The South African High Commission in Lesotho has come under fire from frustrated Basotho who accuse some of its employees of treating locals seeking permits to work or study in the neighbouring country with disdain and disrespect.
The service officers at the High Commission are responsible for interviewing citizens of Lesotho that want to travel to South Africa for tourism, educational, or business purposes.
It also assists citizens of South Africa that travel to, or live in Lesotho on a permanent basis.
However, some Basotho recently accused the embassy of poor service.
They said apart from contending with extremely long queues and slow service, those who eventually get to submit their applications have to wait for many months before the visas are eventually processed.
The explanation they are given is that there is a problem with the High Commission’s IT network; they are also curtly told they have no choice but be patient since “beggars are not choosers”.
Several applicants said they have been waiting for months without receiving any concrete updates or the services they applied for.
Some applications stem as far back as last year, they claimed.
An anonymous source said she applied for a work visa at the South African High Commission at the end of February this year, with the understanding that it would take approximately two months to process.
However, it has now been six months and she has not received any update on her application, or the visa itself.
Initially, she was asked to correct some errors in her application, which delayed the submission process. Despite fixing these issues, the processing has not been done as expected, she told theReporter in an interview last week.
“I received inconsistent responses from one of the employees at the SA High Commission (name withheld), ranging from a huge backlog of applications, to higher authorities not understanding their heavy workload. He was not helpful at all,” she said.
“I took the initiative to get an explanation regarding the progress of my visa and I was informed that the ‘boss’ does not meet with clients.”
She added that delays in getting a visa have affected her chances of starting a job in the neighbouring country.
Another applicant, Mpho Sethole said she applied for a work visa in November last year, but as of June, she had not received any updates.
She said she was simply told to come back ‘later’ without any indication of when her application would be processed.
“The response I got on the different occasions is that there was a high volume of applications and it would take time for mine to be processed,” she added.
A parent with a child attending school in SA said the High Commission told her that it was experiencing technical difficulties with their computer systems, originating from their headquarters in Pretoria.
“They said this issue has impacted the visa system, causing delays and disruptions in processing applications,” she said.
Approached for comment this week, the Social Secretary at the South African High Commission, Mpho Thamae, confirmed receipt of questions sent by this publication via email two weeks ago.
She said she had forwarded the questions to relevant staff to attend to them.
“The right people will respond to your email. I have forwarded your queries to them,” Thamae noted. However, there was no response from the Commission by the time of going to print last night.
Meanwhile, the principal information officer of the ministry of foreign affairs and international relations, Kutloano Pheku, described diplomatic matters, including visa and permit issues handled by the SA High Commission, as inherently complex and difficult to manage.
Pheku explained that the Commission operates independently and is not under the jurisdiction of the Lesotho government.
“Lesotho citizens have the right to inquire about delays and issues at the Commission; the ministry of foreign affairs lacks authority to intervene in the Commission’s operations.
“South Africa is not obligated to issue visas or permits to foreign nationals, including Basotho citizens. This stance limits the ability of external entities, such as the ministry of foreign affairs, to demand services or explanations from the commission regarding their procedures,” he indicated.
Pheku pointed out that diplomatic channels and bilateral relations are used to address issues when they go out of hand.
“The ministry only intervenes in cases where Lesotho citizens are being unlawfully treated in another country,” he said.
However, Basotho’s plight might be addressed, if promises by the newly appointed minister of home affairs in South Africa, Leon Schreiber, are anything to go by.
Soon after taking office two months ago, Schreiber said one of the items on his agenda seeking urgent attention is the issue of work visas for foreign nationals.
He noted that addressing the currently backlog would be one of his priorities since it is critical for his country’s economic growth.
“We absolutely have to look at visa processes. We have to take the visa issue very seriously as this is an economic catalyst for SA. We need to have a process whereby people who want to contribute skills or capital are actually able to do that,” he said, adding that the inability of skilled foreign nationals to get visas was a huge loss to the country.
Schreiber also expressed excitement at the prospects of implementing a remote working visa, which would make a huge difference when implemented. This is a visa that allows one to live and work in a foreign country, and without needing to apply for a residency or citizenship.
“That is the first opportunity to signal to the world that SA is actually serious about attracting what we need for our economy,” he said.
He further pointed that there were some interventions on basic IT processes that SA needed to focus on. Related to that is business process reform, which is everything from queue management to appointment management and the way in which things flow in offices. We will have to take a close look at how we reform those processes to make them more efficient.
The leader of the opposition Basotho National Party, Machesetsa Mofomobe, this week said it was regrettable that scores of Basotho were forced to cross illegally into South Africa where they experience run ins with the authorities.
In a letter he wrote to Schreiber this week, Mofomobe noted that large and growing numbers of Lesotho nationals continue to be caught in illegal migrancy as there is no option for admission of new entrants into qualification for the Lesotho Exemption Permit (LEP).
“The pruning of some of the original, more abiding elements in the implementation of the Lesotho Special Permit (LSP) has not been any useful as it has neutered the cushioning effects in the event of the expiration of these permits,” he said.
Mofomobe called on the SA Home Affairs ministry to urgently and earnestly consider opening the LEP for new applications.
He also appealed for the pardoning of Lesotho nationals found to have overstayed in South Africa or have been declared undesirable persons.
Further, he asked authorities to allow Basotho who are non-LEP holders to stay in South Africa for a duration of 90 days or more.
Reintroduction of the six-month permit and/or introducing the abolition of passports between Lesotho and South Africa would also go a long way in improving relations between the two countries, he added.
