Mohalenyane Phakela
THE Ministry of Home Affairs says it is in talks with its South African counterparts to re-open the Lesotho Special Permits (LSP) applications for Basotho working and studying in South Africa who were not able to apply or get permits.
The LSP was introduced in September 2015 by South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to enable Basotho to legally work, study and operate businesses or employed in South Africa. The application process was manged by VSF Global through 10 centres in the nine provinces of South Africa.
The closing date for applications was initially set for 31 March 2016 but was extended three times, to 30 June 2016, then 30 September 2016 and finally 31 December 2016.
By Monday last week, 94 941 LSP applications had been processed, of which 93 537 had been adjudicated by the DHA in South Africa.
A total of 86 501 decisions (permits) had been collected while uncollected decisions at VFS offices were 6735. The permits are valid till 31 December 2019.
The final day to collect permits is 31 October, 2017 after which they will be returned to the DHA offices where people will be allowed to collect till January next year.
Speaking to the Lesotho Times this week, Ministry of Home Affairs Principal Secretary, Machabana Lemphane Letsie, urged Basotho to collect decisions while it was still easy to do so.
“It will not be easy for Basotho to collect their permits after the 31 October closing date as the South African Home Affairs will have to consult VFS before handing them out which will take a while unlike now when they can be collected on the same day,” Ms Letsie said.
“VFS has made attempts to call owners of uncollected decisions but it seems the contact numbers they provided are unreachable and they may not be aware that their permits are ready for collection.
“After three months, in February, the uncollected permits will be destroyed which means the owners will be as good as those who never applied.”
Ms Letsie also revealed that they were in talks with South Africa to re-open the LSP applications to cater for those who did not apply, particularly Basotho who went to South Africa after 30 September, 2015.
“Not every Mosotho’s application was successful therefore such people are still without permits.
“Another case is of those who started staying in South Africa after 30 September 2015. These were not given the opportunity so we are currently negotiating with the government of South Africa to offer them the opportunity as well.
“We are also negotiating the reduction of the M970 fee as it is hefty for others, but the problem we are facing is that the fee is charged by VFS and not the government of South Africa.
“The negotiation process is expected to last until January next year and if we are not successful, we believe people will start being deported by February,” she said.
The VFS Senior Consultant, Zimkhita Mafanya, promised the Lesotho Times that the DHA would respond directly to this publication’s questions on the issue but they had not done so at the time of going to press.
