Mathatisi Sebusi
THE Department of Home Affairs remains uncertain as to when it will resume issuing passports.
This despite its promise in November last year that passports would be available from 20 December 2023.
Almost a month later, there is still no assurance that passports will be available anytime soon.
Passports were last issued around August 2023, leaving Basotho in dire peril as many badly need these travel documents.
The Public Relations Assistant at the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police, Marelebohile Mothibeli, told Lesotho Times this week that the government was still awaiting a consignment of the paper used to print passports.
She said she could not commit to any date, but said they were expecting the paper anytime from now.
“The only passports being issued are emergency ones while others will only be available once we the paper arrives,” Ms Mothibeli said.
This means only those who can afford to cough out M630 can get passports while those who paid M130, which is the standard fee for a Lesotho passport, remain in limbo.
It is against that backdrop that a local organisation, Advocates for the Supremacy of the Constitution, also known as SECTION 2, petitioned the National Assembly’s Law and Public Safety Portfolio Committee to investigate the reason behind the prolonged delays in passport issuance.
They want the Committee to summon the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police to appear before it for a “thorough and transparent inquiry on disparities surrounding passport issuance”.
SECTION 2 general secretary, Tjatjapa Sekabi, said their petition to the National Assembly followed their letter to Minister of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police, Lebona Lephema, which he ignored.
He said it was unconstitutional and discriminatory to issue passports to only those who could afford the higher prices.
He said they were dumbfounded that Mr Lephema had elected not to respond to their letter.
“The matter at hand not only infringe upon the constitutional rights of Basotho but also pose a serious risk to their level of well-being, particularly in cases where urgent medical attention abroad is required,” SECTION 2 said in its petition to the National Assembly.
The delay in issuing passports not only inconvenienced migrant workers but also placed undue stress on students studying abroad, who “rely on timely passport issuance for their academic pursuits”.
The preferential treatment for emergency passports exacerbated socio-economic disparities among the citizens, the organisation stated.
“Given the urgency and potential impact on citizens’ lives and rights, we implore the committee to expedite the summoning of the ministry for a thorough and transparent inquiry into these pressing matters,” reads the petition.
Meanwhile, the Migrant Workers Association executive director, Lerato Nkhetse, told the Lesotho Times that the absence of passports had not only become a restriction for Basotho seeking jobs in South Africa but was jeopardizing jobs which had already been secured.
He said employers demanded passports as a form of identity, and without passports, a lot of Basotho would struggle to get employment and will consequently be arrested and deported back to Lesotho.
Mr Ntsekhe said Basotho working in South Africa came home for the December holidays hoping to renew their travelling documents before going back to South Africa but had failed to do so.
“How are these people supposed to pass at the border gates? They will surely opt for illegal crossings. But again, that will not mean that their jobs will be secured due to outdated documents.
“We are already struggling with people crossing at rivers and women and girls getting raped as a result. These are people who failed to access passports after applying for them a long time ago. If no action is taken, these illegal activities are anticipated to increase,” Mr Ntsekhe said.
