Heads roll with news electronic visa system
The Department of Home Affairs has begun bringing 44 of its officials posted overseas back home, as its new electronic visa system has rendered their presence redundant. The move will also save an estimated R500m over the next four years, it said.
For decades, these officials were responsible for manually processing visa applications, including visitor’s visas and longer-term working visas.
As previously reported, Sfiso Gumbi, the first secretary for Home Affairs at the High Commission in New Delhi, was suspended after evidence emerged that he was involved in an apparently fraudulent cash-for-visa scam.
His suspension came a week after News24 filed questions with Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, following its investigation that revealed major deficiencies in dozens of approved visas for Indian nationals.
Following a tip from an anonymous source, News24 exposed a network of at least 50 companies that supplied motivation letters for intra-company transfer visas. The companies existed only on paper.
Carli van Wyk, spokesperson to the Minister, said ‘our cleanup campaign goes well beyond this particular case of even the traditional focus on enforcing consequences for transgressors’.
News24 reports that Van Wyk said 144 dismissals and 73 arrests have taken place across the department and the Border Management Authority. ‘Home Affairs will continue to walk the talk as we intensify our anti-corruption crackdown, including in this particular case as guided by the findings of the forensic investigation,’ she added.
President Cyril Ramaphosa in August launched the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system to replace outdated, manual processes.
The secure digital system ‘uses advanced machine learning and biometric verification technology to eradicate any space for official discretion, interference, or manipulation in the visa adjudication process’.
News24 notes that Van Wyk revealed that within the first few months of its existence, the ETA had already processed more than 200 000 visa applications and rejected 6 500 fraudulent ones: ‘Importantly, with the ETA rollout rapidly progressing, the department has initiated the recall of all 44 Home Affairs officials who have been deployed for years at SA missions across the world.’
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
