Articles Archive

A WESTERN Cape High Court judge has accused the Department of Home Affairs of “administrative bungling” and has given it 30 working days to determine a host of temporary residence permit applications submitted to it as far back as February last year. Some of these relate to exotic dancers wanting documents so that they could work here. V.1072
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Paying for low-value purchases in South Africa is about to get a lot faster and more efficient, with banking group Absa making its "tap-and-go" contactless payment facility available both to standalone point of sale (POS) merchants and to those using advanced or integrated point of sale till systems. V.1058
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The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) has welcomed the newly released National Development Plan (NDP), saying it provides clarity on the country's long term economic strategy. V.1061
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There will be more certainty about foreign direct investment in South Africa within the next year, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday. "Within the next year we'll have a very clear legal framework within which FDI (foreign direct investment) can operate," the minister told Business Unity SA's annual general meeting in Johannesburg. This would "give foreign investors a clear and consistent picture within which to work". V.1062
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Professional models will be allowed into SA, provided they meet the criteria, says immigration director Tariq Mellet
Mellet said models had to produce proof that they were coming to work on a short-term photo or film shoots before being allowed entry into the country on a section 11.2 permit. V.1074
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The potential for increased trade between South Africa and the United Kingdom received a boost yesterday, with the announcement of a partnership between the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the Micro Enterprise Development Organisation (MEDO), a South African-based organisation specialising in micro and small enterprise development at the grassroots level. V.1057
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South Africa is a vast and varied landscape with beautiful accommodation and amazing places to visit. But instead of telling you about places you probably already know about I thought we could dive into a few places that are slightly off the beaten track, haven’t been given favourite spot status yet but are so fantastic they need to be shared. So, in no particular order here they are:

Home Affairs Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, will together with the Chairperson of the Board of South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) Cas Coovadia, on Tuesday 8 November 2011 launch the Home Affairs/SABRIC Online Verification System at 11h00 Sheraton Hotel, corner Church and Wessels Str, Pretoria.
The system is aimed at fostering co-operation between Home Affairs and SABRIC in combating bank-related identity fraud and corruption that costs banks millions of rand. V.1049
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Comments by SABRIC CEO Kalyani Pillay Good morning to everyone, Minister, all guests, the media. I think the Minister has said it all but for us in the banking sector, and particularly SABRIC, we began this partnership with the Department of Home Affairs towards the end of 2009. Today we stand here able to bring this to members of the public and say we are beginning to implement this system. We hear about people everywhere talk about strategies and plans but we most often fall short on the implementation side. We are therefore very proud to stand here today to say we are beginning to implement. We began piloting and testing some of these issues in 2010. Our participating banks are ABSA, Nedbank, First National Bank, Standard Bank, African Bank. While not all are SABRIC clients, these are the banks that are participating at the moment and are at different stages of implementation at the moment. ABSA Bank has started, FNB has followed and the other three banks are ready to implement. And c V.1050
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Questions and Answers

Question Are there figures to support claims of identity theft

Answer (SABRIC CEO) ID theft itself is not a crime and people do not get prosecuted for ID theft. This however manifests itself in other sectors and in other crimes, it is also not applicable only to the banking sector. It would therefore be difficult to quantify the cases of ID theft and the number of crimes that has manifested itself in. V.1051
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In a recent partnership with Epilepsy South Africa, Total South Africa has awarded a substantial financial contribution to the organisation’s economic development and empowerment programme for South Africans with epilepsy and other disabilities. V.1064
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The seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers Index showed a "more optimistic picture" in September. The PMI, an indicator of performance in the manufacturing sector, increased by four points in September to 50.7 index points, according to a report released by Kagiso Asset Management on Monday. V.1063
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South African state electricity company Eskom has been granted a US0-million (about R1.9-billion) World Bank loan to help it implement two of the largest renewable energy projects ever attempted on the African continent. V.1070
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The Cradle of Humankind Site comprises a strip of a dozen dolomitic limestone caves containing the fossillised remains of ancient forms of animals, plants and most importantly, hominids. The dolomite in which the caves formed, started out as coral reefs growing in a worm shallow sea about 2.3 billion years ago.

The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) recognised two South African scientists with the prestigious Science-for-Society Gold Medals at its Annual Awards Ceremony held in Pretoria. V.1065
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The potential for increased trade between South Africa and the United Kingdom received a boost yesterday, with the announcement of a partnership between the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the Micro Enterprise Development Organisation (MEDO), a South African-based organisation specialising in micro and small enterprise development at the grassroots level. V.1056
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South Africa faces an increasing burden of cardiovascular disease among the poor. In an attempt to proactively address this worrying phenomenon, Pharma Dynamics, one of SA’s largest distributors of cardiovascular medication, has teamed up with the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa during September, which is national Heart Awareness Month, to draw greater attention to the disease among the poorer communities of South Africa. V.1066
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South Africa and the European Union (EU) concluded their annual summit, held at the Kruger National Park, on a positive note on Thursday, signalling that they could be close to resolving their differences. V.1067
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In an attempt to build bridges between local and foreign women, the City of Johannesburg and the Department of Home Affairs recently held a women's dialogue where issues of xenophobia and language difficulties were tackled. V.1053
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South Africa is ranked just ahead of Kenya and Egypt as the African country most ready to embrace mobile government services, according to Informa Telecoms & Media’s "Mobilizing public services in Africa" White Paper. V.1059
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South Africans who have lived and worked in the UK could have lost out on major benefits of their UK-based pension scheme on returning to home ground. But now they are welcomed back with added benefits of the Momentum Wealth International scheme, which allows South Africans, who are no longer residing in the UK, to transfer their UK pension benefits to a QROPS-approved product. V.1040
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Extract from media release which explains the rejections and the quality of decisions being made at the Hub in Pretoria. This also explains what the department is doing to improve the quality of service we hope to get . V.1043
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Pretoria - The department of home affairs' residence permit system is in total disarray.

That is the principal reason for an urgent application lodged against the department, its minister and its director general in the Western Cape High Court. V.1042
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One of the surprises in the Consumer Protection Act's final regulations, made public on April 1, concerned lay-by agreements, which are now far, far more consumer friendly.
Before the act, the lay-by system allowed a consumer to choose an item, usually furniture or clothes, pay a deposit, and have the store keep that item while they pay it off over several months, interest free. V.1076
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Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu has reiterated that the nationalisation of South African mines is not government policy.
Speaking at the Deutsche Bank's 8th Annual BRICS Metals and MiningConference in London on Wednesday, the minister said it seemed as though some had already issued a verdict on the subject. V.1075
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Pretoria - The Department of Home Affairs has cleared the backlog in permits for foreign nationals who had applied for permanent and temporary residency in South Africa. V.1041
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South Africa’s Western Cape is full of famously delightful areas, such as the Winelands and Garden Route, but the West Coast is still a local secret. With its long, empty beaches and fishing towns, it’s where South Africans go on holiday. The rural region is one of the few areas where people address you in Afrikaans - before trying English if the only Afrikaans you know is braai (barbecue). V.1039
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The response of the Department of Home Affairs to the public input to the Immigration Amendment Bill, 2010, may lead some to believe that there are officials at Home Affairs who have their heads stuck so deep in the sand, they are in danger of needing a mineral exploration licence. V.1034
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Cape Town - An immigration law firm is taking Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to court over her department's delays in processing hundreds of temporary residence applications. V.1029
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The Department of Home Affairs will recall all old passports within the next 12 months, replacing them with a new, more secure biometric passport, director-general Mkuseli Apleni said yesterday.

"We have tightened our security and computerised systems at all our branches to ensure the passports that are being issued cannot be duplicated by anyone", Mr Apleni said. V.1031
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Proposed changes to the Immigration Amendment Bill are "impractical", will violate the Constitution and destroy thousands of jobs, the chairman of an immigration practitioners' association said.  V.1030
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Policy research institution, the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE), has called on Parliament to reject the current Immigration Amendment Bill and to instruct officials to draft a new version that would make the country more attractive to skilled immigrants.  V.1028
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According to the latest PWC Annual Global CEO survey, 94% of South African CEOs are positive about growth prospects for them in South Africa three years from now.

Two years from the depths of recession, South African and global CEOs are confident about future growth, according to PwC’s 14th Annual Global CEO survey, and 2nd Annual South African Survey.  V.1038
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According to a recent survey by the South African Institute of Race Relations, more black South Africans have paid off homes than any other racial grouping.

More black South Africans live in homes which are fully paid for than any other race group in the country, according to a study by the SA Institute of Race Relations. V.1037
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South African business owners are feeling confident about their business prospects for 2011.

SA business owners are more optimistic about 2011 than they were about last year, a survey released on Wednesday shows.

"While the strong rand will no doubt make business conditions tough for some this year - particularly those with an export focus - it seems South African business owners continue to be optimistic about the nation's economic landscape for the year ahead," said Leonard Brehm, national chairman of Grant Thornton South Africa. V.1033
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South Africa's economic outlook rating has been revised from negative to stable in 2011, a move which has been welcomed by National Treasury.

Rating agency, Fitch Ratings, on Monday announced its revised outlook, affirming South Africa's longterm foreign currency issuer default ratings at BBB+. V.1036
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The Johannesburg Stock Exchange, where multinational companies, many of which operate in Africa, are listed.

An updated study by consultancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, "The World in 2050", projects that South Africa will be the seventh fastest-growing economy between now and 2050, with an average annual real growth rate of five percent.

Released last week, the revised version of "The World in 2050" also predicts that in purchasing power parity terms, the E7 group of emerging countries (China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey) will overtake the G7 economies (US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy and Canada) by 2020. V.1035
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Home Affairs will streamline the process for foreigners to get study, work & business permits, thereby making South Africa a more lucrative skills destination.

South Africa has centralised the issuing of study, work and business permits – and is looking at extending the period of their validity – in order to make it easier for foreigners to work and study in the country, and for businesses to import scarce skills. V.1032
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