Cape town: Home Affairs Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber, has welcomed Cabinet's approval of the Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection. Cabinet's approval followed an extensive programme of public consultation undertaken by the Department of Home Affairs, which covered all nine provinces, and generated thousands of inputs from stakeholders and members of the public.
According to South African Government News Agency, the Revised White Paper outlines the policy priorities for the most fundamental reform to South Africa's citizenship, immigration and refugee protection frameworks. 'It is designed to clamp down on fraud and abuse, enhance national security, improve service delivery through digital transformation and promote economic development,' the department said.
Following last week's Cabinet approval of the Revised White Paper, the department will initiate the process of drafting and tabling in Parliament the requisite legislative amendments to implement the Revised White Paper. Key reforms approved by Cabinet in the Revised White Paper include refugee management reforms, citizenship reforms, immigration reforms, and civil registration reforms.
Refugee management reforms include the implementation of the 'First Safe Country Principle', aimed at regulating asylum claims by requiring asylum seekers to seek refuge in the first safe country they enter. This reform mandates the Minister of Home Affairs to designate safe third countries annually and encourages bilateral agreements to equitably share the migration burden in sub-Saharan Africa.
Citizenship reforms introduce objective criteria for naturalisation, establish a Citizenship Advisory Panel to advise on applications, and implement a point-based system for economic pathways to citizenship. This merit-based approach offers an alternative to the current residency-based qualification for citizenship.
Immigration reforms align the visa system with Operation Vulindlela's recommendations and digital transformation goals. New visa categories, including remote work and start-up visas, are introduced, alongside a merit-based points system for specific visas and permanent residency. The rollout of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) aims to enhance the visa application process.
Civil registration reforms focus on modernising the National Population Register into an Intelligent Population Register, supporting a Digital ID system. This transformation includes mandatory digital birth and death registration, enhancing governance and service delivery through advanced technologies.
'The approval of the Revised White Paper by Cabinet marks another important milestone on our journey to fundamentally reform South Africa's civics and immigration systems. The policy direction outlined in the Revised White Paper charts a new course for our country to build modern, efficient and secure systems that serve South Africa's interests. I express my sincere appreciation to every stakeholder who participated in the broad ranging consultation process. We will now work with the same focus and determination to convert the Revised White Paper into legislative amendments that consolidate and comprehensively reform our country's citizenship, immigration and refugee protection systems, ensuring that they are fit-for-purpose for generations to come,' Schreiber said.
