Home Affairs Minister Aaron Mostoaledi Bemoans ‘Nonexistent’ Spouses Created for Visas

• The Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, expressed his unhappiness at what is causing a visa backlog
• He observed that there is an increase in spousal visa applications, which he alleged are created by spouses who do not exist
• He said the number of applications is increasing at an alarming rate, and immigration officers visit these spouses and find that no such couple exists

With nine years of experience, Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist, provided insights into infrastructure challenges in South Africa at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News. Do you have a hard news story you would like to share? Email tebogo.mokwena@briefly.co.za with CA in the subject line.

JOHANNESBURG — The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, spoke harshly about the backlog in his department, which he claims is caused by spouses who are not spouses in the traditional sense.

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Spousal visas cause backlog

SowetanLIVE reported that Motsoaledi spoke during a press briefing on 9 April. He remarked that the backlog in the department's system is caused by spousal visa applications that he believes are not entirely legit. He opined that these applications were made by people who were not in actual relationships.

Motsoaledi further noted that this is possible because couples of this kind approach notary generals and declare they are couples. If they obtain a notarial contract, they bring it to the Department of Home Affairs and file spousal visa applications.

"This is a conundrum and a problem that we are going to change," he said.

According to SowetanLIVE, Motsoaledi also said immigration officers do not find such spouses when they do background checks and visit them. The head of Home Affairs in the Western Cape, Yusuf Simons, said that the contact numbers in these applications do not exist and that a chunk of the system's backlog was in the spousal and relatives categories.

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Motsoaledi calls for spaza shop audit

In a similar article, Briefly News reported that Motsoaledi called for spaza shops in the country to be audited.

Motsoaledi also remarked that these spaza shops should be checked if they are legally registered and must be shut down if they are not.

Mzansi supported his notion and called on those who operate businesses illegally to face the music.

Source: Briefly News