The original Directive that was published by the Department of Home Affairs at the start of the State of National Disaster provided that visas that expired during the lockdown would be deemed to be extended until the 31^st July 2020.

In the Department’s Budget Speech before Parliament yesterday, the Minister of Home Affairs announced that the extension until the 31^st July 2020 has been reviewed and that such extension will now apply until the 31^st October 2020.

This amendment must still be published in a Government Gazette which should be done before the end of the month.

In the Budget speech the Minister also provided some insight into other matters affecting the Department, these included the following:

• Acts of fraud, bribery and corruption are still pervasive in the Department. An example of this was that the First Secretary for Civics and Immigration Services at the South African Consulate in Namibia had been found to be selling visas to non-qualifying persons in Pakistan and Bangladesh. At least 100 of these visas had already been revoked but more were expected.
• The E-Visa project had been severely impacted by Covid-19, and little progress had been made with it.
• Despite the closure of South Africa’s borders the Department had assisted in bringing certain foreigners into South Africa where such persons were needed to work on specific economic projects which were necessary to help kick start the economy.