Dear Minister Schreiber,

Thank you for making it possible to contact you directly and also for the work you and your staff are doing to normalise operations at Home Affairs.

I am writing with regard to the ongoing difficulties that qualifying foreign nationals are experiencing in obtaining residence/work visas through the Department.

A case in question
In particular, I would like to draw your attention to the case of a member of my staff, Oscar Ngwenya, currently the holder of a ZEP.

With my assistance, he applied for a spousal visa on 22 November 2022. He is eligible for this as he has been married to a South African woman for many years. The application was made in person at the VFS offices in Pretoria and the reference number is TRV3709872. The relevant application fee was paid and all required documentation submitted.

Current status
I have tried to follow up on this application, which has now been in progress for nearly three years, on numerous occasions but have had no success.

Not only have I had great difficulty in contacting both VFS and the DoHA but, whenever I have been able to do so, I have just been stonewalled. The standard response I receive is that the application is still being processed and that there is no indication of when we can expect an outcome.

This, I am sure you can agree, is unacceptable.

No one who is eligible for a visa should have to wait three years for an application to be processed. In this case, it is especially true as you have called on all ZEP holders to apply for alternative residence/work visas should they qualify. Their situation remains uncertain and vulnerable, and I believe we all have an ethical responsibility to try and address this.

What we need
I would like to ask for your assistance in this matter and that you please:
1. Follow up on the status of this application and advise when we can expect a definitive response to it.
2. More broadly, investigate the procedures for processing applications like these at both VFS and the DoHA as they are clearly not functional. VFS is a Gupta-associated company and that alone should raise a red flag.
3. Investigate concerns about widespread corruption at both VFS and the DoHA, which Mr Ngwenya has had personal experience of.
4. Communicate clearly with the Zimbabwean expatriate community about the options they have other than the ZEP.
5. Ensure that the application process is accessible and, above all, fair.

I would sincerely appreciate your urgent attention in this matter.

Thank you for your consideration and kind regards,
Lee Cahill (Ms)