John Matisson: Interview with go-getting Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber

Dr. Leon Schreiber, South Africa's new Minister of Home Affairs, aims to clear the visa backlog by Christmas, which could boost economic growth by 0.6%. Despite significant progress, challenges remain, including outdated applications and regulatory delays. Schreiber plans to automate processes to enhance efficiency and economic benefits..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..By John Matisonn.Getting the Department of Home Affairs to process visa and other applications efficiently and on time could add as much as 0.6% to South Africa's growth, according to Dr Leon Schreiber, the department's 35-year old new broom minister. .___STEADY_PAYWALL___.That's because failure to process visa applications has ripple effects throughout the economy, when specialist nuclear engineers destined for the Koeberg plant or billionaire investors have to abandon planned residencies in South Africa..Home Affairs reached a milestone last week when nearly 50% of the backlog, 146,524 applications out of 306,000, were cleared and communicated to applicants. Schreiber's goal is to clear the whole backlog by Christmas, but clearing the backlog is only the first step, the Minister said in an interview. .Schreiber, who requires a daily report on backlog progress, said these reports show the success so far, but also that rejections have risen from 21% to 29%, probably because so many applications were filed so long ago they cannot be used. .If you're still waiting for a visa to attend a wedding or fulfill a contract in 2020 or even earlier, clearing the backlog in August 2024 comes far too late. But it's necessary before the department can return to normal, on time processing..Some applications go back as far as ten years. .There is a great deal of work ahead to iron out different specific problems that bedevil visitors..One immigration expert pointed out that different categories of applications have different procedures, and some work better than others. For example, not all of the regular 21% rejections stand up on appeal, and the appeal process remains slow. Appeals against these decisions may succeed, but the delay in the appeal process often takes so long that applicants move to easier jurisdictions..Critical skill visas, a separate category, are being processed but many applications are delayed because of a sluggish South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), which must rule on the necessity for particular skills. .Read more: 🔒 Home Affairs minister Schreiber wants to fix 'hostile' skilled worker visa regime.Adjudicating permanent residence applications has also been particularly slow, with a backlog of at least five years. .Then there is the separate problem of applicants for short-term visas which have to be made on arrival with three months for the second, nonrenewable three months. Adjudicators have been granting the three month extension from the date of approval, instead of the date the first one expires – which has been costly and time-consuming for high skilled maintenance specialists..Where these problems are a result of regulation, Schreiber has moved to change them, but some will require legislative changes, whch will take longer. .South Africa has become an attractive destination for well off tech workers who can easily work remotely, and Home Affairs ha a remote worker category. But industry sources complain that Home Affairs currently only approves three months, when the usual requirement is around six months, to make the move worthwhile. It's a deal breaker for many who choose not to disrupt their location for the shorter period..The department has a Trusted Employer System which provides a category of employer that gets fast assistance, but sources complain that the forms are unusually lengthy and businesses regard them as unnecessarily intrusive and aroused suspicion as to their purpose..Schreiber said the department has begun work on cutting the forms substantially to avoid unnecessary bureaucratic delays..He had high praise for the staff in his new department for getting on board enthusiastically to meet his deadline of clearing the backlog by Christmas, and thanked the Minister of Public Service and Administration, the IFP's Mzamo Buthelezi, for speedy agreement to extend overtime rules for employees working on this project..The success has been fueled by collaboration with business that was agreed with government last year. As a result of the agreement with business to donate is skilled staff to assist through BUSA, FNB and Deloitte provided support to Home Affairs assist in particular with training and human resources..Where regulations are the obstacle, Schreiber is moving fast to change them, since he has that power, but some require amending the laws..Besides ending the backlog, the minister wants to move to automate its processes. He points to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) succession in cutting staff for some processes from 100 to 2. Currently, Home Affairs needs a staff of 18,000, but has only 7,000. Digitisation would free them up to improve other services.."The cost of adjudicating a visa works out at about R96 per application," Schreiber said. "Imagine the benefit to the economy from each of those approvals being rapid, when it lets in entrepreneurs or high-employee entrepreneurs.".Read also:.Endeavor SA – Great start Dr Schreiber, SA can capitalise on Nomad visas, reap benefitsSchreiber on Court ruling: ANC's koki pen can't keep deployed cadre names secretSchreiber: Concrete proof how ANC forced 'all-top-jobs-for-useless-cadres' onto SA, collapsing economy

John Matisson: Interview with go-getting Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber

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