Immigration Act causing chaos
2003-04-14 08:40
Johannesburg - Confusion and controversy reign with the country's migration controls and, "strictly speaking, every single overseas visitor - including Super 12 rugby players - entering South Africa is here illegally.
The new Immigration Act and accompanying regulations were hurriedly tabled by Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi last Monday night.
However, a senior lawyer says every move made by the department in accordance with the new legislation is null and void.
The reason is that in March the Cape High Court found the regulations to be unconstitutional.
Buthelezi's legal team appealed to both the Appeal Court and the Constitutional Court, but appeals were turned down.
In practice, the new legislation cannot be enforced without the regulations.
Buthelezi's lawyers sent an urgent fax for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court to counter the Cape court's ruling, but registrar Martie Stander refused to accept the appeal by fax.
However, Buthelezi tabled the new legislation and regulations on Monday night a week ago, apparently under the impression that everything was in order.
On Friday, the department referred Beeld to a statement indicating that the new legislation and regulations had been tabled and apologised that it had happened "without prior notification".
In the meantime, a second urgent leave-to-appeal application was sent to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday last week, but it was again unacceptable.
The problems apparently were rectified on Thursday, said Stander, but Mr Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson had not indicated by Friday afternoon if he had found the documents in order and if the application for leave to appeal was acceptable in the present form.
"This meant that no application for leave to appeal had been accepted legally and the introduction of the regulations on Monday a week ago was nullified because it was found to be unconstitutional by the Cape High Court.
The senior lawyer said: "In practice, it means that everyone who has arrived in South Africa since Monday last week - from business to sports people - is here illegally.
"Until the application for leave to appeal is accepted by the Constitutional Court, the Immigration Act and the regulations cannot be implemented."
Lawyer A Katz, who was successful in the Cape Supreme Court with the application to have the regulations declared unconstitutional, did not want to comment yesterday afternoon because the case was sub judice.
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