This country’s bureaucratic sections are the most inept in the world. And since anything in this country could be purchased by MONEY, yes: MONEY, then many don’t notice the level of absurdity in which this nation turns into – day-after-day-after-day. I mean: Cash in this country can buy you anything, including: Liberty, Justice, Equality, Health, Services, Clean Air, Well-Being, longer Life, Entertainment, etc.
takes the Department of Home Affairs, for example. This section is among the worst in the world. Their service deliveries are some of the worst in the world. Their level of competency is really low, corruption is hiking. Foolish, new policies are being canonized daily. The rudeness in its staff is apparent, as well as the list goes on.
Just few months ago, following the insane, inept, incompetent and self-centered Malusi Gigaba replaced the owlish Naledi Pandor, he altered nearly every policy – especially to foreigners (despite whether you’re from other parts of this so called “dark continent” of ours or not). And not only has he put the nation’s Tourism, Film and Television, and Transportation sectors at jeopardy, but he’s proving to be the: CAPITALIST of the YEAR!
In case you have found, Malusi Gigaba has turned the “management” of the foreigners’ documentations into a private, corporate firm, namely: VFS Global Services Private Company Limited (http://www.vfsglobal.com/dha/southafrica/index.html). What this company does is that it only takes over the everyday “management” tasks – which were previously done (awfully) by the Home Affairs, and “commodify” the foreigners.
I am pretty confident Gigaba had a reduction in this billion-rand deal – so is Zuma – VFS Global from this corporate company,
Formerly: the management fee, as a student from a different country, to apply for an STUDY LICENSE in South Africa was just R425, although this cheap cost came with a bundle of badly paid and angry Home Affairs staffs – who’d treat you like an animal, ensure you a hell-day with them, but eventually process your file to the DHA’s Pretoria Headquarters – for approval.
And now with VFS: you will receive a “human, international” experience with esteem and competency, although this includes the huge prize of: R1775 (that is: the Home Affairs real fee R425 with the VFS fee of R1350). Please refer here for more: http:// www. vfsglobal .com /dha/southafrica/study_visa.html. And if you want to get a “Premium Lounge” with “personalized services”: well, this can cost you R500 more. What a terrific method to make money in South Africa. Every individual I know wants to reach this kind of clever deal with Gigaba, and to get owned the VFS.
Based on the Statistics South Africa, about 15378 Study Permits were issued in the academic year: 2013 independently, (read here to find out more on the numbers of the permits being issued yearly.
We the same amount and at many departments of Home Affairs’ making, how the VFS Company be STUDY solely, well the licenses – “” jobs alone, nothing else.
Remember: there are 9 more types of permits issued in our nation. So, we will take the entire figure for the STUDY PERMIT and time it by the nine other kinds of permits, namely: Visitors permit, Work permit. Relatives permit, Company permit, Medical Permit, Waiver Permit, Retired Persons Permit, Treaty Permit, and Exchange Permit (which is mostly used for Europeans and North Americans), to get the actual cash the DHA and VFS make.
Okay: here is the simple Math… was the Home Affairs used to make per annum on the STUDY LICENSES alone:
R425 X 15378 = R 6 535 650.
The above is simply the administration fee. The inept Department of Home Affairs has other fees, medical fee such as the repatriation fee, etc…. has the Department of Home Affairs made yearly on all the permits?
R6 535 650 X 9 = R 58 820 850.00
Okay. So, far so good. And I expect we are on exactly the same page.
How much is the Home Affairs made on STUDY PERMITS alone, after the VFS Global contracted as of June, 2014?
R425 X 15378 = R 6 535 650. (More or less the same)
How much is the corporate VFS global will be making on STUDY LICENSES alone?
R1350 X 15378 = R20 760 300
How much will the Department of Home Affairs make on All the Permits?
R6 535 650 X 9 = R 58 820 850.00 (More or less the same)
How much will the VFS global make the permits on ALL?
R20 760 300 X 9 = R 186 842 700
Look at those figures. I mean: WOW! These guys are money-makers.
And all of this hustle for what? A complete “human” encounter? A smile? Someone to hold a door for you as you walks in? A descent conversation with the DHA staff? A competent service? I mean: what’s this nation turned into?
And why nobody is debating the “ethical” issues surrounding the commercialization of basic service delivery in this country?
FIPSA against VFS GLOBAL in South Africa
As the VFS Global application system in Africa seem to set for the failure – Can the VFS visa centers, employed the South Department of Home Affairs – FIPSA steps in with demand?
On behalf of FIPSA, Rod said, ” freshly employed Permit Facilitation centres and with system difficulties and insufficiently trained staff and or proper guidance before execution of the systems, that including the failure to do the ‘trial and evaluation’ in smaller offices, is adding to their pressure.”
FIPSA has been inundated with calls and queries from migrants experiencing delays that were undue within their visa applications, long waits at systems and VFS Global centres that aren’t correctly programmed leaving information differences in visa application instruction manual.
Knowledge of immigration laws also seems to be seriously lacking with abundant reports of misinformation of visa applicants by VFS Global. One such case is that of Gift Chakaipa, who was mistakenly advised when she should have been advised to apply for an extension of her spousal visa to apply for permanent residency. Another controversial issue is the appointment of Home Affairs staff member, Ziphora Sinekoane, who was acting as home affairs’ chief director Jack Monedi’s personal assistant.
Earlier this year, the Department of Home Affairs declared that 11 Visa and Permit Facilitation centers would be opened in nine South African provinces. Visa applications would continue to be assessed by the Department of home Affairs in Pretoria but non-South Africans using a lawful residency permit in South Africa can put in an application for a visa or permit at these centers. There aren’t any guidelines for refugees, for example, Zimbabwe nationals on Specific Dispensation for Zimbabweans Project, Asylum and Refugee cases about how these applications are processed via VHS offices. Checklists usually do not make provision for … Furthermore, it seems that the Section has outsourced the services, and as they claimed, “Streamlining the services” … at present at a price to the customer. Over time, the Department rendered this services FREE of CHARGE and due to an obvious inability to manage systems properly, they at the moment are delivering the taking of applications JUST to a private organization! However, there’s no GUARANTEE that the permit will soon be issued quicker, more accurately or even so … at all!
In June, media reports of delays at these centers started pouring in with newspaper headlines painting a gloomy picture of the VFS system. Tourists and business people were facing frustrating delays in getting their visas, which often stretched to a delay as long as 30 days for something that is designed to be delivered within five days. This caused the cancellation of as many as 60% of tours to South Africa – a huge whack to the tourism sector which relies on every cent during the South Africa winter season.
Business Day lives reported on 25 June” “Immigration professionals who claim the brand-new immigration laws gazetted by the Department of Home Affairs will place immigration bureau workers out of work marched to the department’s Johannesburg regional office on Wednesday to hand over a memorandum”.
“This is only the latest case where professionals have challenged the knotty laws. The spic-and-span immigration regulations also have started concern among foreigners visiting, living and working in South Africa, and legal professionals are besides planning to challenge the laws.”
The bran-new law which came into effect on 26 May has among other complications’ barred visitors from reviewing or changing their visa status while they are in the country, where they live as they would have to do this in the state.
Contrary to popular belief, not all folks have a positive image of SA, and they must see if SA would meet their requirements and expectations in respect of company and skilled individuals, considering that we’ve elevated rates of reported crime in the electronic media.
This flammable situation has left tens of thousands of people trapped inside and outside country boundary’s and have been left in the dark with nowhere to turn as not one of the government associations or even VFS Global are willing (or able) to help.
Another weighty concern raised in the memorandum presented to the Department of Home Affairs is the serious risk VFS Global’s employment presents to those employed by immigration companies and the survival of them.
The memorandum also requested that the department revises and debates the new laws and permits for a grace period of 12 months to allow parties changed to make the needed adjustments to their status.
The exact same media report states that VFS Global does not possess the crucial understanding of immigration law to ease applications economically.
It appears that VFS Global’s system isn’t all it promised to be.
“The present VFS Global infrastructure seems to be competent to handle merely a quarter of the applications it was used to manage. Set appointments with consultants are grossly delayed with applicants waiting in line for up to four hours,” included Maxwell.
In light of the difficulties experienced at VFS Global with visa processing is seemed that migrants would be in a better position by continuing to apply for their visas through immigration professionals registered with FIPSA. With VFS, applicants must navigate through a myriad of complicated laws to make their choices and nominate their category. Compounding matters is that VFS will take any records furnished by the client causing lots of incomplete applications that will result in rejections. The customer has a view they have complied with new visa regulations in making the application. Imagine the shock and disappointment to a client, when the visa is rejected through an administrative procedure due to lack of supporting files.
FIPSA is a professional body that has started a procedure for holding immigration professionals to a high degree of business professionalism and responsible and has been tracking and controlling immigration practitioners enrolled with applicants. This was thus the withdrawal of Section 46 from the Act, and a job that the Department had to fulfil since the beginning of the Act in 2002, which they failed. As such, they’re blaming the members for their obvious inability.
VFS GLOBAL Organization, Dominance and Monopoly
VFS Global is mentioned as an organization created and running under Kuoni group from Mumbai, India. VFS Global’s shareholding or administration structure isn’t made public as of yet by Kuoni. Various sources mention VFS Global as an instance of a monopoly business managing internationally in the visa processing outsourcing sector below the possession of Kuoni group. This means deficiency of processing standards, rivalry and administration dubiousness in this sector has caused a selection of confusion for policy makers internationally while managing through tendering and giving government contracts.
