law Society. She’s a lawyer with vast experience and expertise in Administrative Law.
- Professor Somadoda Fikeni – An academic with extensive experience at University level and a Commissioner at the Public Service Commission.