Foreigners win landmark visa ruling

Three foreigners – from India, Pakistan and the DRC – with the aid of immigration attorney Tashriq Ahmed have succeeded in winning a landmark Western Cape High Court ruling setting aside as invalid and unconstitutional the South African Department of Home Affairs’ controversial Directive 21. The directive, which Home Affairs Director-General Mkuseli Apleni signed in February, bars refugee and asylum seekers from the right to apply for a visa in terms of the Immigration Act, notes a Weekend Argus report. Ahmed argued that Directive 21 was irrational and was based on an incorrect interpretation of the Refugees and Immigration Acts. However, states the report, the department claimed the two Acts were sealed off from one another. Acting Judge Mark Sher said the answer lay in a holistic, contextual interpretation of the Acts. He said that, in his view, failed asylum seekers were included in the Immigration Act. He also said allowing skilled foreigners to apply for critical skills visas would further the aims and objectives of the Immigration Act.