Gigaba says Lesotho special permit applications won’t reopen

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has announced that the process of applying for the Lesotho Special Permit will not be reopened.

The process is an amnesty for Lesotho nationals who live, work or study in the country illegally. Department of Home Affairs received about 120 000 applications for the permit of that, 3 119 permits have been collected.

Gigaba says the process has run its course.

“The undocumented migrants in South Africa emanating from Lesotho are documented now. We have them on our records. We should be able to ease their movements in the country, regularise their stay in South Africa, but it also gives us a good database as the management team or the custodians of international migration policies and programmes – by having in our possession the records and as well as the biometric data,” says Gigaba.