Tag Archives: Home Affairs

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 134 of Level 1, 11 February 2022

 

Friday 11 February 2022, Day 134 of Level 1 đŸ˜·

Corona Lockdown Gratitude 🙏

#grateful for a busy day, and for goals achieved, with good time-keeping; for posting for my clients this morning and this afternoon; for getting photocopies of documents made at Wizards in Gardens (very slow service), having them stamped at the Cape Town Central police station (far more efficient than I expected), and for being very luck today be allowed to enter the Dept of Home Affairs at 15h05, with hundreds of people in the queue outside, to drop off all my paperwork at the Citizenship Department, the letter I’m needing to be able to renew my German passport likely to take 3 – 6 Continue reading →

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 3 of Level 3, 18 June 2021.

 

Friday 18 June 2021, Day 3 of Level 3 đŸ˜·

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for a glorious day, sunny again after the rain yesterday, so warm that I wore a sleeveless top; for getting most of my work done early this morning so that I could get to Somerset Hospital by 10h00ish, for my vaccination; for celebrating the vaccination with a tea and apple tart treat at Labotessa, spoilt rotten there with a gift of their lovely French shampoo and conditioner; for a shop pop in at Fideli’s Deli; for getting into Home Affairs easily but a wasted effort đŸ˜±; for an energetic walk in my secret Bakoven lanes; and for being happy, healthy and free. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

Immigration Regulations become political Tourism hot potato, could become a recession tipping point!

Cape Town Stadium and Table MountainThe DA-run Western Cape government appears to becoming embroiled in a political battle with the ANC government about the Immigration Regulations.  Earlier this week the Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba demonstrated his arrogance when he was called to appear before a Western Cape Provincial Parliament’s Economic Opportunities, Tourism and Agriculture Standing Committee.

After having failed to appear before the Standing Committee in September, Minister Gigaba was sent a summons to appear earlier this week.  The Minister dismissed the Standing Committee’s request to delay the implementation of the Immigration Regulations, particularly the requirement that tourists have to apply for the visa in person, saying that he had not been given any Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 16 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   It is unbelievable that, after almost three months of pressure on Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, he has relented today, and agreed to delay the implementation of the unabridged birth certificate until 1 June 2015, just two weeks before the new Immigration Regulations were meant to apply from 1 October.  The requirement of the permission of the other parent for the child to travel with one parent has also been delayed to June. On Friday the Minister announced at a media conference that the Regulations would be retained, and that a task team would evaluate the most effective implementation of them! One wonders what swayed the Minister to change his mind, after having been so stubborn for the past ten weeks!  The personal application of biometric visas remains in place from 1 October.

*   Western Cape Minister of Tourism Alan Winde has been quick to welcome Minister Gigaba’s announcement, but demands more:  ‘It is my intention to ensure that a full impact study is conducted on them and handed to Minister Gigaba prior to them being reintroduced.  The regulations that have already been implemented are threatening livelihoods in the sector. I will continue to push for their postponement too, until such time as a regulatory impact assessment has been conducted.  Gigaba has now shown a willingness to work with other government departments and industry to mitigate the effects of his legislation on our economy and jobs, and I hope he will continue to take positive steps in this regard. The decision to place these two regulations on hold opens the door for South Africa to explore ways of becoming cutting edge. Through the use of smart technology, such as electronic visas, we can solve the problem of illegals while at the same time making our region more attractive to business and leisure tourists’. (received via media release from Minister Winde’s office)

*   The 2014 Unilever Food Solutions Senior Chef of the Year is Germaine Esau from Delaire Graff, while the Junior Chef title went Continue reading →