Immigration

Asylum seekers frustrated with Home Affairs

GroundUp previously reported the poor service by the Department of Home Affairs' foreshore offices. Today, the situation remains unchanged.

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Brief | 18 January 2016

How bus drivers and immigration officials fleece Zimbabweans in the December holidays

Bernard Chiguvare describes the shenanigans on his trip from Cape Town to Harare.

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News | 12 January 2016

Home Affairs incompetence causes refugees to lose jobs, money and bank accounts

“I am sick and tired and wish I could be resettled to another country. They should not treat people like animals,” says a man trying to renew his refugee status. He is one of many complaining about the service at Home Affairs on Cape Town's foreshore.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 18 December 2015

The Rwandan student who hung on to her dream

Alice Wamundiya comes from a background where the importance of education is emphasised. When she settled in South Africa after her family fled the Rwandan genocide, she decided to help other refugees and asylum-seekers with their education.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 15 December 2015

Man wrongly detained by Home Affairs describes ordeal

A Zimbabwean man, detained in the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp even though his passport allowed him to be in South Africa, has been released. GroundUp told his story on 25 November. He was released two days later.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 3 December 2015

Gigaba releases stats on Zimbabwean Special Permit

At a press briefing at Parliament today, Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba released statistics on the Zimbabwe Special Dispensation Permit (ZSP).

Tariro Washinyira

Brief | 25 November 2015

How to get a Lesotho Special Permit

The Department of Home Affairs has introduced a Lesotho Special Permit. This will allow people from Lesotho currently staying in South Africa but who are undocumented or have incorrect or expired documents, to stay lawfully in the country.

Tariro Washinyira

Brief | 25 November 2015

Home Affairs detentions challenged in Concourt

On Thursday, the Constitutional Court will hear the matter between Minister of Home Affairs v Rahim and Others, concerning the detention of foreign nationals in places that are not designed as immigration detention facilities, such as police holding cells. The Legal Resource Centre (LRC) will appear on behalf of People against Suffering and Oppression (PASSOP).

Tariro Washinyira

News | 25 November 2015

Meet the Senegalese man who teaches South Africans how to make and sell crafts

Seeing how many unemployed young people there are in Imizamo Yethu informal settlement, Moustapha Fall, originally from Senegal, decided to teach them craft skills.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 23 November 2015

Robbers target foreign hawkers in Port Elizabeth

Foreign nationals trading in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth, live in fear following a spike in robberies in recent months. The traders say they are being targeted by criminals who rob them of their goods and then sell the loot to locals at a heavily discounted price. Most robberies happen in daylight.

Joseph Chirume

News | 16 November 2015

Bellville Home Affairs door closed to refugees

Refugees and organisations working with them in the Western Cape say they were not informed with adequate time nor consulted by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) about the closure of its Bellville office for refugee travel and applications for identity documents.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 2 November 2015

Make Grahamstown a better place for all, say protesters

About 100 people gathered in front of the Grahamstown City Hall to protest against the xenophobic violence that has hit the town and surrounding townships for more than a week.

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News | 30 October 2015

Women living in terror plan march in Grahamstown

In the blistering hot conference room of the Masifunde Education and Development Project Trust, 14 women with determined calm put together a statement: 'The police have told us that we must not go ahead with our planned protest at the City Hall on Friday as they cannot guarantee our safety. We cannot and will not back down'. The Voices of the Foreigner’s Wives represent a large number of women still too afraid to leave their homes after the spate of xenophobic violence that shook Grahamstown a week ago.

Hancu Louw

News | 29 October 2015

Some panic as Zimbabwean special permit closes

On Monday, panicked applicants who had not yet received their Zimbabwean Special Dispensation Permit (ZSP) started queuing outside the ABSA building in central Cape Town for help.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 8 October 2015

How bureaucracy is delaying Virginia’s dream of being a doctor

Virginia Sibanda, like thousands of youth across South Africa in November 2014, was hunched over a desk, pen in hand, taking her matric exams. Her years of accumulated academic trophies and certificates culminated in these papers. She had attended tutoring sessions, practiced the past exams, and had applied to universities to pursue her dream of studying medicine.

Sarita Pillay

Feature | 1 October 2015

From Flavier to Flavina: a refugee’s story of courage and survival

When Flavina walks the streets of Delft, with her long earrings, nose piercing and colourful clothes, people turn around to stare. Tall, elegant and feminine, Flavina used to be Flavier. Born as a male in Burundi 33 years ago, she came to South Africa to live openly as a woman.

Juliette Garms

News | 22 September 2015