Programme News
14 October 2014
(News)
The Department of Home Affairs has approved about 41 000 permits for Zimbabwean immigrants, says a report in The Times. About 242 000 Zimbabweans still in possession of the expired permits – called the dispensation of Zimbabweans project – are eligible for new permits. The new special dispensation permit, which is valid for three years, is for Zimbabweans working, studying or...
10 October 2014
(News)
The M&G went undercover at the Lindela Repatriation Centre for illegal immigrants to see if some of the detainees would share their grievances.
On the wall at the entrance bold letters proclaim: “Lindela Repatriation Centre” and “Bosasa Operation”. I walk through the gate into the sheltered open space.
Inside, there is a canteen, which doubles as a spaza shop...
10 October 2014
(News)
After nearly two decades of criticism, flouted laws and disturbing reports, there seems to be a promise of change at the infamous Lindela Repatriation Centre.
In September the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) stepped in and said it required a long list of specific actions by the department of home affairs – the department responsible for the deportation of illegal immigrants...
10 October 2014
(News)
A group of 25 Nigerians ended their two-week hunger strike at the Lindela Repatriation Centre after a brutal attack on them allegedly by security guards who were apparently trying to force them to eat. The guards work for Bosasa Operations, the company charged with running the centre.
Five members of the group claimed that 10 guards shot at them with rubber bullets and beat them with batons.
As...
8 October 2014
(Press release)
In 2010, the Department of Home Affairs ran a special dispensation process for Zimbabweans, issuing them with DZP permits to work, study or operate businesses in South Africa.
All DZP applicants (both successful and unsuccessful) may now apply for the ZSP. Home Affairs will first confirm eligibility after which an online process will begin, concluding with in-person interviews. ZSP permits...
8 October 2014
(News)
The explosive information in last week's Sunday Times - that French arms company Thales allegedly bribed President Jacob Zuma with money, gifts and travel and also made a €1-million donation to the ANC (about R14-million at today's rate) - confirms what many South Africans have believed for years. It raises further serious questions about the Seriti commission of inquiry into the...
8 October 2014
(News)
Ivanhoe Mines on Wednesday hit back at a media report by Bloomberg that, among other accusations, alleged the company had rigged representative elections to a community trust that was set up as part of a broad-based black economic-empowerment (BBBEE) deal that gave 20 local communities a 26% interest in the $1.7-billion Platreef platinum group elements project, in South Africa.
The Africa-focused...
7 October 2014
(News)
Somali and Ethiopian asylum seekers and refugees have scored a longed-for victory against official xenophobia – the Supreme Court of Appeal has thrown out key elements of ‘Operation Hardstick’.
This is a police programme in terms of which, among other strategies, Somali and Ethiopian businesses in Limpopo were shut down regardless of whether or not they had valid licences...
7 October 2014
(News)
The controversial 1999 multi-billion rand arms deal was "initiated with criminal intent", the Seriti Commission of Inquiry heard on Monday.
"I submit that the rationale for the arms acquisition was illegal, unconstitutional, and fraudulent right from the inception," arms deal critic Terry Crawford-Browne testified at the inquiry in Pretoria.
"Contrary to assertions...
7 October 2014
(News)
Billionaire Robert Friedland’s South African platinum project may be held up by a split in the local community, with residents accusing his Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. of subverting a process to give them a fair share in the mine.
People living in the Mokopane area in the northern Limpopo province, one of the country’s poorest regions, are lobbying the government to delay the mining...